Organizing My Notes

I literally have boxes of notes related to my writing. These include old journals, slips of paper with ideas for themes, titles, characters, and story lines, along with pages of writing I have done for parts of a memoir and snippets of already written stories to weave into a novel. I am in the process of organizing all of this material into file folders, hoping that by doing so, I can figure out the best way to present the material in written form.

Rereading my old journals is the most difficult part. I used to sit in bed and write with a spiral notebook and pen, just before nodding off. I would allow myself about 15 minutes to do so. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I was never able to adhere to my self-imposed schedule. Usually, I wrote in my journal during difficult periods of my life. The process was a cathartic experience and often helped me to work out problems I was having at the time. Usually the 15 minutes I had allowed would morph into an hour or more. Finally, I had to stop because I wasn’t getting enough sleep. Now, when I read those journal entries, I find that they tear away at my heart. Those were difficult emotional times and I am reliving the experiences through the writing. This often leaves me feeling depressed. That’s the downside. The upside is that I realize it is actually good writing if it is able to upset me so much. I truly captured the feeling at the time. These emotions just might be good enough to insert into a piece of fiction. (I am not honest enough to put them into a memoir, as I don’t want to admit to some of the troubles I encountered.) When writing a novel, I think it would be difficult to evoke real emotion if one is not experiencing it at the time. Having these journal entries could be a real asset when creating a larger work.

One of my biggest writing problems is the quantity of ideas I have and material I have already created. I can’t seem to get my arms around it to put it into a meaningful form. I would love to hear how others have tackled the same problem.

I have a real need to write. Each morning I start by sending emails to friends and relatives. It’s a routine, much like brushing my teeth. The day is not complete without it. I start, meaning to just write a line or two, soon finding that I’ve written a much longer letter than intended. I would like to be able to take my love of writing and actually create a larger, more singular product.

Writer’s block is not my problem. Creating something meaningful with my writing is a problem. I am so inspired by the workshops that I attend at Lighthouse Writer’s Workshop, yet I have not found one workshop that addresses my problem. I would appreciate some help.

For now, I will continue organizing my notes, hoping that it will eventually all fall into place.