New Toy

As my consolation prize for finishing grad school, I got myself a new phone. It's been quite a few years since I got a cell phone-- never did buy into that "upgrade your phone" every two years bullshit. The old phone was at least 6 years old and was a very basic phone.

I decided to "splurge" on a new phone. This time, I decided to go with a fancy one. Actually, I decided to go with one that had MS Word on it. Yeah, I know. I barted my principals for the chance to poke a few sentences out on a short story while sitting at the doctor's office. But what are princiapals for, if not for bartering?

No, I did not get an iPhone. I'm a PC, not a Mac. I have more than enough trouble with my two computer nemesis-- QuickTime and iTunes. We do not get along, these programs and me. Funny that the two programs I have the most trouble with on my computer just happen to be the two Apple products. Maybe they sense that I only have the programs in protest.

So, my new phone is a "smartphone" that runs Windows. It's not that smart... it still only does what it thinks I'm telling it to do. If it was really smart, it would know what I want without me telling it. ;-) (Insert your own "husband/wife" joke there-- as a writer, I make DAMN sure my husband really, clearly and without mistake knows what I am communicating. As a writer, it's my responsibility to convey my ideas.)

Back to the phone... thought I bought one of them fancy phones, I cheaped out in every other way. I bought the refurbished LG Incite and skipped the data plan. In fact, I got one of the only smartphones that does NOT require the purcahse of that pure-profit-for-the-phone-companies $30/mo data plans. I can use the internet I already pay for at home, thanks.

So far, I like my little phone. It's pertty. And I already have a thousand words poked out on a new short story. One sentence at a time. I'm gonna like having the ability to type wherever I go. Especially now that I'm done with grad school, I'll have my life and my time back. Time to get back on writing short stories and littering them across the internet like watermelon seeds on the backporch after a summer bar-b-q.

Note to Self

Writing longer stories necessitates keeping track of all the details, from characters to timelines. Shorter stories are much easier to scroll back or even just to remember since they are focused and only include a few things.

My memory is less than stellar. I'd like to blame it on such a busy schedule, one that requires me to shift gears several times during the day. I can't rule out a genetic component, though.

So, I make notes to myself to keep track of names, characters, appearances, details, even what those characters know (vs. what they said they knew). Notes on what Bo should later do with information from Bill or who she should talk to next after the current scene.

But where to put these notes? How and where to write them? Increasingly, I've moved to putting more and more on the computer. The digital form is less chaotic and much easier to keep track of. But there are certainly limitations to the digital form. Such as switching between windows while I'm working. Call me quirky (because I am) but it's just easier to jot a note into a notebook in the midst of working on a piece on the computer.

But, most of my notes are on the computer. It's a little technical, a little convoluted, and sadly, only mostly helpful. I'm not entirely satisfied with the system. Perhaps because it's completely haphazard!

I use the Comments feature in Word (Insert--> Comments) to make notes to myself. Since I have Word2003 (and 2007) the comments show up in ballons in the margin. It monkeys with my page layout at little, but it's quite a workable solution. Except one thing-- the text gets awful small.

I type up notes to myself on the bottom of the WIP. Since I work linearly, this is usually directly after the last thing I am typing.

My new attempt at organzing the timeline is to use a new Style. I use the Document Map (LOVE!) for my chapters. That box hides styles. Any heading style shows up in the document map. So, if I apply a new style, I can put MONDAY AM in my Document Map, allowing me to see, at once, when the days change and what day X happened.


Techincal stuff: Doc. Map is View--> Document Map. To apply a style, select the text and find the two little AAs. Styles is fun and oh, so useful!

No, I don't spend more time tweaking my writing process than writing. Not overall... but some days. What? How do YOU put off writing? ;-)