As part of the process—or maybe my battle against burdening myself as I write—I am a grateful user of my Mac’s stickynote function, which you can see below to the left of Eye of Heaven. What do I use it for? Notes, questions, reminders—things that I think are wrong or lacking with the story and that need to be fixed during revisions or as I go along. MORE CIRCUS! That’s what I’ve got emphasized in the picture. MORE CRAZINESS IN THE CIRCUS! I hope I listen to myself.
I used to do this with actual post-it notes, and I still do—but I type faster than I write by hand, and sometimes it’s useful to cut and paste passages or ideas back and forth. I am not an organized person at all—this is the best I can do. I know some people who keep notebooks and journals or cards in special little boxes, and I’ve tried that—I’ve got the proof scattered all over the floor of my workspace—but what ends up happening is that I have all these wonderful story notes and ideas in a bunch of different places, and what a pain! Or a treasure hunt, depending on your point of view.
Anyway, that’s my method. It constantly changes. Give me a year and I’ll probably tell you something different. Maybe I’ll be organized. HA!