Comments on: Goals and Thoughts

By: Aidan Fritz

Aidan Fritz — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 15:50:30 +0000

I use Dragon Naturally Speaking for first drafts and rewriting and Dragon Dictate for inline editing. I prefer Dragon Naturally Speaking, it does much better at learning new names, selecting portions of the text, and provides a better interface for editing when the dictation program interprets my intent incorrectly. However, it runs on Windows (run within VMWare on my Mac) and although I've got methods of loading text into Scrivener in a way that works for the first drafts; trying to copy the text out of my Mac to Windows and back results in very funky formatting, so instead of fighting the formatting I just use Dragon Dictate.

By: T. S. Bazelli

T. S. Bazelli — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:44:24 +0000

It definitely is. Developing better habits is not always easy.

By: T. S. Bazelli

T. S. Bazelli — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:39:09 +0000

It's getting easier to tell :) I used to have the same problem, but maybe as I get older I'm getting more protective of my time. LOL

By: T. S. Bazelli

T. S. Bazelli — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:38:05 +0000

I've been using that method for the present novel. I use an @ symbol so its easy to search through (when I remember), and there's a lot of @name @place @someKindOfWeapon. I'm not looking forward to filling it all out later though...

By: T. S. Bazelli

T. S. Bazelli — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:36:18 +0000

I remember you mentioned the voice diction software before. Which program do you use for it?

By: Jay Noel

Jay Noel — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:54:05 +0000

I spend so many hours in my car for my job, so I can relate to the back issue. I'm going to get some help with that too.

Hope you find more time to write. It's so easy to let it get away from you.

By: Tiyana

Tiyana — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:32:30 +0000

Well, at least you know what you're really passionate about. :) I tend to have a lot of different interests but they're all about equal, in my mind. *sighs* Hard to be all gung-ho about any one thing when you're that way... You want to do it all and you end up doing nothing. Go figure! Also, I had no idea it was even possible to type too fast! :O

By: Stephen A. Watkins

Stephen A. Watkins — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:13:48 +0000

When I get in the writing zone, I'm usually pretty good about staying there. The only way the internet distracts me, when that happens, is if I run across something where I don't know about something that will impact how the scene plays out or how I describe it or something like that. One recent example: "Oh no, I don't know what the proper name for that circular spinning doorhandle that locks doors on ships and submarines. What's it called?" And then I'm off to the internet to research. I've been learning to use a method I saw mentioned by Mary Robinette Kowal, in which she puts some kind of brackets to denote stuff she needs to research later. But I don't always remember to do that. And when I forget to do that, and turn to the internet instead, that tends to suck up a lot of time.

By: Aidan Fritz

Aidan Fritz — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 04:25:53 +0000

Your thoughts come across as very healthy, analyzing what is been working and where you want to go. In particular, seeing how your body is reacting to things and adjusting to fit its needs.

One convenient thing about using voice dictation for my writing is that it makes it much more difficult to fall foul of the Internet addiction problems. The voice dictation programs aren't as thoroughly integrated with web browsers and therefore it's harder to switch from my manuscript to the latest shiny gewgaw the Internet is offering up.

By: T. S. Bazelli

T. S. Bazelli — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 18:48:18 +0000

Sometimes I think I'm learning more about myself than writing, though LOL I really HOPE my writing has improved!

By: T. S. Bazelli

T. S. Bazelli — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 18:47:31 +0000

I'm glad I'm not the only one that has a hard time resisting the lure... :) I like writing on paper sometimes as well. It helps me focus my thoughts better and I always brainstorm that way. I don't have a fountain pen, but I do have a fondness for Uniball's and Pilot V5 pens. They're my one writerly indulgence besides books. And yes you have mentioned about Hemingway! My setup is temporary, but maybe one day I'll get a proper writing surface, so I don't have to disassemble my post every day. It's been really good.

By: Kristan

Kristan — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 15:37:17 +0000

I really enjoyed reading your self-reflections. Perhaps also because so many of these lessons remind me of the ones I am learning too. :)

By: Anthony Lee Collins

Anthony Lee Collins — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:48:02 +0000

The "internet is stronger than my willpower" is definitely true for me as well. I'm sure I'm considered eccentric for writing with a fountain pen, but it's partly because my pen doesn't have the internet on it. Neither does my paper. :-) I know what you mean about dance vs. writing, too. Not that I was ever a dancer, but I used to be a musician, and I gradually realized that, while playing music has rewards (applause is nice, collaboration can be nice), I really preferred writing. I agree about word counts. I never thought about them until recently, and now mostly I track it to make sure I'm keeping everything concise. I had hoped Stevie One would be around 40,000 words (a bit shorter than my first novel), but it ended up around 30,000 words, which pleased me no end. So, I guess that's what I've been working on -- keeping the word count under control. :-) Hemingway wrote standing up, BTW (I may have mentioned that already).