Data Management?

jessicaorr said:

OK, so I need a program that will organize all my research

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Your brain!

I have all my initial planning on paper, and my new planning work on separate MS word files, all in the same folder. That works for me.

Try EverNote
Also check out http://www.softpedia.com
There are a lot of organizer programms.

Jessica, can you make a private blog? Some blog programs allow you to make a blog that only a limited set of people can view. Make one for your data, and just don't give permission to anyone else to view it. You'll have the UI that you're looking for, at the very least.

Consider SuperNotecard http://www.mindola.com

This has been discussed at least a few times that I'm aware of, and at least once in Tech Help, so you might want to do a search to get more ideas.

I just use word documents. xD

I have this wonderful thing called a computer... seriously, use your file system. It is easier to reorganize.

Matera the Mad said:

I have this wonderful thing called a computer... seriously, use your file system. It is easier to reorganize.

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*Gasp*

Gee ya know I have one of 'em too!

It's a small world.

Have you looked at yWriter4?

I'd suggest getting your files into order as much as possible first. I went through my computer file system earlier this year and was amazed at how many problems I was having were caused by me. This is what I learned:

* Start with the filing structure and keep it simple. Think about exactly what you need and come up with a list of folders that suits the way you work. Not necessarily the category where a file might fit, but where you would look for it. For example, I have a folder called Research, and inside that folder I have subfolders of Auctions, Wine, etc.

* Avoid anything called "Miscellaneous." Trust me, you will never remember anything in this folder and file. Find a category where it fits.

* Always, always, always get the file into the right folder. It's easy to get lazy and save it in a convenient location, but it becomes inconvienent when it can't found.

* If one file can be used, then use one file. I was thinking of this with the dialogue snippets. If you come up with a snippet, save it a file, come up with another and save it in a different file, that's making more work. If it's one file, it's easy to find and easy to scan. I just took out about fifty pages of my book, and I save it in a file called Extra Scenes_Sep 2008. If I need one of those scenes back, I know exactly where to look instead of hunting through backups of drafts.

* Create a naming convention and stick to it no matter what. I was struck by how many files I had named Doc1 when I went through my files. I had to open each one and see what it is, and in most cases, they should have been deleted long ago. Use a name that makes sense at a glance to you and date it i.e., Dialogue Snippets_Sep 2008. You should not need to open a file to see what's in it; the name should tell you if it's the file you need to open.

* Lastly, every few months make a sweep of the files. With the dates on it, it's easy to tell at a glance if the files have been used at all. In my case, on one of my sweeps, I found that my Wine research materials were more than six months old and hadn't been used, so I transferred them into my Archives folder. I can still get at them if I need them (haven't), but they're not adding clutter by simply being in the way. Doing it every few months keeps it from being a major project.

I think the most important part of this is staying consistent. Make sure the file names are name consistently and that they go into the right folders. You might find you don't need to spend money on a program at all.