Time

A popular post from November 2008

By Julie Wright

One of our commenters, Curtis Moser, made an excellent point the other day. He said he was, "working a full time job, struggling through full time school, and trying to balance that out with being a good husband and father."

Stephanie Humphreys said, "I feel I should spend my time doing things that will actually help pay for the groceries. Writing doesn't fall under that category, so then I feel guilty for even taking the time."

Life is insanely busy. Today even more so (get out and vote!!!!). Most men and women are in the workforce. there are children to raise, marriages to keep alive, house payments to make, things to fix, things to wash, things that must be done. There are days when I shout to my children, "I am only one person!" This is my lame excuse for not being able to be ten places at once, to accomplish all the things sitting on my "must be done right now" list.

Insanely busy.

I completely understand. I am no different. Though many might say Julie Wright is merely insane and the busy part is a side note, I maintain that my insanity is a direct result of being busy.

So when do I write? When should you write? How many words a day is enough to accomplish your dream, because you MUST reach for that dream. If you don't, you will die always wondering what you might have done. So not doing it is not an option. Let me see if I can help a little.

I've said it before and I will say it again (probably many times) Time is made, not found! I've never found time like I would spare change in the dryer while doing laundry. If you need to write, then you need to make time. It's amazing how a few minutes of writing every day adds up at the end of a year.

And I'm not talking about making huge chunks of time in three hour blocks or anything absurd like that. I know your lives--know MY life. I'm talking fifteen minutes. In fifteen minutes (when I'm focused) I can write 500 words. When I'm not focused, I'm closer to 250. I just took an average of ten pages of my latest work in progress and found that the average page has 302 words on it. This is roughly 15-20 minutes a day. One page a day equates to 365 pages a year . . . hey! That's a respectable book length! Let's say you take one day off a week, that's still 313 pages at the end of the year. So at fifteen to twenty minutes a day, you can write one book a year.

Let's think of where you might make fifteen minutes. If you have a job, your employer will give you two fifteen minute break (it's the law; if this is the first you've heard about the fifteen minute break deal, you need to call your HR manager). Work breaks are awesome writing times because there are so few distractions. You can go to your car where you are all alone, and there are no kids begging for attention, no phones ringing, no one dropping by the house to say hello. Now Curtis said he was going to school full time. This means he likely uses his fifteen minutes for studying, finishing term papers that got put off . . . etc. I totally get that. Grades are important when you're going to school with the purpose of exiting with a piece of paper.

But even students who are employees who are dads need a few minutes to themselves. Find a few minutes that belong to you every day, even if it's only three words you get written.

Stay at home moms have a different set of worries. We all know there is no way to steal a few minutes to yourself. Even the bathroom proves impossible as little fingers reach under the door saying, "Mom? Are you in there, Mom?" Lately I've been driving kids all over the state for lessons, practices, recitals . . . oy! But I usually end up with a few minutes during practice or at the doctor's office. I take my manuscript with me everywhere! I used to write on a spiral notebook with a pen. I finished three manuscripts that way. As a gift to myself when my third book came out, I bought myself an Alphasmart. It's lightweight, portable and doesn't have the distractions of email. I love my Alphasmart. Keep your writing with you (but don't forget to backup!) and take advantage of idle time presented to you throughout the day.

I'm not telling you to neglect your life, I'm telling you to enhance it--make it better by reaching for the dream. A few minutes every day goes a long way towards 'the end.'

Resources for Writers

A popular post from June 2013

by Annette Lyon

Last month at the 10th annual Storymakers Writers Conference, Sarah M. Eden and I taught a class about helpful software for writers. I thought a brief rundown of some of what we covered would be useful here.

Before I get started, I'll add that I was recently told about a piece on the Open Education Database, which features links to 150 different resources for writers. You'll find some of what Sarah and I discussed in that post, along with many more resources, including several I list in the back of the 2nd edition of my grammar book (available HERE). The link is definitely worth a look.

Now for highlights of our class:

Scrivener
The best writing software around, and it's a steal for the cost. I've seen it anywhere from about $25 to $65. Winners of NaNoWriMo often get a 1/2-off coupon. What is Scrivener? Imagine a word processor combined with note cards, binders, folders with all your research (even web pages), and so much more, all wrapped into one. Now add the ability to jump to any spot of your manuscript, switch the order of scenes by dragging and dropping them, and being able to see at a glance all the points of view (or settings, or any other identifier you choose) at a glance. And mark each scene as to do, a first draft, second draft, complete, etc. You can then export your document into several file types, including Word and other industry standards.

The program does have a bit of a learning curve, so do the tutorial and keep an eye open for blog posts and articles about it, as well as video tutorials to get the most out of it. I've written several books and novellas with Scrivener, and I absolutely love it. I learn something new with each manuscript.

Get it at Literature and Latte.

Back-up Software
Because if you haven't lost data, you will. Be sure you have more than one type of back-up, so that if the power goes out/your computer crashes/the house burns down you'll still have access to all your work.

Every type of back-up software will have pros and cons. Some require an internet connection to use and/or to access. Some cost, some don't. Some cost only when you reach a certain level of data.

Some back-up software to look at:

• Google Drive: Free, online storage. Formerly known as Google Docs. Share-able. Can still fail, like all backup systems. 
• Dropbox: Much like Google Drive. Free up to a certain data amount. More room available with a fee, as well as by getting friends to sign up. Files share-able. When working on files, they're seamlessly integrated into your software. Can work offline.
• Mozy: Backups automatically twice a day. Great for full system backups in cases of system failures. Note that it does not backup every few minutes, so in theory you could lose a day's work if you don't have alternate backups. Also saves past versions for about two weeks. Costs based on data amount.

Research Tools

Writers always need good ways of gathering information. Here are a few of our favorites.

• Evernote: Available on your computer and as an app. Syncs your account so all your information is accessible anywhere. Great for clipping and saving articles for research, making lists, sharing information with others, etc.
• Behind the Name: Giant searchable database of thousands of first and last names. Search by language or region of origin, religion, mythology, meanings, etc. Also has popularity charts by birth years and locations. (Scrivener has a cool name generator that does some of these things.)
• Now Casting: Database of actual actors, searchable by all kinds of facial and other physical features. Find head shot of your characters for inspiration!

Dictation Software

Some writers rely on dictation software, and some others enjoy using it as an alternate way of getting their thoughts out.

• Dragon: The best dictation software out there. It's trainable to recognize your voice, and eventually can make the entire computer experience hands-free. It does cost, and there is a significant learning curve.
• Mountain Lion: The newest version of the Mac OS hast his dictation app built in. It's adequate, but lacks the functionality of Dragon. 

Plotting Software
Some fun ways of brainstorming and outlining your next novel.

• Storyometer: This app has all kinds of functionality, from idea, character, and plot prompts to outlining, folders, and more. Definitely check out the tutorials to learn how to use it. One of the pricier apps, but lots of fun.
• Scapple: From the people who make Scrivener. A brainstorming "cloud" tool, currently only on Mac. Integrates with Scrivener.

Productivity Tools

Whether it's staying off the Internet or keeping focused on task, we all can use some of these tools. Find what works best for you.

• Freedom: Prevents Internet access for up to 8 hours. To get on, a reboot is required. Mac and Windows. Free trial.
• InternetOff: Windows only, free. Prevents internet access for a stated period. Easy to turn off the application, though. Also can password protect internet access for kids.
• Simply Noise: Website and a free app that provides white, brown, and pink noise, with options such as oscillation, to help your mind focus. Other noises (waves, rain, etc.) for about $1.
• Scrivener's Target Tool: Built into Scrivener, and oh, so effective in keeping you writing. Set manuscript goals as well as session goals and watch the bar go from red to yellow to green as you get closer to your goal.
• A Timer: Whether it's a plain old egg timer, a clock radio, your microwave, your watch, or your phone, set a timer for 30 minutes or another period and get to work, something easier to do when you know you're "allowed" to stop when the timer goes off. Chances are, you'll keep writing, though.

Did You Save Your Work Today?

About a month ago, a very good writer buddy of mine (Tristi Pinkston) had been merrily writing and then LOST her work. Software and hardware are not to be trusted. Do not assume they are your friends and will be ready to play any time you boot up your computer. I felt really bad for her.

Did her terrible loss make me assess my own software and hardware? Nope. I am just arrogant like that. Tragedy is for the Greeks and other people, certainly not for me.

I didn't back up anything during Tristi's plight.

But sometimes, the divine forces that be, sigh and take pity on my stupidity, rather than use it as a means to punish me like they normally do. I have a day job and had used my work-provided laptop to save my writing. My work determined that those of us with company owned laptops were at a risk for loss or theft and decided to back up all documents and files on a daily basis from our laptops.

I didn't think my employer wanted to save all my writing on company servers so I decided it was time to move all my writing over to my home PC. I moved everything.

Three days later when I was in the office, I turned on my computer and what did I see? The blue screen of death. All the software on my laptop crashed and burned. I lost everything.

Instead of being irritated or grumbling for now needing to rebuild all the links and email correspondence for my work, I breathed deep sighs of relief. The kind of relief one can only feel when they narrowly missed disaster and they know they don't deserve to have survived it. All my important stuff was saved. All my writing and irreplaceable stuff was safe.

I am the profiteer of lucky coincidence. But will you be if your computer flashes its blue screen of death?

The moral of this story: do not assume your flashdrive is incorruptible. Do not assume your harddrive is like a safety deposit box locked in a bank's vault. Do not assume Greeks are the only ones with tragedy.

Right now, while you're thinking about it, back up your work to two other viable save places.

You think writing that first draft is tough? Wait until you have to write that first draft twice.

Brilliance Lost

I had a brilliant post all written and edited and lost my "darn" internet access. Do you think I saved before I lost my work? Nope. Apparently I am guilty of all kinds of new-author mistakes lately. So my advice for today's post: Save your work as you write it!! Save before the power flickers. Save onto a back up disc before your hard drive fails. Save save save.

I'll have to recreate my brilliant post for next week. In the meantime I have a quote for writerly people.

Zest. Gusto. How rarely one hears these words used. How rarely do we see people living, or for that matter, creating by them. Yet if I were asked to name the most important items in a writer’s make-up, the things that shape his material and rush him along the road to where he wants to go, I could only warn him to look to his zest, see to his gusto.--Ray Bradbury

Backing up Your Work

By Josi S. Kilpack

Ask any writer that has learned to properly back up their work the hard way and be sure to bring Kleenex. Having your words be sucked into the cyber abyss is an experience I wouldn't wish on my best competition (Okay, maybe on my BEST competition). And it's happened to me, more than once. The first time was on my first book and the only reason I lost it was because I didn't know about the 'undo' option in Word. Yes, that's embarassing to admit. I would lose entire paragraphs nearly every day, because I typed so fast that I would block out a passage and keep typing before I could realize what happens. When I found the 'undo' option I was releived, and completely ticked off. Fast forward a few years, and I dropped my laptop and fried the mother board. Miraculously I could get the machine to turn on for two minute increments and was able to save the three manuscripts I had on it before it died for good. When I got a new one and had my hard drive transfered, to save all my other documents, the computer store made a mistake and didn't save it right. By the time I figured it out, my old hard drive had been reformatted.
And yet, a high percentage of writer's don't back up on a regular basis and some just don't know how. So, here are a few options for you to consider.
Hard copy--This means you print it out so that you have a physical copy. Not advisable unless it's a short work like an article, essay etc. because you'll use up a lot of paper. And, hard copy isn't very efficient due to the fact that should you need to 'restore' your file, you have to retype it in by hand, for a 900 word article, this isn't a huge deal, but for 60,000 words of a novel . . .
Extra Hard Drive--You can get a second hard drive installed in your computer, or network another computer to your system, and get programs that will back up to it automatically on a regular basis. Should something happen to your main hard drive, you have the second one on the same machine and your back up copy is easily accessible. The drawback is that it can still be vulnerable to viruses that might affect your main drive and if your computer is stolen (which rarely happens, but ya know...) you've lost your back up too.
External Hard Drive--this connects through a USB and you manually save your work to this drive on a regular basis. To protect it from viruses, you won't want to keep it hooked up all the time, only when you're backing up. This can be a pain, and it's in the same location as your main computer, but it can be transported and put into storage if necessary as well.
Jump Drive--These are USB port devices that are small enough to fit on a key chain and yet go up to more than 1 G of memory. These are very convenient and prices start at around $20. Many writers love this option, not only for backing up, but if they are using multiple computers for their writing. Some writers even keep their works only on the jump drive, not saving it to the hard drive of any computer. However, with a jump drive you risk making changes on one machine, and improperly saving it on another. Pay strict attention to how you use your jump drive. They are also very small and easily lost.
CDs--If your computer has a CD or DVD burner, you can burn a copy of your work onto a disk and should you need to restore it it's easy to open the file from the disk. Of course, it's not perfect either. If you were to back up to a CD every day, for instance, you'd go through a lot of CDs since generally you can only save to it to a CD only once. CD's can also be lost or improperly saved to.
Email server--Many writers I know back up by e-mailing the ms to themselves at the end of each writing session. The attachment is then saved on your e-mail server and should you need to restore, you can go into your server and replace it. This is one of the easier ways to back up, but you'd have to be consistent (as with every other option). And keep in mind that some e-mail programs delete messages from the server on a regular basis.

Regardless of which option you choose, the key is to be consistent. Some writers back up every time they write, other's back up once a month, some don't back up at all because it's a pain or they don't think of it. However, it will only take losing your work one time to convince you that the few extra seconds are well worth your while.

Back up copies should ONLY be used to BACK UP because they will replace your current version. Label them as back-ups so that you don't accidentally open it as your current version.

Happy Writing!