A Writing Clean-Up

 

It's the twelfth day of January 2021. I have not nagged you about doing your January Clean-up. Today, I am going to get on the Nag Wagon and propose that you clean-up and clean-out all that is involved in your writing world. Work on the following as this month progresses.

YOUR DESK Right now, I am looking at my computer desk with utter disdain. How in the world did it get so messy and full of piles of this and that? The problem with it is that important notes to myself and more can get buried and lost. I don't want to find a note in June reminding myself to submit to a contest by February 1st. So, the desk is where I will begin my cleaning.

PAYMENT LIST  Go through the list of payments for stories sold in 2020. Total so that you have an amount to include in your tax preparation. Whether you have to file a separate form or not depends on the amount you made. Please check the IRS websites or with your accountant as to how you report this kind of income. If you're a full-time writer, you may have to report differently than someone who is a hobbyist writer and makes only a very small amount. 

DOCUMENTS FILE  If you keep your work in a file, such as Documents in Office, go through it one by one and delete duplications and files you know you will never need again. You may use some other program, but the idea is the same.

MANUAL FOLDERS  If you're not a person who uses a computer to its fullest and prefer to keep folders in a file drawer on your own, it's time to go through them. Sift and sort. I use both computer files and manual files. I put contracts in both my computer files and a folder in a file drawer in my desk. One way to always have a back-up. 

RECORD OF SUBMISSIONS  Do you have a record of each year's submissions? If you don't, start one for 2021. It needn't be something an accounting guru would put up for a medal. Something simple works. Put Submissions 2021 at the top of the page. Then list the following for each submission:  the date, the place submitted to, the title of a story, poem etc.  Keep it in your Documents File and add either a YES or NO by each one. Or you could use SOLD or REJECTED. I put ACCEPTED by ones that are a no-pay and SOLD if the publication pays me and a simple NO by the ones that don't make it. You can devise your own system. You can also do it manually if you feel more comfortable. But, I do urge you to learn to do more on your computer to save time and be even more organized. 

MARKETING LIST If you have a list of publications that you think fits your writing, now's the time to update it. If you don't have a list like this, you might start one. It would be nice to have that list to check when you have something new to submit somewhere but you're not sure where. 

IN WORKS  If you use Documents in Office to save your work, you might consider putting all the pieces you're working on but haven't finished, or may not have a clue as to how to finish, in a separate folder. It's easier to find them rather than scanning the entire Documents list. 

GOALS FOLDER  If you keep a record each year of the goals you have set, this is a good time to spend some time studying your goals made through the years. Mark the ones you achieved in some manner so they stand out. Make an overall assessment and then set your goals for 2021. Make the list short. Too long, and you'll slip-slide away before Valentine's Day rolls around.

If you clean up all the above, you'll have a fine start to your year. You'll also feel satisfied and ready to write throughout this new year.