Two-Fifty Tuesday: Organizing Ideas

Writing can be Manageable

Here’s what writing is like: cleaning out a closet. 

And you know how much fun that is, right? 🙂

Bear with me: our heads are stuffed full of ideas—some terrific, some garbage, some that just don’t fit anymore. When we brainstorm, write an outline, write a draft, we’re getting those ideas out of our head onto paper (fine, computer files…). That’s like pulling everything out of your closet and throwing it haphazardly on the floor in your bedroom. But now it’s overwhelming, right? Where you once had a big, whopping mess in your closet, hidden away from anyone who came to visit, now it’s visible to everyone. (“How’s your writing going?”)

But you have to just dive into that pile in front of you. Pick up that pair of shoes, decide if you’re going to keep them, throw them out or give them away. That old sweater you think you may someday wear? Gone. But you love that scarf even if you’ll never wear it. For now it stays. 

You sort. You ponder. You analyze each item. Now you know what you want to keep. Now your closet is clean and empty. Now you can put things away neatly, organized in a way where you can easily find everything. Now you have your story.

And when the next person knocks at your door? You’re excited to invite them in and proudly show them your hard work.