How I Organize My Drafts & Ideas
🎬 a video tour inside my writing system
Hello! I’m in the thick of essay writing these days, reminding myself for the umpteenth time that I am, in fact, a very slow writer—and that writing the kinds of craft-heavy pieces I’m aiming for takes time. (More specifically, about a month if I push myself!)
In the meantime, I’ve got a different type of post for you today, featuring a video tour of my writing system. 🤗 This was born out of some conversations I’ve been having on Substack Notes lately, but it’s also just something I’ve been working on behind the scenes.
If you’re hungry for more, let me know! I’m very open to considering creating some more in-depth resources along these lines, maybe a mini course on how to build your own system, etc. if there’s an appetite for it. Enjoy! xo
As an essayist who loves to weave lots of disparate threads into larger pieces of writing, I’m rarely thinking about just one idea at a time.
Generally speaking, I have tons of ideas. Which is great! But the question I’ve been running into for years—and that I see being asked over and over again amongst other writers—is:
How do you stay organized? How do you keep track of all your ideas, drafts, and works in progress?
Without an intuitive and reliable way to corral all my various scraps and threads, I find both my mind and my workspace get a bit chaotic. And using my attention to try and find my way through chaos pulls me out of doing my best thinking and writing.
I’ve experimented with lots of different tools (Google Docs! Notion! Notes app! pen and paper!) and there are elements of each that work really well for me. But ultimately I could feel myself reaching for something that combined their powers—something visually elegant, functionally flexible without being too rigid or slowing me down, and well-designed enough that I want to keep using it.
Today I’m giving you a high-level tour of the system I’ve built this year that houses my ideas and drafts, keeps me focused, and helps me do more of the thing I’m really here to do: WRITE.
In the video below, I show you:
An overview of the system I built, and how I got there
The (free!) tool I use
How I figured out what sections and elements my setup needed
Some suggestions and specific questions to ask yourself if you want to create something similar that works for your brain and your process. 🧠 ✨
🔗 Relevant Links:
Try Tana (no affiliation with them, I just love the tool!)
Blog: The Ultimate Quickstart Guide For Getting Started With Tana from Ev Chapman
Free ‘Tana Fundamentals’ video course from Cortex Futura (no affiliation!)
Video: how I set up the ‘Fuel and Ideas’ cards (from Ev Chapman)
Ev Chapman’s (paid) Tana Fast Track course (again, no affiliation! but I did take the course and got a ton out of it)
⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 → Introduction
00:27 → How I decided on Tana
02:39 → The two main sections in my Writing HQ
03:01 → A closer look at the “Fuel and Ideas” section
08:06 → Overview of the “Writing Desk” section + areas
08:38 → The Glimmer Notebook
10:47 → The Greenhouse + The Writing Library
13:23 → Working On
14:20 → Essay Ideas
14:50 → Recommendations for building your own system
I hope to be back soon with a new What’s Feeding Me 🐛 round-up, and another literary essay coming in March! In the meantime, I’ve been spending more time on Notes so if you’re over there, I’d love to connect. 🤍
The Webs We Weave is a free weekly-ish newsletter on staying connected to ourselves, making connections in our creative work, and feeling more connected in the world. Thank you for being here.
Michelle! You are the organization queen. I need more of this energy in my life haha thank you for sharing this inspiring deep dive!
This was awesome. Also, please teach more classes on ... anything!