Technical Trick for the Mobile Author
June 7, 2012 in Tech by E. D. Johnson
From notforthemass.blogspot.com
I do not spend all my time writing on a single computer. For that matter, I do not even do all of my writing on a computer at all, even if a mobile phone can be considered a computer. I use a multitude of tools for our craft, as I am sure many do: pens, pencils, paper, computers, notepads, notebooks, laptops, tablets. These days, the technical advantages to working electronically cannot be underestimated, but I often switch devices more than once in a single day. Partially, I believe this is to get comfortable and change positions enough to keep my body from revolting from long periods of writing. Unfortunately, my desktop is not very mobile, and until I find a way to put my monitor above my head while laying in bed, my preferred, reclined position will not be available to me.
What is an author to do when they wish to not be stationary?
Some times, we writers need a change of venue to assist us in our art, but no one would ever take a desktop computer with them to Star Bucks to soak in the atmosphere. Instead, we reach for our phone and laptop and head to our favored coffee-dispensing center. Sadly, all the work we have done is stuck back on the desktop.
Now, this should not pose a huge problem, except I use a specific software program to do my writing. The software I use is called yWriter, by SpaceJock, but I am sure this could work with almost any writing program I have tried so far. The list of reasons why I use it would be fairly long, just suffice to say it is a simple, clean interface with complex features under the hood. Also, even an unorganized wandering agent of chaos like myself can draw some relative order in the chapters and scenes. That organization comes at a cost though. Namely, it takes a fair chunk of time to input all of your necessary, behind-the-scenes details into the software, which then stores them in text files. I do NOT want to do all of that work on every computer I use, but I am constantly changing computers, right?
Enter the magic of cloud services like Google Drive (Previously Google Docs, but now cooler!) and Dropbox. After installing the software, these programs make a directory, where ever you like. Dragging and dropping files into that directory works just like any other on a computer, but that is where the fun really starts. When installed on multiple devices and signed in under the same account, the program automatically downloads files saved to that directory from any other device. So I can type a shopping list on my computer, save it to the directory, then while at the store, pull up the list on my phone.
From cliparts101.com
But shopping lists are not the concern here. To keep all of my work together and accessible from all of my different devices, I saved my yWriter project(s) into a directory in my shared directory. Now, when yWriter auto-saves as I am working, not only does it save to my computer and make a backup on my computer, that save and backup are automatically uploaded to my Dropbox and Google Drive account and further distributed to my other devices (available on laptop, tablet, phone as well).
No need to worry about backups, because as a matter of course, I have at least five as soon as the first is made.
No need to re-invent my wheels for each story or project, as yWriter is accessing the same data every time.
No need to stay cooped up in my room or office, when I can just grab the laptop and head to Chick-Fil-A, get some chicken, and go to typing away.
Also, the laptop is far less likely to distract me with shinies like Facebook and games because it is slow compared to the desktop.
Overall, it results in a huge boon to writing productivity and efficiency, even while not staying put.
Do you have any awesome tricks and tips that you would want to share with the rest of the #FridayFlash community? Post a comment here or drop me an email (edjohnson) at /fridayflash/ dot {org}. I may include them in another article later, with proper credit given of course, and I hope that this one helps some folks out there.
~ E. D. Johnson
Former editor of FFDO
E. D. Johnson is a science fiction and fantasy author, gamer, and tech from OK living in CA. Johnson is married and owns the world's cutest dog.
This is EXACTLY what I do, too! Twins!
So which one of you is the evil one?
~jon
That’s a pretty duh kind of answer. Me, of course. I’m ALWAYS the evil one.
… and HE’S the clone. Not me.
I just recently got introduced to DropBox and I am impressed. Not only is it good for accessing your files from multiple platforms and keeping things backed up, but it is great for collaborating with others as you can add people to specific DropBox files and then share ideas back and forth. Much better than emailing attachments.
~jon
I have used those features (both with DropBox and Google Drive/Docs), but only docs for writing. The Dropbox stuff was for programming and distribution of different builds. Still, it is worth mentioning the fringe benefits of both services for something like that.
The CYOA process relies heavily on Google Docs for keeping everything organized until it is ready to go live on the site. And every participant can be editing the same file at the same time even. Probably good to keep the number of people editing at the same time down to less than 10 though, as I hear there gets to be some strange quirks after a point.
Lately, I’ve been throwing story ideas and uncompleted stories into Evernote. I pair a Bluetooth keyboard to my smartphone, so I can pull up whichever one strikes my fancy and work on it wherever I am. Evernote’s pretty understanding about places with a lack of signal, and will sync things up when I get home if nothing else.
I don’t have any projects where I’m collaborating just now, but Evernote lets you share a notebook so two people could work on the same project that way.
I’m still a newbie to tech – I’m very pleased at the amount I managed to understand
I have an L-shaped desk, actually two desks, one’s an l and one’s a period in Arial font. I occasionally turn my chair and put my feet up on the period with the keyboard on my lap to type. I don’t do that for too long, but it is a change. I have a laptop in the dining room which I haven’t used for writing in a few weeks. I’ve gotten really intense into editing 12-14 hr days and I can barely break for eating and household chores. My pain in the neck obsession continues. I downloaded yWriter to give it a go. Recently I spent a few days with Scrivener and although it has its merits, I’m sticking with my two open Word docs, one manuscript, the other synopsis etc. Thanks for this.