I'm a curmudgeon. I'll admit. Change is not my forte. I am a stubborn creature of habit. I'm only innovative when I absolutely have to be and I will ride something to the ground until it is a lost cause. Then, and only then, will I find an alternative (usually that alternative is something that most people have "discovered" years before).
In terms of technology, I haven't really embraced it until recently. Not when it comes to my writing. This is coming from a girl who used to write her novels when she was a teenager on a word processor (basically a microwave with a keyboard). I think I even still have some old floppy disks around from the old Apple machines with green screens that I would escape to in between junior high classes to write. (Yes, I was a nerd. A giant word-loving, book-reading nerd). Every spare moment I spent scribbling feverishly in a blank spiral notebook (for some weird reason the sight of a blank spiral notebook still sends a shiver of excitement down my spine) and pounding away on the keys of my dad's dinosaur of a computer. Free time meant that I could escape into whatever world I was dreaming up.
I think I became a writer because a part of me preferred that type of a world. Where anything could happen. The real world was far too bland. I liked the ability to be and create anyone, in any time, in any setting. I could time travel and visit fictional lands in my world. It was like the joys of reading amplified by about 1000.
When it came to computers, however, the extent of my "knowledge" was often "turn it on, open my Microsoft Word or Works program (whatever spreadsheet program was available), save, and turn off."
But in today's world, I had no idea the amount of technology and software that was out there to help writers create. To help organize their thoughts, plot their storylines, escape into that wonderful world of "single-tasking," to borrow a phrase. I think one of the things that I struggle with the most is "single-tasking."
We're a society now where multi-tasking, focusing on several different items at once, is expected. Revered. And frankly, it's easy to get caught up in that. But when you need to focus and have a task that demands you to be 100% present, it can be difficult. (Thanks, Facebook). :)
But I've recently stumbled across a few programs that I've incorporated into my daily writing process. One is free, and a few come at a nominal price (under $10). I've listed three of them below and what part of the process they might help with. Hopefully you might find them useful as well:
IF YOU'RE MORE OF A VISUAL PLOTTER/PLANNER:
Check out Scapple. It's a program that is pretty simple to learn and create notes and also graph relationships between any two pieces of information. I've used this to help with my family trees as well (you all know how sordid and tangled my character trees can get). I believe I paid under $10 for the program but I will definitely be getting a lot of use out of it. For someone that's more of a visual person (goodbye Post-it Notes on my office wall) this is a godsend.
IF YOU NEED SOMETHING TO ORGANIZE YOUR RESEARCH:
Check out Evernote. It's an awesome FREE program that I downloaded where you can keep all your notes in one place. It's kind of like OneNote but more. Not only can you save screen clippings, articles, webpages, notes, you can also create and add audio and visual notes of any kind. Any videos you come across or audio that you wanted to keep together with everything else while researching your topic. I'm test-driving this with my new book The Dybbuk (there are a lot of articles and research that I'm doing on possession and the like) so I have a lot to add. It's easy to get overwhelmed (for me, anyway) if I'm not organized, so this definitely fits the bill.
IF YOU'RE HAVING TROUBLE STAYING FOCUSED/SINGLE-TASKED:
Then check out OmmWriter. It's basically a spreadsheet program which lets you change the backdrop to something calming and even plays ambient music for you. It has about 7 different options for music. Different fonts, sizes, almost anything that a basic spreadsheet program offers you. It'll take you about two seconds to figure out how to use it. This one has a suggested donation of $5. One of the things I like best about it? Once it's open, your bottom toolbar disappears. Poof!
ALLELUIA!
If you are typically hard to focus like I am, it's a welcome respite. I'm not constantly glancing downward anymore to see if I have any new emails, any new "likes" on my Facebook page, etc. It's just you, your writing, and your imagination. Not a crowded party. If you struggle with the same problems, check it out.
I hope this helps! After spending forever railing against technology when it comes to my writing, I'm glad that I've finally decided to embrace it. Oh, if only these programs existed a decade ago! ;)
Lots of love,
A
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