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Starting off 2010 by finding the carpet
Jan. 5th, 2010 10:51 pmMy goal for 2010 is to be more organized. Like most goals it will be forgotten come February, but for now I'm pretending that I can change.
On Sunday I started off by going through the financial stuff. I had an entire storage box full of papers that needed to be looked at--paid bills, receipts, financial statements and insurance stuff. I forced myself to look at each document and then respond, file or shred. My shredder periodically overheated and begged for mercy.
Tonight it was the writing room. I had piles of paper that needed to be organized, including chapters from three different projects, research notes, file copies of submissions, notes from my agent with the status of those submissions, other miscellaneous correspondence waiting to be filed, story ideas, and the detritus that accumulates when papers are allowed to breed unchecked.
Buried in the stacks I found a printout of a chapter from THE FINAL SACRIFICE, marked up with red pen. It's been over two years since I turned in the revisions for that book, so I couldn't figure out why I'd hung on to this chapter. I tossed it in the pile for the recycle bin. A couple of hours later, it dawned on me that this was the copy I'd used for readings at cons--it's so much easier to read from a printout than it is from a paperback, and the pen marks were notes on what to include/exclude for the reading.
I still tossed it. The new, improved Patricia no longer hangs on to things that she might need someday. Flushed with virtue, I treated myself to my nightly chocolate ration.
I feel that I've made great progress. An objective observer would note that the writing room is still extremely cluttered, but to me, the fact that there is now a twelve inch clear path from door to writing desk is a huge improvement. Honest.
On Sunday I started off by going through the financial stuff. I had an entire storage box full of papers that needed to be looked at--paid bills, receipts, financial statements and insurance stuff. I forced myself to look at each document and then respond, file or shred. My shredder periodically overheated and begged for mercy.
Tonight it was the writing room. I had piles of paper that needed to be organized, including chapters from three different projects, research notes, file copies of submissions, notes from my agent with the status of those submissions, other miscellaneous correspondence waiting to be filed, story ideas, and the detritus that accumulates when papers are allowed to breed unchecked.
Buried in the stacks I found a printout of a chapter from THE FINAL SACRIFICE, marked up with red pen. It's been over two years since I turned in the revisions for that book, so I couldn't figure out why I'd hung on to this chapter. I tossed it in the pile for the recycle bin. A couple of hours later, it dawned on me that this was the copy I'd used for readings at cons--it's so much easier to read from a printout than it is from a paperback, and the pen marks were notes on what to include/exclude for the reading.
I still tossed it. The new, improved Patricia no longer hangs on to things that she might need someday. Flushed with virtue, I treated myself to my nightly chocolate ration.
I feel that I've made great progress. An objective observer would note that the writing room is still extremely cluttered, but to me, the fact that there is now a twelve inch clear path from door to writing desk is a huge improvement. Honest.