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Tools of the Trade

April 7th, 2012 No comments

Do you have a favourite pen? Did it make writing more fun?

I recently gave in and downloaded the Scrivener demo (a generous demo of thirty days – that’s thirty days of actual use, not thirty days from when you first turn it on). It’s a great program you should definitely try and I plan to rework my WIP using it.

One thing I’m noticing when fiddling with Scrivener is not how useful it is (although it is), but how fun it is. Using a well-designed application can be fun, something that is oft overlooked. And I think a lot of us could do with having the writing process made more fun for us. Read more…

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An iPod, Dropbox and Nebulous

January 8th, 2011 2 comments

I have previously waxed lyrical on the advantages of my ‘on the move’ writing setup. Of course, nothing is so perfect that it can’t be refined. Here are the latest changes to my setup. Read more…

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3 Interactive Fiction Authoring Tools

August 14th, 2010 6 comments

Last week I gave you a brief introduction to Interactive Fiction (IF). This week, I’m showing you three tools for creating IF for all of those peops whose interest was piqued. Each takes a unique approach, so read carefully to pick the one that is right for you. Read more…

10 apps to increase your focus

July 9th, 2010 No comments

Here is the promised list of productivity applications that aim to get you focussed during a writing session. It took a little longer than expected because I wanted to represent Windows users as well as I could (productivity tools seem to be a much healthier sub-culture on Macs for some reason). So behold a great list below of tools to focus for both Mac and Windows writers! Read more…

RSS aggregator as a research tool

June 25th, 2009 No comments

A while ago, I made a blog entry about getting inspiration to come to you. Some of the ways I mentioned to do this would actually help as research tools as well. Read more…

DropBox – Foolproof filesharing

March 12th, 2009 No comments

dropboxI’ve mentioned DropBox briefly, but wanted to give an idea of how it can be used by writers. It is designed as an easy means of transferring documents automatically from one machine to another. And the key word there is ‘automatically’ – as long as you have an active internet connection you don’t have to turn on and off (most people), you never have to even think about it. Read more…

Freemind – a note-taking tool

February 19th, 2009 No comments

freemind logoOne aspect of writing I really enjoy is note-taking.

In the early stages of a project it feels really creative to get some ideas down and start shaping the thing that’s lurking in your mind. And it’s most joyous when it is as instant as possible. It allows me space to think, generate more ideas and importantly, not forget any! (How many times have you been writing a paragraph where an idea to include in the next paragraph comes to you, only for you to forget it by the time you’re ready to write it?)

One fantastic piece of software I use for this is Freemind. Read more…