Analog vs Digital - i am guilty of writing ideas on anything I can get my hands on. So right now analog is a problem. I would "like" to go completely digital. But I have a tendency to prefer to jot things down on paper first.

Mess! - My desk has a hodgepodge of 3x5 cards, sticky notes, scraps of paper with two words and folded paper with many paragraphs of ideas. I started using Bullet Journal last year to try to help deal with this and it has helped a little.

But I think I need a better tool or system - one I dedicate to this idea capture process - because I don't like just writing tons of ideas in the journal for some reason. I don't always have it with me and if I forget to bring it, it's really frustrating. And I'm not likely to have a 3x5 card and a pen in my pocket.

Evernote - So I am going to use Evernote! I think it will help me clear the clutter and mess. I like the idea of using 3x5 cards and once a week transferring them to Evernote if I've written a few out at my desk. I'm a Mac person but NOT an organized Mac person. So when I'm on the run I can just use my phone to jot the important notes down.

Google Docs - I already use Google Docs to write my long-form ideas and draft articles. But it's not very good for organizing those ideas. So I will see if I can use Evernote for organizing a list of what I want to write. And I will continue to use Google Docs for the actual writing since I really like the interface (it reminds me of Word Perfect - yes, I'm old :-) and I can access it on my computer or phone any time day or night.

Jason Layton

Beginner nonfiction writer

--

3