Embrace Technology

Happy Saturday!
Today, I wanted to touch on embracing the different tech platforms that are available to writers.
If you're anything like me, you get your writing station all set up, and the writing goes well for a few days, and then one day, you are just not feeling it. This happens to me, and what I try is to switch up how and where I get my writing done.
 Most early weekday mornings, I'm at the dining room table, on my laptop. I have my coffee mug filled and more often than not, a slumbering kitty on my lap. I tune up my Pandora, put on my headphones and (most) mornings can crank out at least 500 words before I have to start getting ready for work. (And while 500 a day is not a lot, by the end of the weekday, that's 2500 words. Remember to put things in perspective!)
  But then the weekend swings around, and I sleep in a bit later. I'm more in the mood to chill on the couch (again, with the standard feline trapping me) and my phone becomes my writing tablet. I use the Blogger app to update this site, and Google Drive app to get some more words down for The Underbelly Series.
  The message I'm trying to get across for those that get bored by their writing setup (and consequently, feel guilty by lack of writing progress)- don't be afraid to embrace different types of technology to get the writing done. Also, don't be afraid to move your writing studio around as well. It is often a godsend to switch up your scene- it can spark new ideas and get the ball rolling once again.   Be fluid, and you'll be rewarded with more frequent bursts of inspiration.

KR

Writing Mojo Garden

This last week I did a mini experiment, and tried to see if I could stick to the same writing place and continue to be productive. I moved my laptop and writing paraphernalia to the kitchen table, and I had two days of successful page count. By the third day, (it always seems to be the third day) my muse was bored with that location, and I moved back to the couch. The day in the future when I'm blessed with a writing room of my own, I guess I'm going to have to have several writing spots within that room to keep my muse sufficiently entertained. And let's hope that I can keep her within the room. 
 This matter of not being able to stick to one spot for writing used to bother me, but I think I'm mostly resigned to it. It's just not for me, I guess. I've made great strides in maintaining my concentration, and increasing word count, but I guess a stagnant location is not my cup of mojo. 
 So currently, I'm on the couch, quite comfortable, and I have today's scene all planned out. I think I'm going to make a little more coffee, and get to it. I've got about two and a half hours to shape this world before I gotta go do those pesky things called "errands". 
 Happy writing! 
kr

Resurrecting The Dead

I'm sitting in bed, using my laptop, with the fan noise to keep my company, and a snoring A downstairs.
 Yesterday, I was working on my 65th page of my manuscript, when I accidentally hit some buttons, and poof! I was staring at a blank document. I tried Edit-Undo, nothing. Searched around some more, nothing. Then I had the brilliant idea that hey, maybe it's floating out there somewhere, and if I save it, then at least it's saved somewhere out in cyber space. No, I just saved a blank document over the file, rendering it a blank document. Bye Bye 65 pages. No, I didn't have it saved in multiple locations, like smart people do.
 Earlier today, while at work, I was quite bummed about it. But then, reflecting on it, maybe it was supposed to happen. After all, it featured a past lifestyle- perhaps it wasn't supposed to be glorified in a novel. To be honest, it was a bit of a relief. I had the plot all planned out and was just really plodding through it (no pun intended) trying to reach the end.
 So, when I got home today, I took a long hot shower, and thought about the several novel ideas I have, and I also thought about my "completed" manuscript that I had fixed up into a somewhat presentable bundle and sent off to a publisher in Florida. This was 2009, before I left my ex-husband.
I had never been satisfied with the manuscript, and I will admit that I sent it off well before it was really ready to get into an editor's hands- early writer mistakes on impatience. Impatient for an agented, published work and the royalty checks. I'm still impatient, but I'm much more schooled on the writing process, especially how long it takes to get to The End and the Land of Royalty Checks.
 I found my old zip drive, which has my manuscript on it. I'm slowly converting it and waking up the cast of characters that I was so enamored with once upon a time.
Hey, it's still a bad ass manuscript.
K