I’ve been working on my novel for over a year, and I’d like to say it’s been a rewarding process for the most part. I’ve spent my life as a chef, working over flames and sweating at jobs where one is rewarded only by producing physical items that are gone instantly. Writing allows you to create a tangible representation of your thoughts out of thin air while sitting in a comfortable chair. Being a writer is straightforward: using the simplest of tools, you can work as long as your pencil, paper, and ideas hold out. Plenty of the world’s highly acclaimed books have been written in precisely that way. I, however, have a problem with keeping things simple and have cluttered up the process, choosing to use writing software that helps me keep track of all the research. I use “Ulysses” for most of the writing and back it up on “Scrivener”. Ulysses is deceptively simple; you can type away, and it keeps track of everything, backing things up as you go and organizing your work however you want. Scrivener does much of the same thing and is deceptively complex. I started using Scrivener years before Ulysses came out, and I want to see the results when each tries to compile my text. At this point, Scrivener is winning the organization of the photos, PDFs, websites, docs, maps, etc. that I have accumulated. Ulysses has made publishing this blog a breeze. I am using it now, and when ready, after a couple of clicks, it will be posted.
Using a computer can lead to being distracted by your other apps and social media, so I am testing another app called “Creative Command,” which acts like someone standing over you to keep you on task. I guess I enjoy meeting a target time, a holdover from my cooking days. If I stay on task using the apps I designate Creative Command rewards me with a little congratulatory message with a fire emoji. Working over flames again.
On the human side, I belong to a Writers Accountability Group. The group meets at the local library every couple of weeks, and we go over what we wrote and what we want to accomplish by the next meeting. Being in the group has allowed me to see that I am doing OK. There are writers at all levels, each with their own goals and methods, some struggling, some prolific, but all very supportive of each other. Recently, some of our group participated in live readings staged at a bookstore. The readings were less than seven minutes each, but many of our group drove forty-five minutes to support the ones who read. You can’t beat that kind of encouragement. 🔥
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