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TOOLS OF THE TRADE! What Are You Writing It With?

Farted by SnakeClock, October 22, 2009, 05:36:28 PM

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SnakeClock

Writing a 50,000-word book in a month is no easy task, so you need the right tools for the job! What are you using for it?

Personally, I'm using this:



A friend of mine had this computer and is sending it to me when I said I needed something to write on. It has a 300MHz processor, a 6GB hard drive, 320MB of RAM, and is pretty much useless except for writing. It'll be pretty awesome.

As for software, I'm debating between using the old-school AppleWorks 6 or upgrading that thing to 10.4 Tiger (it currently has 10.2 Jaguar) and using Scrivener:



Scrivener

Sometimes there's more to writing than just putting words in a text document. Scrivener is a program that can sort your writing project into different pieces for easy reference, attach keyframes and metadata to make it easy to find certain passages, and export your project into a standard manuscript format, meaning you can just write however you damn well like and Scrivener will worry about the formatting for you. It's very handy, but Mac OS X only, unfortunately. There are several equivalent programs for Windows, though, such as yWriter.

What programs and tools do you think you're going to use to write your book? Do you have a really old laptop that would be fun to use? Have you tried getting an Alphasmart Neo, if you're on a tight budget?

Topcatyo

My PC with Windows 7, Wordpad, maybe some alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana, elbow grease, bacon grease, and the good ol' English language.

SnakeClock

Quote from: Topcatyo;1683235My PC with Windows 7, Wordpad, maybe some alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana, elbow grease, bacon grease, and the good ol' English language.

I need to track me down some pot for it, too.

Faygo


Silly Putty Clock

Microsoft Word and the unfathomable terrors of the depths of my soul.
8=======D~~~~>_<~~~~C=======8

Wind-up Clock

Microsoft word and whatever i can dredge up from the sludge pit that is my mind.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

SnakeClock

Are any of you guys using laptops or some such devices, or mainly staying glued to the desktop for novel-writing action? Or dare I even suggest less typical devices, like an Alphasmart or (shudder) pen and paper?

Wind-up Clock

Quote from: SnakeClock;1684238Are any of you guys using laptops or some such devices, or mainly staying glued to the desktop for novel-writing action? Or dare I even suggest less typical devices, like an Alphasmart or (shudder) pen and paper?

I'm using a tablet pc with no pressure sensitivity (i feel like i should have waited, but hey, buyer beware), but i'm sticking with the keyboard.

And like hell I'm using a pen and paper. It's hard enough writing it, but reading it afterwords in my handwriting is gonna be hell.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Sombra

I'm thinking of getting a typewriter just for the novelty, I probably wouldn't do most of the writing on it but I bet it would feel pretty sweet chacking away on the thing at 2 in the morning under a dim lamp, drinking a cuba libre or whatever and puffing on a cigar.

The Spoiler


TapedeckClock

- 13inch White Macbook
- Text Edit


                                                  AND MY IMAGINATION
WWWWWWWWWW

SnakeClock

Quote from: The Spoiler;1684437MS-DOS edit.

Not an Amiga? :(

Faygo

Quote from: SnakeClock;1684238Are any of you guys using laptops or some such devices, or mainly staying glued to the desktop for novel-writing action? Or dare I even suggest less typical devices, like an Alphasmart or (shudder) pen and paper?
Yes I'm using paper and pencil, I mean I have no time to type it all up on my computers.

clockradioclock

I'll be using WriteRoom on my good ol' macbook.

can't wait to get started :)
[SIGPIC]dance with me[/SIGPIC]

SnakeClock

Quote from: J. Thomas Rohner III;1684637Yes I'm using paper and pencil, I mean I have no time to type it all up on my computers.

It wouldn't be faster to, y'know, just use one computer? Maybe carry your novel file around on a USB drive so that you can easily move it between the many computers you apparently need to use? How fast do you handwrite, anyway?

You'll have to type it in to get your word count validated anyway, might as well save you the bother.

Faygo

Quote from: SnakeClock;1686712It wouldn't be faster to, y'know, just use one computer? Maybe carry your novel file around on a USB drive so that you can easily move it between the many computers you apparently need to use? How fast do you handwrite, anyway?

You'll have to type it in to get your word count validated anyway, might as well save you the bother.

I plan on doing that.