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Tools of the Trade
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magicnoire and shadawyn have really interesting lists about what tools they use while writing/editing, so I thought I would join in, because, well, it's interesting to see how writers do what they do.
So here's my list.
Tools of the Trade:
1) Notebooks. I have about four of these, one for each project I'm working on (Seasons, Dreams, Wings and Treaty). I'm contemplating adding one more for OTSOA, which will not stop eating my brain, but we'll see. I use my notebooks for everything while writing, because I refuse to write on my work computer (I got fired from a job for that, once upon a time, and will NEVER make that mistake again), so my notebooks are a jumble of notes, scenes, character sketches and dialogue snippets that come to me at work.
2) Pens. Random lovely pens, in all shades of the rainbow. I love pens. I love to write out longhand, using different colors to show telepathy (I have yet to write a book that does not have some form of telepathy.) and thoughts. Silly, yes. But fun.
3) Merlin, my laptop. I adore my laptop - he's a 4-year-old Gateway that doesn't connect to the Internet and has only one game on him, so he's good to take places. I use him when the Internet becomes too addictive, or when I go to my treatments (because it's easier to type on a computer keyboard with an IV in my arm than it is to write on a notepad).
4) My desktop. Who does not have a name, which disturbs me. Although I did just inherit her from hubby in October, so I have an excuse. Must think of a name for her. She's a 5-year-old Dell and I adore her as well. I do all my editing on my desktop, although I print my pages out first and mark them up extensively. (which reminds me, I need to get to Kinko's and print out the new CG to go over.)
No Neo, although I'm pondering one. Either that or a Palm, since I need to finally ditch my DayPlanner (I'm growing out of it). Can you use the Neo or the Dana as a planner too?
magicnoire and shadawyn have really interesting lists about what tools they use while writing/editing, so I thought I would join in, because, well, it's interesting to see how writers do what they do.So here's my list.
Tools of the Trade:
1) Notebooks. I have about four of these, one for each project I'm working on (Seasons, Dreams, Wings and Treaty). I'm contemplating adding one more for OTSOA, which will not stop eating my brain, but we'll see. I use my notebooks for everything while writing, because I refuse to write on my work computer (I got fired from a job for that, once upon a time, and will NEVER make that mistake again), so my notebooks are a jumble of notes, scenes, character sketches and dialogue snippets that come to me at work.
2) Pens. Random lovely pens, in all shades of the rainbow. I love pens. I love to write out longhand, using different colors to show telepathy (I have yet to write a book that does not have some form of telepathy.) and thoughts. Silly, yes. But fun.
3) Merlin, my laptop. I adore my laptop - he's a 4-year-old Gateway that doesn't connect to the Internet and has only one game on him, so he's good to take places. I use him when the Internet becomes too addictive, or when I go to my treatments (because it's easier to type on a computer keyboard with an IV in my arm than it is to write on a notepad).
4) My desktop. Who does not have a name, which disturbs me. Although I did just inherit her from hubby in October, so I have an excuse. Must think of a name for her. She's a 5-year-old Dell and I adore her as well. I do all my editing on my desktop, although I print my pages out first and mark them up extensively. (which reminds me, I need to get to Kinko's and print out the new CG to go over.)
No Neo, although I'm pondering one. Either that or a Palm, since I need to finally ditch my DayPlanner (I'm growing out of it). Can you use the Neo or the Dana as a planner too?
no subject
Mine is 2 pounds. That's half the wait of my ultraportable laptop and about the same size! LoL If you have a lap to use, it's pretty comfortable on the bus. (Digression: I have short legs that don't quite touch the ground when sitting on a standard seat, so NOTHING works in my lap because it slopes down and my feet hang in the air :D But when I get the bus seat with the footrest, I have a normal person lap, and the Neo works great.)
Zip drives are ancient, so I'm guessing you're talking about a USB flash drive? The Dana will take an SD memory card (same that a Palm and digital camera takes), but the Neo only has it's internal memory. However, the internal memory holds about 200 single spaced pages, and there's really no reason you should need that much on it anyway, unless you plan to write the whole novel on a deserted island. I easily transfer everything to my computer on a nightly basis (or after my trip) with a cable that comes with it, that plugs into USB.
You can probably get an inexpensive used one on eBay. The 3000 is similar to the Neo in battery life, and just has a slightly smaller screen and "only" holds about 100 pages at a time.
No worries. I love to talk about my Neo. I got 4 people to buy them last year by talking about it and/or letting them try/see mine in action. LoL
AlphaSmart should give me commission.