[PUBLIC POST] Tools of the trade

[ljwrites]

What do you write with? What's your workflow like? Is there particular software that you like to use for certain purposes, or do you prefer writing in longhand and transcribing to a computer later on? Has technology affected your writing process in any way?

I have a mix of processes. Generally I like Scrivener for its ability to organize snippets of writing and to keep all my research in the same place, but its lack of mobile options means I use Evernote a lot when I'm away from my computers. I'm also fond of longhand writing when I'm in libraries and on public transport. This means I have a lot of scattered notes and bits in different places, all of which I swear I'm going to transcribe to my Scrivener project someday.

A major boon for research purposes is Zotero, a citations database program where I can organize my citations and take extensive notes, with search and tag functions available for later reference. Like Scrivener via Dropbox and Evernote it's all synchronized online, meaning it's automatically backed up and available on whatever machine I log into.

The availability of cloud and synchronization technology like Dropbox, Evernote, and Zotero made things easier in some ways and gave me peace of mind in the form of automatic backup, but I also have a lot of paper notes that are one careless placement or a house fire away from getting lost forever. Better get to it, I guess.

Comments

[ljwrites]

Separating the writing from the editing is another excellent reason for longhand writing. I've been writing left-handed sometimes to keep from tiring out my right hand too much and it reminds me of you, haha.

There are parts of an old project that I literally could not have done without Scrivener. I switched out the scene orders over and over again for one 10K-word chapter, something that would have been exhausting at best and a disaster at worst on Word but was so easy on Scriv. I could even save several different scene orders as collections to see how different versions of the chapters worked. It gives me an adrenaline rush just thinking about it, and I look forward to working intensively with the software again. (I get adrenaline rushes from weird and geeky stuff, needless to say.)

For all its justly-praised merits Scrivener hasn't adapted to the mobile age, as you point out. It doesn't even play all that nicely with Dropbox, if the multiple conflicting versions of the main project file are any indication. Has that happened to you? I don't think I've experienced major glitches from all the conflicting versions, but it's annoying nonetheless.

OneNote is one of those apps I dabbled in and wanted to get into, but Evernote caught me up during a period when I didn't have access to MS Office. And now in most likelihood I'm too entrenched to ever port over. Evernote in good enough that I don't actually want to leave, but it's almost boring in its unobtrusive competence and there's always the possibility of overrunning my free quota hanging over my head. Plus it's awfully... green. Evernote is the spouse I find fault with but ended up building my life around, and OneNote will likely remain the one that got away.

[inkdust]

I sure wished I hadn't let my left hand practice drop off when I splashed hot oil on my right hand the other week. In the end I was able to write again quickly, but that first night I would have been very happy not to be tripped up.

Scene order collections is something to remember... I've switched things around quite a bit as well.

I typically only use Scrivener on one computer, so I haven't run into issues with conflicting versions so far. But from the few times I've left a Word document open on my computer, edited something on my phone and then forgot to refresh the open document, I would not want to deal with that with a large Scrivener work.

I LOVE your OneNote/Evernote analogy. And "it's awfully...green." I had a very good laugh.

[ljwrites]

I'm so sorry to hear that! How's your hand? I've never picked up much speed with my own left-handed writing but practice sounds like a good idea all of a sudden.

EverNote really is solid yet stolid. And OneNote has actual multiple colors, which is definitely a plus. XD

[inkdust]

Hand is fully recovered! This is, oddly, three weeks to the day. It only had one small blister, so it healed well and there are just a few faint marks left. Unluckily, exactly a week after the burn (watch out for Tuesdays, I swear) I got caught in a retractable dog leash, between a dog and a squirrel, so now I also bear an impressive red scar from one side of my knee all the way around the back to the other. It was like extremely concentrated rope burn, do not recommend. And I'm such a risk-averse person, I experienced more injury in those two weeks than I have in the past ten years. So let's say I'm set for the next ten, right?

[ljwrites]

Ouuuuch. Keeping my fingers crossed that you are, indeed, set for the next ten years.