How I Untangle My Creative Chaos: Organizing My Writing Projects with Tools & Visual Strategies
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Hi friends! I’m sharing my process for tackling the creative chaos that sometimes takes over my writing projects. If you’re anything like me, you probably have notes, ideas, and half-finished pieces scattered everywhere—on your phone, sticky notes, random Word docs… the list goes on!
As a writer who loves to talk things out, I've come up with a system that helps me streamline all these messy ideas into something organized, cohesive, and (hopefully!) productive. I thought I’d walk you through my process and share some of the tools I use to get my creative projects from “hot mess” to organized and actionable.
Step 1: Transcribe & Talk It Out
I’ve found that talking out my ideas is way more effective for me than just sitting down and typing them up. There’s something about speaking stream-of-consciousness that helps me release my thoughts more naturally. So, I often start with audio journaling, just saying whatever comes to mind without filtering it.
Then I use transcription tools to turn these recordings into text. This lets me get all my thoughts on paper (or rather, on screen) without worrying about self-editing as I go. From there, I’ll refine the transcription with some help from AI—tightening it up and organizing it so that it’s easier to work with.
Step 2: Organize with Flowcharts
Once I have my ideas in text form, I use a flowchart to help map out my projects. My flowchart is really simple but super effective! Here’s how it works:
Identify the type of content: Is this a standalone eBook idea? A blog post? A YouTube video? Each type has its own “path” in the flowchart.
Track progress: Each piece of content, whether it’s a blog or video, gets labeled with either a red or green line. Green represents pieces that I plan to sell directly, while red is for content that will go up on platforms like my blog or YouTube.
Potential for a larger project: If a blog post or video has the potential to fit into a bigger book project, I’ll make a note of that. This flowchart has been such a game-changer for helping me see how different pieces of content can eventually form a larger body of work.
Flow chart in Obsidian. Zoomed wayyy out so you’re not all up in my business!
Step 3: Visual Motivation with Living Writer
Now, let’s talk about my favorite writing software right now: Living Writer. This app lets me organize my projects with visual book covers. Seeing each project displayed as a “book” cover is surprisingly motivating! It’s almost like getting a sneak peek at the finished product, and it really helps me stay focused on completing each piece.
Living Writer also lets me rearrange chapters and sections easily, which is perfect for someone like me who is constantly moving things around. I can add notes, create placeholders for ideas, and track progress in a way that feels so much more visually appealing and motivating than a regular document.
Step 4: Using Canvases to Untangle the Web
For big projects that feel like they’re all tangled up, I use canvases in an app called Obsidian. It gives me a huge digital “canvas” where I can map out ideas without feeling restricted by a linear document. Think of it like a mind map where you can zoom in and out, rearrange things endlessly, and see everything at a glance.
I’ve realized that if you’re someone with lots of ideas bouncing around, this kind of visual tool is a must. It helps me untangle my thoughts and gives me room to explore connections between ideas that might not have been obvious otherwise.
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
Final Thoughts: Tools for Untangling Your Creative Process
So, that’s my system! It’s taken me a while to find the right tools that work for me, but now that I have them, I’m excited to share them with other creatives. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of ideas you’re juggling, give these methods a try. You might find that a few simple tools can really help you “untangle” the creative web and bring more structure to your work.
Tools I Recommend:
Living Writer: $15/month and worth every penny for anyone working on a book or structured content.
Obsidian: Free+ (and fantastic!) for visual mapping and organizing.
Hope this inspires you to explore new ways of tackling your own creative chaos. If you have tips, tricks, or tools that work for you, I’d love to hear them. Let’s keep untangling our creativity together!
