LIAN TANNER

On not being organised

September 27th, 2015

I was going to be really organised with this new series. I was going to do all my world building in advance, and have folders full of information (colour coded for my convenience) that I could find whenever I needed it.

*ahem*

I’ve got the folders. Well, a folder. And the colour coding. But after several months of work, its main function seems to be as a nice place for Harry to sit.

Harry

No, the real work is happening elsewhere.

It seems I don’t really like colour coding. What works best for me is still the notebook.

notebook

The information in it isn’t at all ordered or sensible or easy to find. I just write down whatever I’m thinking at the time. And stick in pictures that have nothing whatsoever to do with the story (like the mammoth on the right hand page) but which are still intriguing. Which means that when I want to check something I have to rummage through pages and pages of strange thoughts and irrelevancies, and get lost, and stumble over things I’d forgotten, and swear a lot, and promise myself that I will start using the folder really soon.

But I never do. It seems this is about as organised as I’m willing to get.

Still not sure what I’m going to do with that folder.

10 thoughts on “On not being organised

  1. Io says:

    You can never force yourself to be organised, it’ll become more messier than when you started!

    1. Lian says:

      My thoughts exactly, Io. πŸ™‚

  2. Caitlyn says:

    Hi Lian,
    Io’s right you can’t force yourself because you’ll get messier and never get around to it.

    I also really enjoyed your trilogy it was so breath-takingly good. Please would you right a 4th book!!!! Why don’t you write a 4th book?
    Is it because there isn’t a fugleman any more? Why couldn’t Blessed Guardian Hope be the new ‘bad guy’? she could be seeking revenge for the Fugleman? I mean, she already dislikes Goldie.
    Also would the Fugleman be part of the Museum of Dunt because he’s part of the past of Jewel and the Museum?

    Anyway, Don’t force yourself to get neater, as long as you understand it, it doesn’t matter because your the only person to see it….
    Thanks for creating the Keepers and I would really LOVE to read a fourth

    1. Lian says:

      Hi Caitlyn, great to hear from you, and I’m so glad you liked the Keepers so much. At the moment, alas, I have no intention of writing a fourth book in that series – but who knows what might happen in the future? What I AM doing (shhh, don’t tell anyone) is working on a new series set in the same world as the Keepers, so one or two of the same characters might turn up.

      It’s an interesting question about whether the Fugleman is now part of the Museum – maybe he is. Maybe that will work its way into a story at some stage. I never know how these things are going to turn out!

  3. Caitlyn says:

    Thanks for replying, I can’t wait for the new series!!!!

    1. Lian says:

      I hope you’re checking out The Hidden series in the meantime, Caitlyn. If you’re in Australia or NZ, the first two books, Ice Breaker and Sunker’s Deep are already out and the third book, Fetcher’s Song, will be out in January. If you’re in the US or Canada, Ice Breaker has just come out. If you loved Goldie’s adventures, I reckon you’ll love the story of Petrel and Fin too. πŸ™‚

  4. Amber-Kate says:

    Hi Lian, maybe you could fill it with useful phrases or rich descriptions that you cant use right at that moment but might want to use in another story and the colours could represent different genres that the phrases etc are about. Just an idea πŸ™‚ but trying to tidy notes that are already messy is an all most impossible task. I cant wait till I’ve finish the Keepers so that I can start on the Hidden series but rushing won’t help so i’ll have to hold back the excitement and be civilised πŸ˜‰ My cat has also taken to sitting on new thing’s or items he know’s I want to use, it must be a cat thing πŸ™‚ and oooh I can’t wait till you have finished this new series you speak of!

    1. Lian says:

      I suspect the folder will never get used, Amber-Kate. I’ve come to the conclusion that my creative mind likes things a bit messy. πŸ˜‰

  5. Amber-Kate says:

    Yes, I guess so, I find that if someone else looks at my things they immediately exclaim that its messy but I think of it as ‘organized mess’ its my favourite phrase πŸ˜‰

  6. Jin says:

    That coloured folder looks better suited to bookkeeping, than book writing

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow Lian on Facebook, Instagram & Goodreads