CornerScribe

Archive for the ‘Software’ Category

You know I’m always on the lookout for the perfect writing software (alas). I just downloaded SuperNoteCard from Mindola.

I haven’t worked with it much yet, but it looks like it might be a good option, and for $29, it’s a good price as well. One thing that I see that I like is the ability to make “cards,” and move them around to reorganize the work. You can nest cards as well, and I can see that might be handy, or it might just overcomplicate matters. I haven’t decided yet.

Anyone want to recommend a piece of writing software you like?

I’m looking for a new laptop, and I have been for some time. Here’s a run-down of what I’m looking at (with links). If you’re looking for something similar, I hope you find it useful.

HED has an article on the Alphasmart, which brought it back to my attention. Here is the official site where you can order one. What I like about it is the price (around $200), size, battery life, and durability. What I don’t like is the small screen and the inability to use software of your choosing. I’m concerned that I’d spend a lot of time converting my work and reformatting.

I’m seriously considering the Asus eee. It’s coming out in October, and it’s also a great price (about $200).  It’s more of a traditional laptop, but it’s a bit light on processor, memory and storage. It runs Linux, which is fine by me. It’s small (screen is 7 inches diagonal), so it’s the size I’m looking for. My biggest concern with this one is the reviews; many people have complained that the keyboard and trackpad seem very cheap. I’m worried that it’s not as sturdy as I’d like.

Another option is the Nanobook. It’s pricier than the other options (about $600), but it’s the right size for what I’m looking for. It also has a better battery life than the eee.

What I’m looking for is something smaller and lighter than the traditional laptop without the very high prices that usually accompany that size. This is going to be a writing machine, so I’m not as interested in the bells and whistles that come on laptops. I’m leaning toward something that lets me install my own software, so that puts the alphasmart line at a disadvantage, but they’re not out of the running yet.

If you’re using one of these, let me know how you like it. Also, if you have any other suggestions, I’d love to hear it.

So, what do you think? I was ready for a new theme (yeah, I get bored easily), and this one jumped out at me for being spring-y and fun.

As luck would have it, I also had to get WordPress upgraded in order to use the theme.

So, last night I turned in a ticket around 11:00 or so, medium priority, asking that the upgrade be done. I had an email this morning that it was ready. Not bad, huh?

Many of you may know that I’m a programmer, so the irony that I pay for this type of work probably isn’t lost on you. I enjoy programming, but it isn’t something that I want to delve into at home. When I’m writing, I want technology to be as invisible as possible, which means someone else does my blog maintenance.

The host I use is Open Source Host. They’re inexpensive, and the service is fantastic. No, I don’t own stock or anything like that. These guys are just good at what they do. They do your installs and upgrades as a part of the hosting plan, and even better, they’ll install whatever open source platform you want (blog, wiki, cms, etc.) Look at Open Source CMS for a list of what they offer.

If you’re thinking of moving your blog to another host (you don’t have to change domain names), then give these guys a look.

I wanted to introduce and talk about a couple online writing tools (free!) that you might find useful too.

The first is Google Docs. This used to be Writely, so you may have seen that mentioned elsewhere online. Google docs is handy for keeping work available from anywhere. If I get a few minutes over lunch to write or edit, then Google Docs saves a lot of time and hassle.

You can even add Google Docs to your Google homepage.

One thing to be aware of… There seem to be some length limitations. I’ve noticed that all my novel doesn’t upload, so be careful with that. You might have to split the document if it’s large.

Another online tool I find really handy is a widget available for your Google homepage, Sticky Notes. It puts a small area on your page for notes, and I use that to jot down ideas when something comes to me at work. It lets me get the idea down somewhere and then get back to what I ought to be doing! (smile)

Sticky Notes is very good for short-term ideas, like blog and article ideas. I still carry (and use) my moleskine for jotting down story and novel ideas.

I know that ideas often come to me when I have the least opportunity to write, so it’s handy to have a way to get them down so I don’t forget. Yeah, like I’m forgetful….

I thought some of you might find my outlining technique interesting, or even useful. I use openoffice, which is a free office suite, similar to Microsoft’s. I really like it, and the word processor is terrific.

As you know, I’ve been outlining the novel, and I’m finding it much easier to do the outlining right in the text of the document. I put in four things at the top of each scene, much like you would a chapter heading. Each is prefaced by a letter to remind me what it is (in case I have a severe brain fart…)

S: summary of the scene

C: the major conflict in the scene (or lack thereof)

N: notes of things to fix, general impressions, etc.

E: how does the scene end, and whether it works

Each of these gets a heading 1, 2, 3, 4 style, respectively. To do that in OpenOffice, highlight the text you want to label, and then choose the style you want. That should already be in the menu bar at the top.

Next, create a table of contents (Insert > Indexes and Tables) at the very front of your document. On the first tab (Index/Table), you’ll click the button next to “additional styles” and arrange your headings as you want them to appear. I have mine indented much like you would for an outline.
Click okay, and the Table of contents should appear. Any time you want to update it, just right click in the table and select “update.”

One very cool thing you can do is put the body text into the table of contents too (using the “additional styles” button).

Finally, to get the table of contents converted to something editable, copy and paste it out to a new document. You’ll keep the formatting, but it will no longer be attached to the document.

So far, it’s working well for me. I haven’t tried this in MS Word, but you can probably do something similar there as well. I’m not sure though that Word will let you put the body text in a table of contents though.

I’m off to keep on editing. I have another short story stirring around that I’m planning on putting on the site as a pdf. No promises on when that will happen, but I’m working on it.

I’m back and feeling better. Work has been especially stressful this week, but I can’t really talk about that, more’s the pity. It’s rather an interesting story, if you don’t happen to be embroiled in it!

What I can talk about is giving you the review of writing software I promised. Well, the first review, at least. I’m looking at Storylines, which is overall a very nice piece of software.

I like the index card motif used here. You can type a brief scene description for the card, and it’s placed on a worspace where you can move it around and arrange your scenes. It’s even nicer that the card can hold the entire text of your scene, and it gets moved around as you move the cards. By generating a report, you can then see the re-arranged version of the novel.

Storylines also supports script-writing, so you have formatting tools to allow your script to look appropriate.

It’s also very easy to use. I looked through a brief introduction and was working in it in a matter of minutes.

One problem that I’ve run across so far is the inability to bring in formatted text. I’m doing a copy/paste from openoffice, and I’m losing the italics in Storylines. That is a problem, and if I don’t find a way to solve it, it may be enough to keep me from purchasing it.

I plan on spending a little more time with the software, trying to solve the italics issue. I’ll post another update and let you know how I like it after a little more use.

Check out this site for Scrivener, a very good looking piece of writing software. Before you get too excited, it’s available only for OS X (Mac), so if you’re a Windows person or Linux person, you’re out of luck.

Since I’m on Windows, I can’t use it either, but it looks terrific. I’d love to be able to try it out — does anyone know if you can emulate a Mac on a Windows or Linux box?

Anyone else have a favorite piece of writing software you’d like to recommend? I’m looking for something that offers some outlining, reorganizing, and writing capability. That’s what led me to find Scrivener, but I’m looking for something that won’t require that I buy a new computer!