I was all set to work on a writing exercise today, but I think I need to pause and do a personal update this week instead. Quite a bit has changed since the beginning of the year and I need to take a moment to reflect, catch up, and evaluate.
On the personal side of things, my child is almost two! And I can’t believe it. He’s such a wild child, but I’m loving every minute of it. He’s grown more independent and lets me work once in a while, but he is also the biggest snuggle bug and demands all the cuddles. Keeping up with him can be a struggle, but it’s all worth it when he gives me that cute little smile.
Also, on the home front, we’re starting the journey to buy our own house. I’m still not sure when it’s happening, but it’s on the horizon, and I’m freaking stoked. I can’t wait to have a place that’s really all our own so we can do whatever we want with it. There are so many things we wish we could do, but since this house is just a rental, we can’t. So, hopefully very soon I’ll be typing from my very own office.
On the work side of things, I feel like I’ve done an upgrade. I’ve finally jumped all the way into the current century and went all tech savvy. I also might want to use less paper and ink to save money and the planet, so I thought it beneficial to jump on the technology train.
I’ve never really thought of myself as a techy person, and I’ve been set in my ways of writing things down on actual paper and all that. But I felt like it was finally time to modernize. What used to hold me back was the fear of losing files if my computer crashed. But now there’s the cloud *jazz hands* and I can access my work from virtually anywhere.
Writing was the first thing to jump on the boat. I mentioned it a couple months ago that I switched to typing my first draft. This is mostly due to the fact that I type waaayyyy faster than I write. So, there. Now I’ve saved on notebooks and pens. And I received scrivener for Christmas, like I mentioned before, and it’s been a life changer.
Next, I bought an IPad. Part of its appeal is that it’s an apple product, and I have a mac so they can sync together. Because I could have just got any tablet, but I thought this would be the best route in the end. It’s upgraded my working in a few ways so far. First, I bought a digital planner that actually works the way I want a planner to work. It’s pretty awesome and now I’ve saved on buying a planner every year and stressing over the layout of each and every page. Second, I bought an app called Goodnotes and I’ve used it for several things. I wanted it for the sole fact that I could convert my book to a pdf file and write all over it in this app like I’m editing on paper. But I save paper! And I can edit anywhere without lugging around a giant file folder and worry about having light or whatever.
I hope the IPad app for scrivener figures itself out to let me have my files on both devices, and then I can write and plot through there without taking my computer. And if I’m just lost and confused and it’s already possible, someone please enlighten me!
And most recent, I now have a Rocketbook. It’s a super neat notebook that lets me transfer whatever I wrote into Evernote, or to my e-mail, or a bunch of other places on my IPad or my computer. I’m going to use this nifty tool for plotting. Because I still like to hand write those notes and charts because I tend to go all over the page while my creative gears turn. I don’t want to restrict myself to a document on the computer to plot if that’s not the way my process works. But now I can scan them in and have my notes wherever.
So, I can now plot, write, and edit anywhere I am without lugging around a giant computer bag full of folders and my computer. Everything I need for all of my projects fits into a fancy zip up binder. And I know that you don’t need fancy gadgets to write; I started writing on a yellow steno pad with a pencil. And if I have to go back to old school, I will. But I feel like the direction I’m heading with making this into a business, it’s the best choice to streamline anything that I can. The easier it is for me to get work done, the better. Because then more books will be available for everyone to read, and that’s the main goal!
Anyway, thanks for sticking around to listen to me ramble. Back to regular scheduled programming next week.