Why my old setup sucks

Here’s a quick summary of my previous setup:

• Dropbox. It let’s you sync any files between any kind of computer, and with the help of an app, from your iPhone or iPod touch as well. Not only does this act as a handy backup in case your computer blows up, it also let’s you take files on the move to do some reading.
• iPod Touch. Specifically, the notes app let’s you write on the move and email the note to yourself when you’re back in range of a wifi connection (or from anywhere if you have an iPhone).

This is great an’ all, but there are one or two things missing. The biggest is that the Dropbox iPhone app does not have an editor, only a reader, so in order to get your notes in Dropbox (and therefore, shared and backed up) you have to email the note to yourself, open your emails on a computer, then save the email as a text file in your Dropbox folder.

Not the greatest hassle in the world, but it doesn’t scream convenience now does it?

Enter Nebulous

Out goes the Dropbox app on my iPod Touch, in comes Nebulous, with the following great features:

• Save to Dropbox. I don’t need the Dropbox app, Nebulous let’s me open and save text documents, plus create new ones and upload them to my Dropbox.
• Security. Unlike the Dropbox app, you can add a pin that you’ll be asked each time you open a Dropbox file. There is a problem with this that needs fixing however (see below).
• Word count. Apple’s notes app does not include a word count, which I find rather annoying as I use it to track my progress. Waiting until I’ve downloaded and saved an email to see my word count is a pain.
• Macros. For those oft-typed phrases, quick notes, code, or tricky to get to characters. This is a slidable row of shortcuts. For example, I use mine to enter HTML code like list items when I’m blogging. But you could easily add a button that inserts {NEEDS RESEARCH} as a note-to-self, for example.

Update, please

I mentioned a problem, didn’t I. Well, as great an idea as the security pin is, there is a massive hole. When it starts, Nebulous always opens up the last document you’ve been working on. This is useful, but it does so without requiring a pin, so if someone else got hold of your device, they would be able to see this information without any trouble.

This is an obvious flaw. It stands to reason that anyone wanting to use the pin feature does not want people able to view any of their documents. In my mind this makes the pin feature unfinished.

I’ll use this opportunity to urge the Nebulous developers to please fix this.

Anything else?

There is another gap in this mobile system – reading documents. Things like PDFs, that I used to read through the Dropbox app are no longer readable on my mobile device. I have not found a reader that let’s me pin-lock access to it, but if you’ve heard of one, please let me know.

Other than that, you can of course use the Dropbox app, or there’s Good Reader, which is also a fine app for this purpose.

Overall I’m pretty happy with this way of working. I’ll be very chuffed if those last few niggles are ironed out.

If you have a system for writing on the go that works for you, why not share it in the comments section? Any recommendations for mobile apps for writers are also appreciated!

Twine (Mac, Windows, Linux)

I’m writing about Twine first because it is the simplest, and therefore the easiest to use. Twine writers produce stories using a graphical interface. Each piece of text is represented within a box, and lines link each box, showing the routes the player might take through the story. The work is compiled in HTML format, and will work on any browser that supports javascript (and has it turned on. That’s practically everyone, by the way).

Twine is very easy to get to grips with.The graphical interface makes it immediately obvious what is going on. Editing is done by double-clicking a box and typing in the resulting form. Creating a new box is as simple as double-clicking in an empty space. Links within the text are defined by surrounding the word(s) in double square brackets [[like this]], and choices outside of the main text are the same, only with a * character in front. And that is seriously all you need to get going.

In addition, problems are automatically flagged by the system, and an exclamation point placed in the relevant box.Because the system is so simple, the only problem can be that you are trying to link to a box that does not exist.

Twine uses a graphical interface to show its simple text and links concept.

For more information, there is a video tutorial series that explains everything you need to know and will definitely help you decide if this is the authoring tool for you.

If you want to “go deep” with Twine, you can add your own HTML and stylesheets. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you probably want to leave those features alone (you are basically editing web pages at that stage), but that’s fine, as they’re not necessary to write a story. Aside from this, the major problem with Twine is that it will be too simple for most purposes. Everything is generated in simple HTML, and there is no underlying structure – everything is text and links. What I mean by that is the system has no concept of what a door is, or what it can do; nor a room, object, or player-character for that matter.

Because of this a reader cannot pick up an object and use it elsewhere, for example, and even the simplest puzzle that affects the environment becomes difficult. These things can be “fudged”, but you will have to be strict about the specific route a reader takes through the story. This is more of a Choose Your Own Adventure style story than a text adventure.

Inform 7 (Mac, Windows, Linux)

Inform takes a more writerly approach. In the same way that Interactive Fiction uses a verb-based system to make it easy to play/read, Inform has tried to make its source code like writing English. The theory is that you simply describe what the player sees. The interface is split into two panes, each of which can show a variety of helpful tools and resources. The work that’s produced can be played on any interpreter.

Inform’s coding style is an intriguing concept. Rather than write code as such, you can get a lot done by writing a paragraph. Inform will then interpret what you have written and sort the various objects into types, which automagically have certain properties and available actions associated with them. Take this example from the documentation:

East of the Garden is the Gazebo. Above is the Treehouse. A billiards table is in the Gazebo. On it is a trophy cup. A starting pistol is in the cup.

There are three rooms there, and three objects, each of a different type. The language is very powerful, allowing for all sorts of interaction. And it’s extensible, so if there is something you need, you might be able to find an extension that includes it. You can always write your own of course, but we’re getting a bit hardcore there.

There is a caveat. Just like interactive fiction promises the world with its blinking cursor, writing source code with Inform is not as freeform as it first appears. Although there are many different ways to write the same thing, it is still source code, and beginners will run into problems because they haven’t written things in the “right” order, or they have left out some punctuation that didn’t seem strictly necessary. But once it’s written, the source code is incredibly easy to understand, meaning it’s easy to learn from the work of others.

Inform has a powerful and surprisingly complete suite of tools

Added to that, the documentation is excellent; full of examples, sensibly organised, and viewable alongside your source code, thanks to the two panes of the interface. It is also extremely well-written, managing to be both concise, thorough and informative. It is not often I enjoy reading a manual!

Other tools include a Skein (basically a visual representation of a reader’s journey through the story) a full transcript of any given playthrough, and an automatically generated map of your world. All powerful stuff, if a little intimidating to the beginner.

I have to come off the fence and say that overall Inform 7 is my favourite of the three. For a piece of free software (or any software), it’s impressively complete, and takes a professional look at useability that is missing from the others. The Mac version especially, is a joy to use.

TADS (Mac, Windows, Linux)

N.B. Mac and Linux versions are either old, or more difficult to run. See the download page for more info.

TADS stands for Text Adventure Development System, and is as techy as that sounds. This is a tool for programmers. It is written in a text editor (TADS Workbench is a specially designed text editor for this purpose), and each room, object, interaction, description is defined in a strict syntax. If you are used to code as simple as HTML upwards though, this should not pose a problem. The TADS 3 format that’s produced can be played on any interpreter.

Here is an example of the code (with comments removed), just for the sake of comparison:

entryway: Room ‘Entryway’
“This large, formal entryway is slightly intimidating:
the walls are lined with somber portraits of gray-haired
men from decades past; a medieval suit of armor<<describeAxe>>
towers over a single straight-backed wooden chair. The
front door leads back outside to the south. A hallway leads
north. ”

describeAxe
{
if (axe.isIn(suitOfArmor))
“, posed with a battle axe at the ready,”;
}

north = hallway

south = frontDoor

out = frontDoor
;

+ frontDoor: Door ‘front door’ ‘front door’
“It’s a heavy wooden door, currently closed. ”

initiallyOpen = nil

dobjFor(Open)
{
action() { “You’d rather stay in the house for now. “; }
}
;

If you can vaguely understand what’s going on here, you should be fine. If the sight of it sends you into waves of panic, TADS is probably not for you.

The manual is large, but I found it tended to waffle a bit. As the code is fairly easy to read, I recommend starting a new project on the “easiest” setting and opening the .t file within. This contains a basic structure for your story that you can edit. Most importantly though, it is very heavily commented, and explains each of the lines in the example above, and much more. It’s a great basis from which to start and is very instructive.

You are not restricted to one file of code. In fact you can have as many as you want, allowing you to organise your project how you like. The manual recommends splitting your project up one file per room, for example.

There are various debugging tools available that will be familiar to programmers. Break points will stop running the code at a specific point so that you can check on the status of watched variables. For simple stories, this won’t be necessary, but when it comes to testing complicated logic, they can be invaluable.

Overall, TADS is an inoffensive system for programmers, and you may well find that this suits your way of thinking more than the others.

In Conclusion

And that’s basically the way to choose – pick a system that suits the way you think and start writing with it; see how it feels. The exception is Twine because it is so restrictive that even if you like the graphical interface, it may not produce the stories you want to create. Still, if you are unsure at all if you want to write IF, Twine is an easy testing bed for the form.

As always, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the systems described above. And if I’ve missed one that you like using, please let me know. The comments section is below.

Still not interested? Next week I’ll be writing about some of the unique opportunities that Interactive Fiction has to offer writers, so stay tuned!

Pomodoro technique (Mac, Win)

This is here because there are a couple if applications available to help you with the technique. Here is a quick rundown of what Pomodoro is:

• It is a well recognised fact that us humans have difficulty concentrating on anything for more than 20-30 minutes. We suck at focussing. This technique aims to help with this.
• It advocates you work in 25 minute chunks, each followed by a 5 minute break.
• These 25 minutes must be disciplined, focused work, and the breaks genuine breaks.

The pomodoro website explains more (though really, what needs explaining?), and there is a downloadable PDF, too. And here is a Pomodoro app for Macs, which has more features than is strictly necessary, and is definitely worth a look.

Focus booster is usually mentioned alongside the Pomodoro app. It allows you to set 25 minute intervals andshows a bar that counts down. Personally though, I don’t like clock watching and think it rather spoils the point if having an application to do it for you. But, it’s built on Adobe Air, so can be used on Windows or Mac.

Spirited away (Mac)

I have recently started using this app at work, where I can have upwards of five programs open at once. If an open app is not used for a set interval it gets automatically hidden, removing clutter without you having to think about it. You can exclude programs from being hidden with an easy icon in your top bar. Simple and very effective.

MinimOther (Win)

The Windows equivalent of Spirited Away, MinimOther minimises every window save for the one that currently has focus. It does this immediately rather than on a timed basis, so as soon as one window is selected, the others are gone! I recommend using the tab key to move to any other windows you might need rather than fiddling with your mouse (ooh-er).

Think (Mac)

Think is well known in the Mac productivity community, and has a similar agenda to Spirited Away and MinimOther in that it aims to let you focus on only the applications you need and hide the others. Think’s approach is to darken the rest of the screen, leaving only one app highlighted. There are lots of options and you can bring other apps to the fore temporarily if you need to.

Ghoster (Win)

Does the same, but for windows. It blacks out everything else, including the taskbar, which on Windiws 7 is all shiny and flashy and animated and distracting!

Writeroom (Mac)

When all you want to do is write, having a load of other programs hanging around can be distracting. Even the operating systems menus and widgets and doodas can be distracting. Even the buttons and menus if the word processor are unnecessary clutter!

Writeroom gets rid of all of that by just displaying the text. All else fades neatly away until you move to another program or quit the application. The only feature is a very useful word count, which only appears when you mouse over the bottom of the screen. Writeroom doesn’t sound like it should be as useful as it is, but once you start using it, it soon feels necessary, then essential.

You might argue that for such a simple tool it’s rather expensive, and I would not disagree. Still, for thosepeople who were not lucky enough to get Writeroom for free in a MacHeist bundle, there is another alternative called JDarkroom, which is set up as a free version of Darkroom (below), and is Java-based, making it cross-platform.

Darkroom (Win)

Does pretty much the same as Writeroom, but for Windows. I’m sure the green writing is only there to appeal to geeks and retrophiles, but it can be changed to black and white.

Freemind (Java-based)

I’ve blogged about this before, so follow this link for more on how you can use this excellent free mindmapping software. In some ways this is an anti-focus tool, as it allows your mind to wander freely over the “page”, but that’s just what you need when what you’re focussing on is generating ideas!

And there you have it. I’m sure there are many more tools out there, so I’d love to know what tools you’ve found that help you focus on your writing.

When you sit down to do some research, your intention can be very different. You know the kind of thing you are looking for and it’s a matter of digging out the relevant information. If you’re like me (and many other people these days), your first port of call is the internet. The wealth of information is so huge, and so varied.

But, as I’m sure you know, it’s a double-edged sword. You are bound to find what you are looking for, but how much tripe must you wade through first? I have a few trusted sites that I have used in the past and know to contain good information. But I don’t keep these in a list. And it is a real pain to go from one to another of these trusted sites in turn.

What I need is something like a Google search, but only for those sites that I know and trust.

Well, an RSS aggregator can be that tool. I use Google Reader. Although you can use it as something to spark inspiration, that relies on you regularly checking it and reading the articles you’ve collected. The trouble is I now have quite a few website delivering information to Google Reader for me, and I simply don’t have the time to wade through it all (Google Reader has given up counting and just says 1000+).

But I do keep it as a bank of trusted information I can go to when I want to do some research. It’s simply a matter of typing what I’m looking for into Google reader’s search, just like you would with a normal web search. Google Reader will go through all the articles I’ve automatically collected and pull out the ones it thinks are most relevant. Plus I can filter it by folder (I have a load of blogs in a “science” folder for example). Job done.

It works by installing a bit of software that allows a specific folder to be designated as your ‘DropBox’. The contents of this folder is then automagically uploaded to DropBox servers whenever your computer is on, including any changes you make. Anything on the server that has changed is also automatically downloaded.

Where it gets clever is that you can install it on several computers, and register those computers on the same DropBox account. So, if I’m editing a file in my lunch break at work, that sits in my DropBox folder, it will automatically get uploaded. Then, when I’m at home and I turn on my computer, the document will be automatically downloaded to my home computer. And it works on Mac (my work PC is a Mac), Windows (my home PC) and even Linux, and files can be sent between these different operating systems.

There is also a web interface, that tracks changes to documents, allows you to compare them and roll back changes! Plus, a way of sharing photos between family members and friends.

Another use for writers might be as a collaboration tool – the same document can be updated among different writers.

Of course, some of you will be concerned over issues of copyright. I recommend you read the license agreement if you are worried. But, the quick and dirty version is that you own everything you upload, you agree that you own it, and you agree that it is your responsibility. And here comes another warning – it is not intended as a backup system, even though files are being stored on DropBox servers.

So there you have it. If you give it a go (or have done already), or have thought of another use for it for writers, let us know what you think below.

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. It is a mind mapping tool, and although it is not hugely sophisticated or feature rich, it is incredibly easy to use and quite flexible with the kinds of things you can include on your mind map. The software is designed around generating flow between your brain and the ‘page’. So everything is quick and easy to do and you almost never have to use the mouse – everything can be done through the keyboard. A lot of people may not like this concept, but you have to write if you’re taking notes, and constantly swapping between mouse and keyboard wastes time.

As well as adding long bits of text as nodes, you can add notes (if you want to write a couple of paragraphs for example), links to pages on the web, images, and links to other nodes (drawn as arrows on the page). You can also add little pictures to nodes to indicate what they are for, or format the text.

Another great thing about it is that it is written in Java, which means it can work on any operating system. And best of all – it is FREE!

Download it here, familiarise yourself with the keyboard shortcuts, and have a go. Let me know what you think in the comments section, and if you know of any other great software for writers, let everyone know!