A Fall Clean-Up for Writers

by Tammy Karasek @TickledPinkTam

I have a question for you writers—have you ever thought about a scheduled clean-up of the items in your office and writing world? I’m referring to a big overhaul like we do with a Fall clean up around our homes, like raking leaves, putting away the lawn mower once cleaned, and clearing flower beds. 

There are many items we need to clean up and out of our offices or writing spaces. I have found I not only need the proverbial spring clean, but this fall clean has become a necessary for me. 

Here are the items I put effort into cleaning up to help make my office space less cluttered and more conducive to productivity. 

A Fall Cleaning To-Do List for Writers

We need to clean out our files. 

I don’t know about you, but I find I have a couple copies of pieces I’m working on that I didn’t realize I had. For instance, my fiction WIP (work-in-progress) had seven first chapters in the file. All with different word counts, which left me somewhat confused which one was the most current. Off to scrivener to find out which one matched so I could keep that one in the current file. Time wasted that I should have paid attention when I compiled it over…sigh. 

Discard old critique group sheets no longer needed.

If you have already sent in the guest blog post, wrote the book or changed the entire 1500 submission you had critiqued—throw out all the returned critique pieces, whether online or printed sheets. No need to keep them around taking up space. Besides, if some might have been harsh or non-constructive help, you have permission to pitch them and get the negative out. Jus’ sayin’.

Once cleaned, now organize your files. 

This may be a no-brainer for most people, but if you haven’t thought about organizing your files by their usage, do that now. Depending on the items you save in Word, create master file folders to keep them by category. Some might be House, Insurance Info, Conference Recording, Writing Info, etc. For my personal writing, I have a main folder that says My Writing Pieces. Within that folder I have subfolders for The Write Conversation, Blue Ridge Blog, Contest Submissions, My Blog Posts, each of my books, etc. Bottom line, the organization of the files needs to fit you, your file topics and how you would use them or look for them. 

Back up your computer(s) to an external hard drive or iCloud.

Whichever is your choice to save your work, protection of that work is important. If something happens to your computer, it’s comforting to know it can be retrieved from your choice of back-up. Don’t forget your iPad and cell phones as well. I’m often surprised to hear writers say they don’t do an extra back up because their computer has an automatic back up. It makes me shudder to think if they lose their computer in any way, their info could be gone for good. 

Purge pens, pencils and erasers.

Here’s where I’m telling on myself. I’m not going to lie to you, I love my pens and pencils. Take me to a stationery store, I’m going to be there a while—much like a bookstore. I want to look at all the new “shiny!” But we need to be honest, sometimes we bought a pen because others might have said how much they love to write with it, but it was “meh” for us. Build a plastic bag of them and give them to a teacher friend. They are always in need of pens and pencils for their classrooms and are so appreciative of the gift. Clear out ones you’ll never use to be able to find and use the ones you do enjoy. 

Purge and replenish office supplies. 

I don’t know about you, but I have always loved back-to-school time for office supplies. I love a deal, but I also love all the new pens, markers, and more. Should you need to replenish, there are still some back-to-school deals to be had on printer ink, printer paper, pens, markers, and post-its. I do love my post-its! (You might have noticed a consistent theme here – I love office supplies!)

Clear your reference book shelf.

Self-explanatory, but are there any reference books you find you’ve read so many times you no longer pull out to look through? Bag them up and take to your next writing group meeting or pass to a new writer you may be mentoring. They will appreciate the book coming from you, especially with your recommendation of the book.

Now as we get ready to hunker down from our lighter schedule of summer and go into our writing caves, let’s give our writing spots a good clean-up. Maybe even move your furniture around a little for a different view as you write. This always gives me an extra boost of excitement to show up to my writing spot each day—tidy room, new arrangement—a win for sure. I may even add a fall candle to sweeten up my area, too. 

What about you? Do you find after summer you like to tidy up your writing spot or office and get ready to pour out your creativity into your writing? Share below what your favorite thing to do to change up your writing spot once fall arrives, we’d love to hear what you think. 

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A Fall Clean-Up for Writers from @TickledPinkTam on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Tammy Karasek uses humor and wit to bring joy and hope to every aspect in life. Her past, filled with bullying and criticism from family, drives her passion to encourage and inspire others and give them The Reason to smile. She’s gone from down and defeated to living a “Tickled Pink” life as she believes there’s always a giggle wanting to come out! A writer of Romance—with a splash of sass. She’s also The Launch Team Geek helping authors launch their books and also a Virtual Assistant for several best-selling authors. Don't miss her recent book, LAUNCH THAT BOOK, just released in November. 

Her work was also published in a Divine Moments Compilation Book—Cool-inary Moments. She’s also the Social Media Manager for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Founding President and current Vice-President of ACFW Upstate SC, and Founding President of Word Weavers Upstate SC. She’s a writing team member for The Write Conversation Blog, Novel Academy, MBT Monday Devotions, The Write Editing and more. Connect with Tammy at HTTPS://WWW.TAMMYKARASEK.COM.