![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
misslj_authorToday's Thursday Thirteen is thirteen things I can't do without. In a general sense certainly but definitely in a writing sense. So here we go, in no particular order.
1. MS Word.
Sad but true. If there was no Word with its nifty track changes feature, I'd be flailing trying to find a program that did everything that I wanted it to.
2. Dropbox.
This is an awesome tool to back up your files. Having had the blue screen of death and panic over losing works in progress, Dropbox is that extra insurance to ensure peace of mind for backing stuff up. I wish I'd had this years ago too when I accidentally deleted a 50K word novel and nothing I tried could recover it. Sad face.
3. The internet.
Oh man, the internet. The internet has made researching so much easier. No more getting a headache trawling through microfiche in tiny, stuffy little rooms. No more hunting for books only to find they've been stolen or 'lost'. No more going through periodicals and discovering the article I really need has been torn out. The internet has also made social networking so much easier, made the whole publishing and promotions part of writing more accessible and easier to understand. Sure, the internet can be a great time waster but it's also a tool and an awesome one at that.
4. Google Earth.
Google Earth is... amazing. The clever clogs who invented it have made plotting destinations and the like so much easier. Plus, clever clogs who know how to code such things have made overlays that you can load up in Google Earth and learn all sorts of things. For "City of Jade" that I'm working on, I was pulling my hair out trying to find a good map of the Silk Road in 1131AD. I stumbled on a Google Earth board where a very clever gentleman had made an overlay that covered the Silk Road and it's offshoots with notes and photographs for each point that a traveller or merchant would stop at. The overlay covers the Silk Road up to 1500AD and the data on this overlay is truly amazing. In short, when writing something that you need to know destinations, locations, surroundings, Google Earth is irreplacable.
5. Music.
Music is my life. I have so many playlists for pairings, stories and the like, it's not funny. I find writing to music incredibly rewarding and I'm more productive with music playing in the background while I'm writing.
6. Notebooks.
For all that I use Word, Google, the internet, etc, I have several notebooks with scribbled notes and details that come to mind. I also use them for things that I might otherwise forget. My notebooks are fairly illegible as my handwriting is atrocious!
7. Sleep.
Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Generally, yeah. I have problems with sleep schedules based on medications for things I don't like talking about (how's that for nice and cryptic?) so my sleep is always broken. I don't remember the last time I had an uninterupted eight hour sleep. On a good night, I get five hours then it's up and medication time. On a bad night, it's up every second hour. I tend to try and write a bit in these periods, but writing definitely works better after I've had a good amount of sleep, even if it is broken sleep.
8. Books.
Someone once said that writers are readers and it's so true. I love my books and I love reading. All being well, my birthday present to myself this year will be an e-book reader. Reading broadens everything, I think.
9. Roleplaying.
I know this isn't something that works for everyone, but I've found roleplaying a character I've created and am not 100% confident with to be really helpful. It puts the character in situations that I don't necessarily think of, talking to other characters that I don't have any control over. Figuring out how my character reacts and interacts in these situations is enormously helpful to me.
10. Editors.
A good editor is worth their weight in gold. I've been very lucky to have some amazing editors and my writing has improved so much because of their assistance. So, thank you to the wonderful women who have edited my work. You're awesome.
11. Coke.
My beverage of choice! With green tea a second.
12. The bathroom.
You're probably reading this and wondering what the bathroom has to do with anything. The bathroom has come to be nicknamed the Room of Wisdom, aka the RoW. And why? Because whenever I'm in the bathroom (and I'm not the only one who has discovered this inexplicable phenomena,) no matter what I'm doing - brushing my hair, brushing my teeth, changing cat litter, whatever - I have an idea for something. Or I think of a way to write myself out of a corner if I've written myself into one. I do not know what the esoteric power of the bathroom is that it has this effect, but it does and consistently. Cue eerie music!
13. Writer Friends.
People to bounce your ideas off, who bounce ideas back, who can give suggestions and help you out when you can't see out of the box of your own ideas. Invaluable. And you guys who've done this for me - thank you. You're awesome.
1. MS Word.
Sad but true. If there was no Word with its nifty track changes feature, I'd be flailing trying to find a program that did everything that I wanted it to.
2. Dropbox.
This is an awesome tool to back up your files. Having had the blue screen of death and panic over losing works in progress, Dropbox is that extra insurance to ensure peace of mind for backing stuff up. I wish I'd had this years ago too when I accidentally deleted a 50K word novel and nothing I tried could recover it. Sad face.
3. The internet.
Oh man, the internet. The internet has made researching so much easier. No more getting a headache trawling through microfiche in tiny, stuffy little rooms. No more hunting for books only to find they've been stolen or 'lost'. No more going through periodicals and discovering the article I really need has been torn out. The internet has also made social networking so much easier, made the whole publishing and promotions part of writing more accessible and easier to understand. Sure, the internet can be a great time waster but it's also a tool and an awesome one at that.
4. Google Earth.
Google Earth is... amazing. The clever clogs who invented it have made plotting destinations and the like so much easier. Plus, clever clogs who know how to code such things have made overlays that you can load up in Google Earth and learn all sorts of things. For "City of Jade" that I'm working on, I was pulling my hair out trying to find a good map of the Silk Road in 1131AD. I stumbled on a Google Earth board where a very clever gentleman had made an overlay that covered the Silk Road and it's offshoots with notes and photographs for each point that a traveller or merchant would stop at. The overlay covers the Silk Road up to 1500AD and the data on this overlay is truly amazing. In short, when writing something that you need to know destinations, locations, surroundings, Google Earth is irreplacable.
5. Music.
Music is my life. I have so many playlists for pairings, stories and the like, it's not funny. I find writing to music incredibly rewarding and I'm more productive with music playing in the background while I'm writing.
6. Notebooks.
For all that I use Word, Google, the internet, etc, I have several notebooks with scribbled notes and details that come to mind. I also use them for things that I might otherwise forget. My notebooks are fairly illegible as my handwriting is atrocious!
7. Sleep.
Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Generally, yeah. I have problems with sleep schedules based on medications for things I don't like talking about (how's that for nice and cryptic?) so my sleep is always broken. I don't remember the last time I had an uninterupted eight hour sleep. On a good night, I get five hours then it's up and medication time. On a bad night, it's up every second hour. I tend to try and write a bit in these periods, but writing definitely works better after I've had a good amount of sleep, even if it is broken sleep.
8. Books.
Someone once said that writers are readers and it's so true. I love my books and I love reading. All being well, my birthday present to myself this year will be an e-book reader. Reading broadens everything, I think.
9. Roleplaying.
I know this isn't something that works for everyone, but I've found roleplaying a character I've created and am not 100% confident with to be really helpful. It puts the character in situations that I don't necessarily think of, talking to other characters that I don't have any control over. Figuring out how my character reacts and interacts in these situations is enormously helpful to me.
10. Editors.
A good editor is worth their weight in gold. I've been very lucky to have some amazing editors and my writing has improved so much because of their assistance. So, thank you to the wonderful women who have edited my work. You're awesome.
11. Coke.
My beverage of choice! With green tea a second.
12. The bathroom.
You're probably reading this and wondering what the bathroom has to do with anything. The bathroom has come to be nicknamed the Room of Wisdom, aka the RoW. And why? Because whenever I'm in the bathroom (and I'm not the only one who has discovered this inexplicable phenomena,) no matter what I'm doing - brushing my hair, brushing my teeth, changing cat litter, whatever - I have an idea for something. Or I think of a way to write myself out of a corner if I've written myself into one. I do not know what the esoteric power of the bathroom is that it has this effect, but it does and consistently. Cue eerie music!
13. Writer Friends.
People to bounce your ideas off, who bounce ideas back, who can give suggestions and help you out when you can't see out of the box of your own ideas. Invaluable. And you guys who've done this for me - thank you. You're awesome.
