A Broken Chain

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The WriteChain challenge I placed upon myself fizzled out the other night. I waited too long to do the writing, and my family ended up interrupting me and I couldn’t focus enough to get it done. I found myself depressed over Mother’s Day, and stressed over other things, so I gave myself the day off.

I managed over 5,000 words in nine days, which is more than what I normally do. I was sure to write specifically with the novel, and 500 was doable in light I also blog, write tutorials for my work, and journal.

I think this illustrates that as a writer, you do need a day off from time to time. Coincidently, I got a very nasty Trojan virus on my computer yesterday, leading me to spend almost eight hours of working scans, and trying to work around this stupid thing.

I finally managed to remove its evil presence. I highly recommend Spybot. Its a free program, small enough to fit on a flash drive, and works amazingly well in detecting trouble on your computer.

I also recommend Malwarebytes. This is also free and can fit on a flash drive. When you run the program, it searches for malware and viruses.

I also tell my fellow writers to BACK UP YOUR FILES. It takes a Trojan or computer crash to sink in how important it is to back up your work someplace other than your computer.

Back up to a flash drive. Also known as a thumb drive, you just plug in and use as a tiny hard drive. I have a number of flash drives for specific purposes such as my computer flash drive for repair and virus checking, another flash drive for photos and music, and another drive to back up all my documents.

Back up to the Internet. There’s a number of sites you can use to back up and even synchronize your documents;

Google Documents

Zoho

Microsoft Skydrive 

Thinkfree

Backup regularly. The more you write and create/delete files, the more often you should backup those folders.

Fortunately, I didn’t lose any data, and my new laptop is on its way. Hopefully, I’ll have it in my hands on the 16th, if I don’t go insane before then.

Technorati Tags: backup,trojan,troubleshoot,google,zoho,skydrive,thinkfree,flash drive,writechain,apps,iphone,sync

Writer’s Chain: Idea and Iphone App

I discovered a neat Iphone app entitled Write Chain by HowNotToWrite.com. The blog alone is well worth the read for information and resources, but its a very cool idea and Iphone application that I found most intriguing.

A write chain is an unbroken series of days you meet your word count goals. If you select a word count of 500 words a day, like I have, then you try to keep the chain going by writing every day until the challenge ends.

From the site:

WriteChain is a word count tracking tool for the iPhone designed to remind you to maintain your writing practice.

WriteChain is FREE. Nothing fancy. No hidden editors or quotes or any of that fiddle faddle. Just a super simple tool that any writer can use to set a daily goal and hold themselves accountable to it.

 

I can easily add the word count and see my progress. I then share this with my fellow writers for the accolades and cheers.

This is an awesome tool for National Novel Writing Month, or to simply challenge yourself. If you don’t have an Iphone, simply take up the challenge of a word count goal and write them down on a sheet of paper. Keep the chain going as long as you can.

Good luck!

Technorati Tags: nanowrimo,word count,writing,author,publishing,challenge,iphone,apps

Pen, pencil, or Iphone?

 When I first upgraded to an Iphone, my hope was to find something for reminders and to talk to someone while adding information to a calendar at the same time. The IPhone offers this feature, so when I get a customer needing computer help, I can easily schedule them rather than having to be at my computer or scrawl in a paper calendar.

A feature I find even more amazing is the ability to tap away words in a document, upload/sync to the computer later, therefore allowing me to write no matter where I am.

I can jot down ideas, character biographies, plot outlines, or just write the story on my IPhone no matter where I am. I also add blog ideas, craft projects I want to accomplish, and do a number of lists from my phone as well.

The app costs only $2.99, and although you can find a number of writing apps for the IPhone, some of which are free, I like how this syncs nicely with the web site, and I don’t have to have the Internet to use it.

When looking for a writing apps, you should consider a few features before picking one:

• The app must sync in some form or another so you can add your document to the computer for editing. Methods include sync, email, or upload/download via the ITunes program.
• Cost is another factor. Some apps are free or offer a ‘lite’ version, while other apps cost anywhere from $.99 as much as $29.99 or even more.
• What formats are supported? I found a number of apps use the .TXT format, while others use .RTF or even .DOC. Some import in .PDF only and you can’t edit at all. Documents 2 for example imports .RTF and if I import a .TXT it will get changed to an non-editable.PDF.
• Does the app require the Internet? This matter to IPhone users who have limited data plans, and limited Internet access. MyWritingSpot doesn’t require it, but others require a log in (members only) as well as the connection.
• Does the app turn sideways? I require my phone to turn sideways so the touchpad keys are a bit larger for my thumbs. Not all writing apps have the ability to switch to landscape mode.

Remember to backup the files you create as well. I forgot to do this and lost a number of items that way.

Technorati Tags: iphone,apps,mywritingspot,documents,writing,author,publishing,android,tech,story,fiction

Epublishing- the new age of publishing your work

I was pretty excited today when I received an offer for my writer’s meetup group. It was from PubIt.

Barnes and Nobles are now offering PubIt, which lets you publish for ereaders. All I’d have to do is let my members know about it, post a small ad on the site, and comment at the meeting about this service. Being I’ve already discussed online writing, e-publishing, and the use of ereaders, this was perfect. The sponsorship could end up paying my meetup dues for the year. Its a free service, free to sign up, with cost only as a percentage from sales.

You’re probably familiar with Amazon’s Kindle ereader, and Barnes and Nobles now have NOOK. I have Kindle on my IPhone, and realized the other day that sometimes the two are not really compatible. Fortunately, I just needed to download the Nook app- which, like the Kindle app, is free.

Barnes and Nobles Launches Publishing Platform to Rival Amazon’s DTP. I’m rather excited with this technology, opening the Internet up for all sorts of writers to publish their work. It makes me wonder if we’ll see a day where paper book publisher goes to the wayside.

You can also find Amazon’s site offers this service, where authors can publish short stories and poems, and even newsletters and e-magazines. They also offer bloggers a means to make money by publishing through them, for subscriptions. I’ve earned some money with that method.

Kindle and Nook are different and they don’t share well. However, you can get ereader programs to read on the computer,or apps to read on the Iphone or Ipad.

Nook App for Iphone, Android, PC, Ipad. Blackberry, and Mac.

Kindle app for Iphone, Android, PC, IPad, Blackberry, and Mac.

Technorati Tags: iphone,ereader,nook,kindle,apps,ipad,publishing,story,poems,novels

Blog by phone

I finally updated my cell phone and got an IPhone. what I found was that the phone provides a means in which I can blog directly from the phone. If only my fingers were smaller to type on the smaller keyboard
The app (application/program) I found on the Internet is vast as well as staggering. There are dictation apps. Text app, document sharing and even collaborating apps , and. Apps specific for writers to help inspire and organize their writing.

The problem with typing on an Iphone is the small keyboard but also the limited text formatting available. Even WordPress offers limited functions, and that’s why I prefer the LiveWriter program for blogging. I have yet to find the Livewriting app for that.

Either case, I’ll be updated more regularly as inspiration hits me and I have my handy Iphone to publish the tips and resources that come to mind.