Would Your Teachers Lie To You?
My desk could look like that. After a few weeks of printing eight copies of about seven pages for my writers’ group to critique, I had a pile on my desk of critiqued paper. I needed to compile the comments and dump the paper before it buried me. (Actually, I use the back for the next draft. I think I have saved two Sequoia trees already.)
Find a system that works. Your system is not wrong if it works, but you have to use it. I have Excel files that track submissions and another that tracks characters. I have Word files for research. I have charts showing themes and goals. And I fill a recycle basket each week. You have to keep the not-useful stuff at bay. Throw it away.
And now imagine doing all this on a typewriter. (My first submissions were all typed.) Or by hand. (CS Forester wrote the whole Hornblower series in pencil. Someone else had to type it.)
Your PC/laptop/whatever is a blessing, but you have to use it. Disorganization may be your “thing” but it may also stop you from getting your words out. Just as you discipline yourself to use correct grammar, discipline yourself to keep your house in order so when you get time to write, you can.
