I have a magazine file - the sort which stands upright - for each main project, and another for odds and sodds, into which I chuck all the little bits of paper/napkins/backs-of-toothpaste-boxes on which things also get scribbled in even the most notebook-organised life. The pocket in the back of every hardbacked moleskine is also one of the reasons I use them and not other notebooks.

For things like novels the magazine files are invaluable, because I can also chuck in stuff I've gathered from research trips, postcards, newspaper cuttings, research papers, Ordnance Survey maps and all the other detritus that I need to hand. And every now and again I round up those scraps of paper and deal with the bits of ideas on them.

Emma

<Added>

Sheila, meant to say I love that BFI tip. Had never thought of that being a drawback of being a film critic before...

My other problem is that even if I manage to keep hold of my notes, I can't always understand what they mean. I've just found an envelope on which is written:

Wigs - did you know that?

Elizabeth George says labelling files and folders to deposit scraps of material is a good way to 'purge' things that might otherwise impinge on WIP.

For someone like me, with a short attention span and lots of small projects, it's imperative. For novel length projects that might have run to a first draft ms I use the flattish A4 snaplock boxes you can buy from Rymans. The A4 envelope folders stand upright in bigger ones.

Note-taking in films is not so toublesome as theatres, where you have a numbered seat and are squashed up close to people. It's not good to have someone constantly riffling paper when (unlike me) you've paid out a lot for the ticket.

I used to go to previews, but that was when I was taking it more seriously.

Sheila

<Added>

I sellotape an envelope into notebooks and put ribbons round bulging envelope folders. Elastic bands help to tame small notebooks - especially if you can pick up ones that postmen used to discard.

Wigs - did you know that?

Yes, exactly. Having learnt that I never, do, actually remember the incredibly compelling sight/idea that I'm sure I don't need to get my notebook out for, I have evolved not to believe the little voice that's convinced that at least I'll remember the context.

These days I force myself to write down much more about why I'm writing this down - what project it relates to if any, and where I am (which helps me to recall setting, atmosphere and remember what on earth the significant words actually mean. Also any direct quotes in "" and carefully accurate, to make sure I don't get sued for plagiarism.

i.e.

Man on train, talking on mobile abt industrial injury claims (?lawyer not manufacturer): "The carcinomas are a decade or so, but the asbestosis claims take 25-30yrs to come through, so the last lot from before the law changed are about now."

Elizabeth George says labelling files and folders to deposit scraps of material is a good way to 'purge' things that might otherwise impinge on WIP.

That's such a good point. I know it in terms of noting down ideas for the WIP which I can't deal with now without derailing the morning's work, but I don't think I'd thought of it so clearly in terms of other projects. Very true, though.

I also have rows of magazine files for MS queuing for editorial reports, OU teaching stuff, OU admin stuff, other teaching stuff etc. etc. They all have to be chuck-em-in. If they closed, I'd never get round to putting things in them.

I use old envelopes for nearly all my notes. The problem is that I keep throwing them away and then wondering what happened to my notes.

It could be worse - you might find you'd posted one of them to someone.

I always regret at this time of year - a month before filling my tax form in online - that once more I haven't followed this excellent piece of advice re keeping track of expenses, which is so simple that really there is no excuse. Have a small envelope for every month and each time you get a receipt for anything work related,simply shove the receipt in the envelope. At the end of each tax year you'll have twelve little envelopes and you can add up the totals. Oh, how I wish I had done that and didn't have to resort to my usual creative accountancy methods for another year.

I do keep receipts, but in a huge wodge that then have to be sorted out long after I've forgotten whether that stationery was work or domestic. The other thing I do is use my diary - it has work-related travel so I can track all that (with Oyster cards, there are no longer any tickets to act as receipts...) And because it's a filofax diary, I can keep it in financial-year chunks, not most-of-one-and-a-bit-of-the-next-except-I'm-still-using-it.

But I'm staring VAT registration in the face and not liking the look of it...

Emma