Published in SF&Fantasy Workshop newsletter, July 2003
Tech Devices to Help Make a Writer's Life Easier
by
Ron Vitale
No matter if you're computer savvy or afraid of those soulless boxes, I'd like to suggest several tools to help make a writer's life easier and more productive. Depending on your comfort zone with computers, you might find this list overwhelming or extremely helpful.
Input Devices
Pen and Paper
Don't laugh--it's the old standby! Definitely, great tools to have with you at all times. No matter if you're commuting to work on a train or bus, have spare time at lunch, are on vacation with the kids, or just have a few quiet moments while taking a bath, a pen and paper are your least expensive and easiest tools to use. What I find a bit humorous is that some writers balk at the old pen and paper, thinking that it's a waste of time. Who wants to write several pages of a story on paper only to have to transfer all the work into a computer? With any tool, there's a tradeoff. Ease of use and portability taken into account, a pen and paper can get you through a bind. If you're hiking and suddenly have a great idea for a story, stop, pull out the trusty pen and notebook, and jot your ideas down. Typing up a page or two of notes isn't the end of the world. I'd rather have the idea written down rather than miss the opportunity when inspiration strikes. And if you're anything like me, I find my most creative ideas come when walking or driving (be sure you pull over before writing your ideas down).
PDA and Foldout Keyboard
If you're on the go a lot and would like to have access to an affordable, portable, electronic format to type in your ideas or stories, you might wish to consider purchasing a PDA. A Visor Neo (www.handspring.com) costs around $99 and a Targus stowaway portable keyboard is $86. You'll need to have a home PC to connect the Visor Neo PDA to so that you can access your writing, but here's the plus side: The keyboard and PDA only way a total of 9.4 oz. On the negative side, there are drawbacks: The PDA screen is rather difficult to read and trying to get the device hooked up to your computer might be a challenge. Still, if you enjoy hiking, long walks, or simply strolling around town, carrying a PDA with the foldout keyboard might work for you.
Laptop
Outside of pen and paper, this is my favorite option. Hold off a moment before you become frightened by the potential cost. High-end laptops can easily cost over $2000, but I have seen lower-end models go for $700. And if you're looking just for a word processor and don't need a fancy laptop with all the bells and whistles, you can purchase one on Ebay (www.ebay.com) for under $400. Many sellers are looking for buyers to purchase their old equipment so that they can upgrade to faster laptops. Another suggestion is to visit a local computer show. On the East Coast, visit www.marketpro.com for a schedule.
A laptop might be heavy, but it's a computer you can use at home as your main PC and carry with you when you travel. On a business trip or vacation, and want to do some writing? Bring your laptop. Most hotels offer great working stations so that you can set up and type away. With a laptop's memory and storage, you can save your entire life's work of writing on the machine as well as all your research (pictures, music that gets you in the mood to write, etc.). If you're seriously thinking about purchasing a new computer, you might wish to consider a laptop. The multi-purpose aspect has great advantages. On the downside, a laptop's weight might hinder you from carrying it on your hiking trip.
Desktop Computer
If you are in the market for a home PC, prices have dropped considerably within the last few years. Visit TigerDirect (www.tigerdirect.com) and click on the “Barbones Kits” link in the left-hand menu. High-end systems, with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, can be purchased for around $400.00. Even Gateway (www.gateway.com) has a full system for $499.00. No longer need a buyer spend over a thousand dollars to purchase a brand new system. You’ll not be able to carry the system around as you would a laptop, but you will have everything you need to be setup to write on the home front.
Storage
Floppy Disk
Cheap and easy to use, a standard 3 1/2" floppy disk can hold 1.44MB of data. Not sure what that means? A several hundred page Word document is approximately 600KB so you could store two novels on one floppy. The downside is that you need a computer to do anything with this plastic disk. They weigh next to nothing and are extremely inexpensive (a few dollars for a stack of them). Beware though: Some of the newer laptops do not have a disk drive. To save on cost and the weight, some newer laptops have a CD-ROM drive instead.
USB Portable Flash Drive
I love my tech toys and this little gadget can be a godsend. Several different companies offer USB Flash Drives (Viking, Lexar, and PNY), but I've only used the one by PNY. Imagine a keychain-like device that can hold 128MB ($39.99) or 256MB ($69.99) that can fit into the palm of your hand. For those of you who aren't into tech talk, 128MB would allow you to 25 songs in mp3 format, and enough space left over to save 28 novels to the device. This storage device is amazing in that if you have a PC (or Mac) with a USB port all you need to do is to plug the device into the USB port and you have a portable drive. You can carry around your research, pictures, music, software, movie clips, and all the Word files you desire on this tiny device. The system requirements are fairly straightforward: PC users need to have Windows 98 (software might need to be installed if you have Windows 98) or above and Mac users will not have any problems. The plug and play feature is easy to use. You can use a computer at work, a friend's, or wherever, and simply plug the device in (USB ports are in the back of the computer for older systems). Within seconds, the computer will see the Flash Drive as a removable drive. You can copy or store all the information you want to the drive and then carry it in your pocket. Nice and easy!
Yahoo! or Hotmail E-mail Accounts
If you have access to a computer and the Internet, you can easily (and for free) create a Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) or Hotmail (www.hotmail.com) e-mail account. If your ISP (Internet Service Provider) does not allow you to have access to Webmail (allowing you to check your e-mail through a Website at a remote station), then you want to set up a free account at either Yahoo! or Hotmail. I've had a Yahoo! e-mail account for years and have used it from various locations in the United States and even at an Internet Cafe in London. With a Web-based e-mail account, you're not tied into checking e-mail from only your home PC. You can keep in touch with Editors, writing partners, family, and friends with ease. The great thing about these free e-mail accounts is that you could work on any Internet connected PC and then e-mail your writing as an attachment to either your home e-mail or your Yahoo! account. On business trips, I make certain I bring my laptop and then can e-mail my work back to myself for backup purposes.
Serv-U (FTP Server Program)
For the really techies out there, I would suggest purchasing Serv-U available at www.serv-u.com. For $39.99, you can turn your home computer into a FTP server. If you have high speed Internet access (cable modem or DSL), you can allow other users to access your computer’s hard drive through FTP (file transfer protocol). What does this mean? Here’s a real life example: I was in Toronto on a business trip and I had my laptop with me in my hotel room. I needed several files on my home computer so I was able to use FTP to connect to my home computer and pull off the files I needed. Typically, a FTP server is used for large files (home movies, public domain software, archives of all your writing, etc.). My FTP server allows me to access all my files on my home computer from any computer in the world. Or, I can use my home computer as a storage device. While working from the hotel room in Toronto, I saved all my work directly to my home computer. A FTP server is the ultimate storage device. Many computer hard drives today are between 40 and 200GBs. Confused by the numbers? If you wrote really, long novels, you’d still have enough space to store 40,000 novels on a 40GB hard drive. Talk about storage!
Embracing Technology
Some writers are happy with pen and paper or a typewriter and there’s nothing wrong with that. Other writers are afraid of technology or simply do not understand it. The numbers and technical terms can be overwhelming, but taking the time to learn how to use a computer can help simplify the business of writing. And if you write science fiction, understanding technology can help you add authenticity to your stories or novels. The choice is yours. Neither is correct or the “right way” to go about writing. What matters the most is that you find a comfortable way to balance technology with your writing habit and enjoy.
