MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - November 2011 is the 13th Annual National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

Bob Russell · 11-09-2011, 03:36 PM

I'm doing this one also. Quite exciting, actually, and a lot of fun so far. (Of course, writer's block hasn't hit yet.) It's the first time for me, although I've been wanting to do it for years.

It's ironic that all those years when I probably had more time, I didn't try. Now, when I have very very little time, I'm giving it a try. So far, I find it much easier to write at a Denny's or similar restaurant and order comfort food, like a french toast breakfast, to nibble on. I seem to comfortably write about 2,000 words in a 2 hr session that way. Oddly, when I've tried to write in my office at home I've ended up with about 600 total words in three 2hr sessions. Something about food and getting out of the house seems to help.

Started brainstorming and plotting on my iPad with iThoughtsHD. It's great! Then used physical index cards to go from about 15 plot points to something like a beat sheet with about 60 items.

Moved it into Storyist for iPad and had fun doing the draft writing with my Apple wireless BT keyboard. But I was concerned about the editing phase because I couldn't see doing that on an iPad, and I don't have a Mac, so don't have the option of finishing using a full version of Storyist.

So I moved it all to Scrivener with the project in Dropbox folders. That means I'm writing mostly on an Asus netbook. Occassionally with a USB keyboard and mouse attached. (I think Toshiba or Acer might be better because they are supposed to have bigger keys, but I went with what I have.)

I don't find writing on the netbook using Scrivener to be as easy for draft writing compared to Storyist for iPad with the Apple keyboard, but I do like the fact that I'll already be in Scrivener for revision work, and I imagine Scrivener to be the right tool for the job. (I haven't done this before, though, so I don't know. I just can't imagine doing major plot rework in anything that doesn't have a way to store metadata/notes by scene and move text around in logical pieces.)

Also, for the person that wondered about no offer for Scrivener for Linux, I think I read that they were going to release Scrivener 1.0 for Linux at no cost. If that's true, it's certainly about the best offer you can get!

11-09-2011, 03:36 PM	#25
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	I'm doing this one also. Quite exciting, actually, and a lot of fun so far. (Of course, writer's block hasn't hit yet.) It's the first time for me, although I've been wanting to do it for years. It's ironic that all those years when I probably had more time, I didn't try. Now, when I have very very little time, I'm giving it a try. So far, I find it much easier to write at a Denny's or similar restaurant and order comfort food, like a french toast breakfast, to nibble on. I seem to comfortably write about 2,000 words in a 2 hr session that way. Oddly, when I've tried to write in my office at home I've ended up with about 600 total words in three 2hr sessions. Something about food and getting out of the house seems to help. Started brainstorming and plotting on my iPad with iThoughtsHD. It's great! Then used physical index cards to go from about 15 plot points to something like a beat sheet with about 60 items. Moved it into Storyist for iPad and had fun doing the draft writing with my Apple wireless BT keyboard. But I was concerned about the editing phase because I couldn't see doing that on an iPad, and I don't have a Mac, so don't have the option of finishing using a full version of Storyist. So I moved it all to Scrivener with the project in Dropbox folders. That means I'm writing mostly on an Asus netbook. Occassionally with a USB keyboard and mouse attached. (I think Toshiba or Acer might be better because they are supposed to have bigger keys, but I went with what I have.) I don't find writing on the netbook using Scrivener to be as easy for draft writing compared to Storyist for iPad with the Apple keyboard, but I do like the fact that I'll already be in Scrivener for revision work, and I imagine Scrivener to be the right tool for the job. (I haven't done this before, though, so I don't know. I just can't imagine doing major plot rework in anything that doesn't have a way to store metadata/notes by scene and move text around in logical pieces.) Also, for the person that wondered about no offer for Scrivener for Linux, I think I read that they were going to release Scrivener 1.0 for Linux at no cost. If that's true, it's certainly about the best offer you can get!