Writing With Storyist for iPad

I recently got a iPad 2 and today I received the Anker Ultraslim Bluetooth Keyboard Case. I'm actually using it to type this post. Even with it resting on my lap I am having no trouble at all using it. The keys are nicely sized and spaced. It's like using a full size keyboard.

The keyboard has a pop-out stand and a groove for the iPad to rest in. And when you're not using the keyboard there is a magnet that attaches to the iPad allowing you to close it like a laptop. Which then puts the iPad to sleep. Just like a Smart Cover would. 

I also bought the Storyist app and so far it is amazing! I've been in a writing funk for awhile now. But after ordering the keyboard I started getting inspired I guess. So I went back and read through all my writing. The one I started back in late middle school or early high school caught my eye. I read it all and I'll admit it needed a lot of work. But as I was trying to fall asleep last night I started getting ideas and before I knew it I had a whole new idea. Well partially new. Parts of the old story were kept. This is the first time in a long, long time that I've been this excited about a story.

And now with my keyboard (which is very nice to type on) and Storyist (which I also have on my iPhone and can sync to my Dropbox and thus be able to continue writing when I don't have my iPad) I feel confident that I can finally finish this book!

NaNoWriMo 2013

In just a month I will be participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). If you've never heard of this it is a month long writing event. In which participants attempt to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November! Yes it is VERY hectic. And takes a lot of patience and perseverance.

I've participated since 2008 but haven't finished once. Something always seems to come up and keep my from writing. Other times I just get discouraged and can't write. But this year I am determined to finish!

I'm also participating in NaNoWarmUp. I literally just learned about this event! Its similar to NaNoWriMo except you try to write only 25,000 words in the 31 days of October. Hence the Warm Up part of the name. It's meant to get you ready for November. To get in the writing groove.

I plan on working on the book I started years ago and have repeatedly set aside and picked back up. I plan on starting today and working on it daily until the end of November. So, by December 1st, I hope to have 75,000 words written in it!

NaNoWriMo is tough since I work in a grocery store and have a varying schedule. And with Thanksgiving being in November work gets VERY busy and wears me out and that cuts into my writing.

I'll be posting updates as often as I can!

Digitize Your Post Its With Evernote

Yesterday Evernote released an update that added a camera specifically for use with Post It notes! 

What this you say? If you use Post It notes to jot down notes (I do all the time. Especially while writing) you can use this camera to digitize your notes and store them in Evernote. 

The app recognizes the color (it looks like they have 4) and will store certain colors into certain notebooks as you designate. You can even set reminders to the colors.

In addition to the app integration 3M has made special Evernote Post Its. Each home comes with a code for 1 month of Evernote Premium (I think you can only use 1 free month every 12 months). They even have two different note holders. A single one and one with four spots (one for each color). 

The notes are available at certain Staples stores and online at Staples, OfficeMax, Office Depot, and Quill.com. The holders are available for pre-order through the Evernote Market and will ship by late October. 

I tested out the camera on some yellow Walmart sticky notes and had fairly good success. The yellow was slightly paler than the Post It notes. I tried it a few times and had yellow and white show up in the app. My wife tried and got blue and green! So perhaps the 3M Post Its will work more consistently but I feel any will work!

Here is the link to the Evernote Blog with all the info:  

http://blog.evernote.com/blog/2013/09/26/evernote-and-post-itr-notes-partner-to-give-your-favorite-paper-product-a-digital-life/

(I borrowed the pictures from the Evernote blog I linked above. All credit goes to them)

Updating the Future

I've neglected my poor old blog for almost two months now. Everything has been so crazy with wedding stuff and work and cars deciding not to work and all that fun stuff that we call life.

I'll be getting back into this more often now. Because honestly does it not take only a few minutes to write a quick post? Perhaps a bit longer for a more detailed post, such as a review (I'll have one of those up within the next week.) I've also started playing Dungeons and Dragons again (or will be soon). So expect to see posts of that nature too.

I've also been getting back to writing. And, well, yeah. That's self-explanatory. I'll be posting a bit of this and a bit of that perhaps. Ideas, progress reports, snipets of chapters, etc.

I also plan on just giving my thoughts on things. TV shows (old and new), Movies (old and new), games of all sorts (table top, pen and paper RPGs, board games, video games), anything tech related that I come across, anything science related, etc, etc. They most likely won't be an episode by episode reviews like I've done before (for TV) or even opening weekend movie reviews (I didn't see Man of Steel until two weeks after it opened). So basically I'll be doing reviews here and there as I come across and experience things. Mostly nerdy things as is happens to go.

One other thing that I've been doing lately is world building. Back in the day my friend and I had attempted to "catalog" a whole fantasy nation. Meaning this: we each drew a map, combined the two maps to make one land, placed landmarks (mountains, forests, etc) and then cities. We had a hard cover sketch book in which we would pick a city and draw a city map for it. Then on the following pages we would go through and draw the floor plans for each shop and building. Labeling what was in it. Who owned it. Etc, etc. I think we put stats for DnD too. But over the years the book has disappeared but I recently purchased a new one and we already have the land map drawn up. Expected updates on that too!

And I'll be posting wedding updates too as that nears (2 months away and we have a TON to do!)

More Nanowrimo

I still have no idea what I'm doing for Nanowrimo yet. I still have 12 days or so before it starts. I've written stuff in science fiction, fantasy, horror, action. I have no idea what do write in. If I should just wait until November 1st and start writing the first thing that comes to my head. Or I could just pick one at random. I've thought about just working on one that I already have started. I know you're supposed to start a new story I think. But if Nanowrimo gets me writing on the book I started 4 years ago then I'm going to jump on it. I already have a bunch of scenes worked out. So it'd be easy to get going on the rest of the story. Maybe I'll be able to hit 50,000 words this year!

Nanowrimo

National Novel Writing Month or Nanowrimo is about 3 weeks away. For a change I am actually preparing a month early. So by the time November 1st I'll have everything from my idea to my supplies to my motivation built up.

This is my 4th year attempting Nanowrimo and I hope I will actually be able to finish it this year! The best of done is about 20% of the goal.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Nanowrimo it's a month long (November) challenge where the participants attempt to write 50,000 words. That's an average of 1,667 words a day! Which may not seem like a lot but it is. Mix in everything else you go through on a day to day basis and it can get hectic.

Sadly I'll be moving around the end of this month/early November so that's really going to add some craziness to the mix. Plus Thanksgiving will make work even crazier. I suppose I could try to write a bit more than the daily goal at the beginning of the month in case I don't get much of a chance to write around the holiday.

I'll try to make frequent updates on here. Perhaps my daily word count. As another way to keep myself motivated.

If anyone reading is also participating in Nanowrimo please feel free to comment or email. We could support each other! Good luck!

I Need Your Help!

I really do. I working on my fantasy world and I've finished my map for the most part. Except for names.
First a question: Should I used fantasy sounding names such Beor Mountains (Inheritance Cycle), Ered Luin (Middle Earth) and names like that. Or should I use more generic names such as The Mountains of Dread, Blood Lake, etc, etc.
I need names for the following:
8 Mountain ranges
5 Rivers
3 Lakes
8 Oceans/Seas/Bays
6 Islands (One that is dominated by a giant volcano)
3 Forests
2 Major Cities
3 Minor Cities
2 Ruins/Forgotten Places

Click for larger view

Note about the map. The RED dots are the 3 major cities. The BLUE dots are minor cities. One is already named Belthany. The BLACK squares are the 2 ruins/forgotten places. I think the rest are self explanatory. I hope it's easy to see and distinguish whats what. The massive amounts of mountains in the center is all one range.

But any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

A Writer's Friends...

As I've probably mentioned before I follow a fair few blogs by writers. or writer's blogs. And on twitter/Google+/etc. All the time I'm seeing stuff about crit partners, beta readers, or even just friends/close friends they have that are also writers.

This all made me realize that I don't have anyone like that. No one to send rough drafts to. No one to keep me going. No one who knows what its like to try and write a novel.

How does one even find a crit partner? How do you know you can even trust them? How do so many people have close friends that are also writers (and in the same "genre")?

What To Do When A Story Dies

Can a story that you've been working on go stagnant? Is it just me or does/has this happened to other people too?

Example: roughly 3 years ago I was on break at work. I suddenly got this brilliant story idea. I start scribbling it all down as fast as I could in the little memo pad I carried (which you can see in my very first post on this blog). Over the next 3 years I worked on it here and there. Made some progress. But recently I haven't really thought about it. And when I do its just not the same. The excitement I used to feel for the story is gone. New ideas don't come flooding into my head like they used to. And this isn't the only story this has happened to.

So when this happens is it best to let it die? Erase all traces of it and forget? Or store it away, not think about and see if at some distant point interest resurfaces? Or do I continue on as I have? Maybe try to go back and outline (as I never do)? Any thoughts on this?

I'm completely lost as to what to do with these partial stories that are just collecting dust...

My Ebook on the Web

So, I'm not sure if anyone even remembers the short story ebook that I published (via Smashwords) last year. But not being able to sleep and being bored I decided to Google the title. The results were:

1. Amazon. I think I did this on my own since smashwords wasn't/isn't publishing to Amazon yet. The price is set at $2.99 for a short story and I don't know why. I feel bad that two people bought it and one thought it was a novel and found out it was a bad rush jobbed short story :(

2. Smashwords. No reviews.

3. Barnes and Noble. No reviews.

4. Goodreads. This is the one that stumped me. How does a book even get onto goodreads? I know I didn't do it. I made an account in December and have been on a total of five minutes. But it was two reviews and two people marked it as "to-read".

5. Sony ebooks. No reviews.

6. Was some blogspot blog that had a bunch of free and .99 kindle books linking back to Amazon. Kind of cool I guess.

7. Itunes. No reviews.

There were some more on various pages. Mainly linking back to those main ones. I even found a Goodreads author page. I sent them a message claiming it was me. Lets see what happens. Not even sure how it got on there.

I got a new laptop!

After two years my old one has grown slow and heats up pretty quickly. So about a week ago I also got a new laptop. Now it's nothing fancy. Not at all. Just the cheapest one that was at Walmart that wasn't a netbook. It's got all your basic stuff. Windows 7, a dual-core 2.1GHz processor, 3gb of RAM and a 360gb hard drive.

On the Windows Experience Index it is a 3.4 out of 7.9. That is based on the lowest score. Which not surprisingly is the graphics. But that was to be expected. The lowest after that was a 5.3 for processing speed and a 5.9 for data transfer rate. So I'd say it was pretty good over all. And it is pretty fast. But maybe that is because my old one was so slow. When it connects to the wi-fi it has a stronger connection and faster speeds. Not sure why as I'm not a tech whiz. I know just enough to get by.

It is a HP 2000 (I think). At $300 I think it was a great deal. And the best part is is that I actually write on this one. It feels natural. The writing flows. Maybe it's the keyboard or the texture of the keys or the fact that I can actually unplug it and not worry about the battery dying in ten minutes!

In closing I'll leave you with a pointless fact. I named it T3-M4 and my new Kindle is named HK-47. Yeah I may be a nerd.

On Writing and Art in General

I follow a fair amount of writer's blogs. Blogs by writers. People who write books/novels. I've noticed a few posts here and there about the "industry" and "market" and how its killer and all this and that. It got me thinking about writing. What it means to me. The ART of writing. Because it is an art. Just as much as painting, music, or photography.

The thing that bothered me the most about these posts that I read is that this so called "market" seems to sort of kill the art of it. All these rules and guidelines and corporate bullpoo. Art shouldn't have restrictions. It shouldn't have "genres". (the only genres there should be is "I like it" and "I don't like it" and leave it at that.) Publishers want it done their way and their way only. To me that isn't art. That is taking someones creation, their dream and distorting it into something unrecognizable. Which destroys the entire purpose of it in the first place.

And also the writer gets huge chunks taken out of any profit they might make. That doesn't seem right to me at all. I don't believe publishers do enough to merit what they take. If you haven't picked up on it yet I'm a "self-publish-market-generally-do-it-yourself" kind of guy. If I can't do it on my own steam then why am I doing it. If I just ship it off for some stranger to "polish" up and pick apart am I really doing it for the reasons I set out to? Yes self-publishing and self-marketing and self-editing (and any other self done aspect) means that you may have to stay up late. Or spend a couple more hours online spreading the word. Networking. Getting your name out there. But I know that anybody would rather have the feeling of having done it all yourself in the end (well maybe not the greedy ones out there). Me? I'd rather work hard and sell only 10 copies. Then basically give away my work to some publisher and sell more.

And with ereaders becoming more and more popular. And sites like Smashwords (not to mention Amazon and Barnes and Noble and more I'm sure) that make it very, very easy to publish an ebook self-publishing is so much easier than it ever has been. Yes I know that I talked about getting a chuck of your money taken and I know Smashwords does take a very small portion of each book sale but all you have to do is upload it and they get it all set up with a multitude of sites. Or I'm sure that it is just as easy to make your ebook yourself (in any format) and host it on your own site. Something that I am going to look into at some point.

Well, I'm going to leave it at that. I'm sure it's confusing enough and I probably contradicted myself more than once but that's natural when your me!

Writing!

So finally after nearly a week into the new year I have officially started writing! (Finally)
I'm working on the zombie novel that I started last fall. It's actually a collaboration with my cousin. I've never co-written anything before but it has been a blast so far!

Other than that I'm not currently focusing on anything else. Well writing anyways. I am also working on my fantasy world. I'll try to get new pictures of the map up soon. As soon as I finish it anyways. That may take awhile though. I end up making it 4ft x 6ft :/

Happy New Year!

Well Happy New Year everyone!

I was going to write about how 2011 was. The ups and downs and all that jazz but really you could just go read through my blog and see what I was up to. I honestly can't think of a whole lot off the top of my head. 

- I started playing disc golf (though not in a while). Its pretty great and I hope I get to play more this year.

- We got a new dairy department manager at work and I guess its because of him that I started reading comics. And I have to say that I absolutely love them!

- Skyrim was released and it is absolutely amazing!

- I pretty much switched to digital books. Though if I read an ebook and it blows me away I'm going to buy the physical copy too.

- I blogged a whole bunch, and met a whole bunch of great people through it (you know who you are!).

- I actually finished a short story which I had originally rushed for a writing deadline on this one site. I then published it on Smashwords. I'm pretty proud of that. Actually writing something to the finish. Even though I published it I know that it needs a ton of work. My brother and I did a few quick rounds of grammar and spelling edits but that is it. I should go back at some point and fix it up.

- Speaking of writing. I didn't actually write anywhere near as much as I wanted. And that's my fault. Though I did start a collaboration project with a cousin of mine. I have big hopes for it and even though I haven't done much with it in a while it's always been simmering in my mind.

That's all I can think of that I want to put. I don't really make resolutions. But I told myself that I was going to make some changes for 2012.

1. WRITE!!!

2. Cut soda out of my diet. I drink way to much of it and that's no good

3. That was it really. Well and write more!

Happy New Year and best of luck in 2012

I've Kept Busy...But Not With Writing (and that makes me sad)

It's been two weeks now since I've blogged anything. And a while longer since I've really blogged a lot. I've been absorbed by Skyrim and catching up on comics and catching up on books and I wish I could say writing but I can't do that without lying. (this makes me sad)

I've also been working on my fantasy world. Added to the map I already had (now its 4 times larger). Though its still 75% incomplete (that's a lot of coloring!). Once the map is done I plan to name it (or attempt to), divide it into countries/provinces/etc, name them, fill them will all sorts of creatures, and then write a bunch of back story and history and all that good, fun stuff! Its a pretty big task and I feel crazy for taking it on. But who knows, it may help my book flow? Maybe.

The only bad part about playing Skyrim is that I can't talk to anyone about it. It's not that I don't know anyone playing it too. I know tons of people playing it. Its no one wants spoilers! (neither do I) Each person I know who plays could each play 100 hours and still barely do the same stuff in the game. So you never know who's done what and if you can mention it to them. Its maddening!!!

*Potential spoilers. You'v been warned*
I've read a whole mess of comics over the last week or so. A friend is having me read the whole Ultimates/Avengers/whateveritscalled thingy. I love it all so far. I also just finished Fear Itself (the main 7 I guess). Oh, and I started reading Locke and Key too. Its pretty great too! The Batman: Arkham Unhinged (which is based off the Arkham City game) has been absolutely wonderful. I can't get enough! All the new Ultimate Comics have been pretty good too. But I'm sad that the Hawkeye one is only a mini-series and not ongoing. I like Hawkeye. Though the best one I've read this week was probably Batman Noel by Lee Bermejo. Its a graphic novel about Batman (surprise right?). But its like A Christmas Carol Batman. Where Batman is "Scrooge" and his is visited by Catwoman, Superman, and the Joker (I think the Joker was the 3rd "ghost") If I understand right Bob Cratchett is telling the story to Tiny Tim. I could be wrong but I think thats right. Anyways go and pick it up. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Writing. What can I say about writing? Nothing right now and that makes me sad :(

Wanna Be My Nano Buddy?

If you've read my previous two posts you'll know all about me doing NaNoWriMo. I even added a little word count tracker gadget thing in my sidebar. Over there ------>

That way you can see my progress! Another way is to be Nano Buddies on the Nano site. I'll post a link to my profile if anyone who is Nanoing wants to be buddies and encourage each other along!

Thriondel Half-Elven

My Short Story Ebook Is Now Free!

Earlier this year I used Smashwords (very, very good site by the way) to publish a short story I wrote. Now, I don't think it is very good. Really I think I rushed it to meet the deadline for a thing I wrote it for. I had to keep it under a certain word count and I feel like I tried to cram all my ideas into that amount of space. I'd like for you all to go down load it HERE and give it a read. If you do I'll love you forever! If you comment and give me your thoughts or write a review on Smashwords I'll love you even more! Oh, and it's free and available in pretty much any and all ebook formats. Thanks!

Being lazy, A Top 5, and Zombies!?

Well its been a while since I've blogged. I can't even use the excuse that I've been busy like everyone does. Because I haven't been busy. Like at all. Unless you can count being lazy as being busy. Yes, I was busy being lazy and sleeping!

In other news: I've recently started a collab. project with someone. Pretty excited about it actually. Don't wanna give names or what the project is exactly. Not yet anyways. Soon. Promises. This wait will give you all time to prepare your minds so that they aren't blown when I do say!

And I think I am going to blog every day of September. Cause my birthday is in 4 weeks from today. And because I like September. And because I like to blog. And stuff. And I like everyone who reads this silly thing.

Ok done rambling. Wait no im not. I think I once posted about doing a "Top 5 _____" or top 10. Not sure which. But I never did that. So I think I will now. But nit like RIGHT now. Well maybe one right now.

"Top 5 Favorite Actors" (in no particular order)
1. Edward Norton
2. Tommy Lee Jones
3. Will Smith
4. John Barrowman
5. Ewan McGregor

Now im sure there are some im forgetting but I didn't put too much thought into it. Its supposed to be a conversation starter. Y'know people replying with their top 5/10 or agreeing or disagreeing with mine. Or talking about stuff people in the list do!

But really, that's it for me tonight. Bye!

No internets :(

I will be posting from my phone for awhile. My neighbor decided to move their wireless router etc so now I can't borrow their internet. :(

So now I guess I have to actually get my own. Or I guess I could take advantage of this situation (and lack of internet connectivity) to actually get some writing done. When I'm not able to get distracted by it!

Writing Software and A Strange Day At Work

No photo of the day today. I never really had the chance to snap a picture. Oh wells.

Last night I downloaded both yWriter5 and Storybook. They are both pretty similar so far. I haven't actually put any real story stuff into them yet. I was only testing them out. But they look like they could be pretty helpful in keeping my story organized. I think is Storybook that has the drag and drop feature which allows you to place characters, locations, items, etc. into any scene and chapter. I'll definitely have a more in depth post about them after I use them some more.

Other than that I just worked today. I got hit on by a guy while I was there. Is was awkward. Well really I got a weird vibe from him while he was in the store. And like ten minutes later I got a page for dairy/frozen. So I answer and it was that guy. And he asked if I would be interested in getting drinks sometime. Like I said it was awkward. When I told him that I wasn't he was cool about it and wanted to make sure he didn't offend me. (which he didn't). It was just weird actually being put in a situation like that. I mean you see it in movies and what not.

I'm going to be lazy and watch movies now. And mess with the writing software I got. G'night! :D