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Thomas_Anderson

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How you file your writings in your computer? Do you have one big monster file for the entire novel, or do you split it up into many different files?
 

Fade

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I have one big file for the entire novel, but then I save it to a bunch of different places, so it doesn't get lost. USB drives are good places to save back up copies.
 

Darzian

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I have the different POVs in separate files as well as one big file with everything in it. I write in that big file, though, and update the smaller POV files as necessary.
 

Toothpaste

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I have one document for my novel. But if I cut anything from it, I paste it into another file called usually something like "extra bits", just in case I want it again.
 

Deccydiva

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I have a folder for each novel and one for poems, all the relevant files go in there. For each novel there is a first draft file, a notes file and maybe a plot file in Word, then a summary and breakdown per character per chapter in excel with a wordcount. As I progress, there will be a first edit file, second edit, etc added and by then a dump file called fillers which is where edited bits sit in case they come in useful somewhere else.
The poems all go to one magazine so there is just one folder with a file per poem.
 

KTC

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I have one document for my novel. But if I cut anything from it, I paste it into another file called usually something like "extra bits", just in case I want it again.

I do this too. I call the file: Novel Name Maybes

I have a single file for each poem. I usually have a file for ideas. These can be page long ideas for novels or short stories, or a single phrase that I want to incorporate into a poem.
 

Linda Adams

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During the first draft, it's one chapter per file. When I get stuck, I tend to fiddle with other parts instead of fixing the problem, so I use individual files to stop this.

Now, as I'm further along, I have them grouped into sections (usually 8-10 chapters).
 

kct webber

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In "My Documents" I have a file labeled "Novels". Inside that file, I have files with the novels' working names. Inside those files, I have chapter files--each chapter has it's own file. They are labeled like this:

Chapter number/POV character initials/title/edit or draft number

So my file for chapter one would appear:

01pr_sweet death rattle4.doc

I don't put the whole novel into the same document until it's ready to submit. I don't like having one massive document. But that's just me.
 

Sophia

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I have one KeyNote file for each project, with tabs within it as necessary for notes on ideas, research, plot, characters, etc. There is a separate Word document for the actual prose. There might be other files, too, if I've saved web pages for reference or photos. I'll put them all in one folder if there are more than two projects going on each year. Otherwise, all the files go under one folder named for the year.
 

Greenify13

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For every WIP, I have a starters file, that has everything I had written up until current time. Whatever I write during ?amount of time, is on a seperate file. When there are enough pages or I am ready to move it, I go through re-read and ifx as needed before moving it to the major folder. Each WIP has two folders, all poems go on one of two documents. Then there is my dk(don't know) file which has a variety of materials, ideas.... I don't have any title ideas stored as of yet, but then I haven't even named my current WIPs...:D
 

tehuti88

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How you file your writings in your computer? Do you have one big monster file for the entire novel, or do you split it up into many different files?

I write mainly serials. Each chapter has its own HTML file, though all are kept in a folder dedicated to that serial. So, for my serial "Escape From Manitou Island," I have a folder called "EFMI" and within it there are currently over 180 HTML files named "efmi001.html," "efmi002.html," etc. :D

Ditto with my novels.

With short stories and novellas, they each have one file per story. For example, all my stories related to ancient Egyptian mythology, even if they're upwards of over 15,000 words but don't have chapters, are in a main folder called "Kemet" but each has its own file--"kebehut.html," "escape.html," etc.

All of these are contained in a folder called "HTML Files," so that's where my work all is.

Though I did create one big monster HTML file each for my serials when they were done, they're so massive I don't tend to mess with this sort of thing a lot. I just wanted to see what they'd look like, how many pages they'd have. And no, you don't want to know. :eek:
 

A.L. Wright

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Usually I just keep my stories in one big file. The one I'm working on now is divided into two files by POV, but that's because I wrote about seven chapters of one POV before realizing I needed a second. I also have each chapter in a file of its own, but that's because whenever I finish a chapter I send it to my critique group.
 

semilargeintestine

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I have a folder for the WIP and then I have drafts as separate files. I'm not one of those separate files for each chapter blokes, so all in one. Plus, I use Celtx. Breaking it up would be difficult. :D
 

Dale Emery

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Scrivener

I use Scrivener, which allows you to organize a writing project into a hierarchy of separate documents. You can use whatever size docs work best for you. I use one doc per scene. Whenever you like, you can display or print whatever docs you want, whether the entire manuscript, a single scene, or anything in between.

Also, Scrivener allows you to view your project as an outline, as a corkboard full of index cards
When you're browsing around your computer, a Scrivener project looks like a single file (though under the hood it's one file per doc, plus some other files that scrivener uses to organize things).

I keep each writing project in its own folder, and I use a version-control system called git (you don't wanna know) to manage versions.

My Mac backs up to an external drive hourly, and to a remote backup system (JungleDisk) nightly.

Dale
 

Nivarion

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i have one big folder (My Writing) inside this folder i have a folder for each WIP, another for the languages and histories and other things that are needed between books. in every WIP folder i have a folder for each write of the WIP.
 

Claudia Gray

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I do separate files for each chapter, put all the chapters together in one master file and also have an "extra bits" file for stuff that gets cut. The outline is another file. I refer to all and back them up as needed.
 
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