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‘Writing’ Category

  1. A to Z Challenge

    February 19, 2012 by Nicki

    It occurs to me that I should probably make this announcement before the event actually starts. So, after watching my writer/author friend Erin do this twice, I’m giving the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge 2012 a shot!

    Why? Well, I like the idea of scheduled posts. Some people have a topic for each day of the week, rather like a radio show that has certain regular elements with their features tossed in as the meat of the show. So Thursdays are days to blog about what you’re thankful for (Thankful Thursdays), Tuesdays you post about your twins (Twofer Tuesdays), Sundays are for posting about what’s restful in your life…things like that.

    Needless to say, you may have notices that I have no such schedule here. Not that I haven’t thought about it. Posting bi-daily is enough for me now, and you may notice that occasionally I am a little late. Oops.

    But then, the A to Z Challenge…a ready-made schedule that bunches of other folks are also participating in. I’ll be part of a group! You can hop from me to the next guy in line by clicking that little box over there to the right. There’s interesting new things to read from interesting new people…

    I’m looking forward to it.

    There’s just one thing I’m not ready for, however, and that is that my A to Z Challenge has not yet got a theme. My Night of Writing Dangerously Table Buddy Chris has a theme. My friend Erin, previously mentioned, did her last A to Z Challenge on women science fiction and fantasy authors.

    I don’t believe having a theme is a requirement, however it would make things easier, in theory, to come up with posts if I had a theme. Then I wouldn’t be rambling all over, daily posts with nothing in common…we just can’t have that.

    If you have any ideas for me and my theme, let me know! Otherwise, I’ll see you on April 1st with a very big letter A surprise!

    Category Writing | Tags: , | 2 Comments

  2. Why Dropbox Rocks My World

    February 13, 2012 by Nicki

    Zen Dropbox by Nicki

    Zen Dropbox by Nicki

    I don’t know if you’ve ever had the pleasure of working with a product that you knew once you tried it you couldn’t live your life without, but I have. It’s called Dropbox, and if you’re not using it, I would just like to say – why not???

    Let me break it down really simply.

    One, it puts your stuff wherever you are. No, not physical stuff, but all those little files, photos, and documents that you use every day. The important stuff. The stuff that when you buy a new computer, you want to move over.

    Aha!

    Two, it saves old copies of your stuff. This is great because I’m certain I’m not the only person who forgot to Save As… when I took that old document or graphic file to make a slightly different copy of the original. Then you hit save and your changes…not gone with Dropbox!

    Oooh…

    Three, it’s free. 2 gigabytes, no charge. If you pass out your referral link and get other people to sign up as well you get rewarded with more space. If you want a ton more space, of course, you’re more than welcome to pay for it. But if not…

    And finally…

    Four – did I mention it puts your stuff wherever you are? I did mean where ever. At home on your desktop? Done. On your son’s laptop? Sure! Your iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry? Uh huh. Oh, and you’re at Grandma’s house sneaking in some writing during that sweet spot between Thanksgiving dinner and pie? Log on to Dropbox.com and get at your stuff there, too.

    I love it. I use it every day I’m on a computer, no kidding.

    I think by far my favorite feature is that it keeps a few old versions of the files I’m working on. I was working on an invitation for a work event once, and I always flatten my Photoshop files so it’s easier to email proofs back and forth to coworkers. Except instead of duplicating the file first, and saving the original, I saved the original, flattened the file, saved again…

    Ohpoop.

    I had changes to make and no way to make them without recreating the file, except…

    At work we always work out of our Dropbox folder because our main file server is across town, and it’s very slow to access directly. Like molasses in the Arctic. Something tickled my mind. Didn’t Dropbox save old versions?

    Yes and YES! I got the old file version back, my Photoshop PSD had layers, and five hours of recreating work was saved.

    I’m glad there are products like this out there. It’s a pretty wonderful time to live, huh?

    If you are using Dropbox, what’s your favorite feature or best Dropbox story?

    Category Writing | Tags: , | No Comments

  3. When you can’t be creative…

    February 3, 2012 by Nicki

    I was reading something – I seem to be reading a lot lately – and of course I can’t remember where it was so I can cite it properly. But it said:

    If you can’t create, work.

    So what am I doing? Yep, you guessed it.

    Working!

    Possibly some discussion should happen as to why I am not creating. It’s not a lack of creativity, per se. I did manage to write this morning and this afternoon – a massive 1,227 words in total. I hate to blame it on television again, so this time I’ll blame it on the iPad.

    I had a really great idea on Sunday, actually. I was going to ground myself from my iPad. Take a week or the entire month of February (which has failed already because of course I managed to forget on the 1st that I was grounded) and not use my toy except for work-related items. The rest of my time is either writing or obviously disregarding a potential income stream, which of course for anyone right now is a bad idea.

    Create without distraction, or work without distraction. Either one gets a writer closer to their goals.

    Category Writing | Tags: ,, | 2 Comments

  4. In the Mood

    February 1, 2012 by Nicki

    I’m sitting doing laundry. No television distractions, no radio to send my mind somewhere else, and yet, I’m not motivated to write.

    For me, television is an incredible creativity vacuum. Not that the things on television aren’t creative, but they suck the creativity right out of me. I think this happens with a lot of people, even those who write with the TV on. I’m one of those people sometimes, but usually just during November when I’m unnaturally productive and my inner editor is on leave.

    And yet today, unmotivated me turned to TV and came away refreshed. The seed of an idea wasn’t exactly there, but I was more receptive towards writing after watching an episode of the newest show I’m working through in my Netflix queue.

    I’m really not sure how to work this out. Television as inspiration and as a vacuum?

    It’s going to take me a minute to get used to this.

    But it gives me the opportunity to ask – how are you best creative, whether it’s writing, crafting, computing, whatever? Are you a silence only person, or do you prefer to have music, television, or well-loved movies in the background? Share below!

    Category Writing | Tags: , | No Comments

  5. When you don’t know what to write…

    January 26, 2012 by Nicki

    Scream

    Throw things

    Think about how miserable you are and how you’ll never amount to anything, because if you can’t write a blog post, how in the hell are you going to write anything worth selling?

    Cry

    Flail

    Bork something (I love that word – apparently it’s some variation of break, screw up, or cause to crash)

    Pray for inspiration

    Buy lottery tickets in hopes of winning The Big One and be able to quit your day job and devote every hour of every day to writing in hopes to bash the (writer’s) block

    Write a list of things you could do instead of sitting there wondering what to do, as an object in motion tends to stay in motion (which is probably why I’m doing a lousy job of coming up with something to write today – I wrote nothing yesterday)

    Write nonsense until something good comes along

    Do some brain dumping at 750Words.com

    Go read someone else’s blog and use it as a writing prompt

    Write about something in the news

    Decide that 187 words is pretty good for not knowing what to write, and call it quits

    Category Writing | Tags: ,, | No Comments