I’ve had tubs in the garage from my days in the classroom. For my entire career, I’ve created my own materials. When I had English classes, and we read novels, there were packets of vocabulary and comprehension questions. Grammar meant parts of speech and types of sentences. Math had me figuring out ways to practice concepts that didn’t require a worksheet. Through the years since I’ve left the classroom, I’ve thinned the items I’ve kept quite a bit.
This past week had me surrounded in the office with partially empty tubs. I’ve sorted English materials from math, a bulk of copies and file folders landing in the recycle bin. I have enough paper clips to last a lifetime. Some of the materials already have digital versions, which need to be updated and reformatted. I have a line that decides what is usable and what is recyclable. Once I have digitized all that I plan to, the hard copies will be recycled.
It’s a different kind of energy working with nonfiction. Not better or easier, just different. I have my fiction organized as well. On the right side of my desk is a stack of a dozen spiral notebooks. I refuse to be overwhelmed by the number of projects I want to publish. Now that everything is organized, I know what will get a second life.
I’ll mention that all this organizing means I haven’t finished the next illustrated short story, “The Christmas Thief”, or started on the next novel in one of my open series. However, the anthology has been edited and formatted and sent to the beta reader. We’re hoping to get it back by the end of September. In the meantime, the cover is being created.
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