Any recommendations for a straightforward way of keeping track of work in progress, submitted, rejected and (hopefully one day ) published?.
I am a fairly new writer but I've already assembled a number of finished and half finished projects that are getting scattered around my computer. It would be better to be organised, I think.
Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
An effective way to organize your submissions is to keep a simple XL spreadsheet or table in MSWord. I have been doing this for years and it works amazingly well. As you achieve publication and collect rejections, you can trend which pieces do well and which don't. It helps tell you where improvement may needed and what markets to target. I do the same with literary agents and track their responses this way. I think there may be software available to do this but it's probably not worth the extra expense.
As David mentions, making folders and subfolders is the way to organize your writing. Keep it simple. And be sure to regularly back up your files to another hard drive for extra security. My wife lost her master's thesis file by not doing this. If you use a MAC, there is a function that does this automatically if you attach a USB external hard drive (passport or other type). That's 2 levels of redundancy!
I agree with the suggestion of making different, clearly named folders.
The other thing to try is a document either on the computer or on a bit of paper (as long as you're sure you won't loose it!) listing what you've finished, what you're working on, and what you've submitted where and when. It can take a bit of time and be tedious, but as long as you keep it up to date, I've found that to be quite useful.
Hey Colin,
I would recommend making folders on your computer titled "work in progress", "submitted" you catch my flow. I know it sounds obvious but some times the obvious can go unseen, which I do a lot I'm sorry to say. That tip is only for keeping organised, but in case you were struggling to focus your attention on one idea, I would recommend putting all your attention into the one project first before moving away from it and off into another (disclaimer - this is how I normally work but if you are well able to handle more than one idea then go for it!).
Sorry I wasn't that much help with your question but I thought I'd share my answer anyway and I hope it gave you some kind of answer to your question my friend.
Kind Regards
David