Tools, Tools, Tools. You wanna be good at something you need a good set of tools. For writers there is a lot of great tools available. I find it fascinating when other writers talk about their tools.
MY WORKPLACE.
70% of my writing is done right in my kitchen. It's the quietest place in my little apartment. Easy access to the fridge and my favorite snacks. It's actually a nice set-up perfect amount of light, the backdoor is right next to my chair. Most workplaces I've seen are cluttered and look like Oscar Madison's bedroom. Not me, I'm fairly uncluttered.
MY "OTHER" WORKPLACE.
The other 30% is a mixture of my bedroom, work and car. If you're like me your best ideas come when you're about to fall asleep, working or driving.
MY PHONE.
I really don't write as much as I should. Still not comfortable enough with the small keypad. I have an LG LG2 which has an above average screen. It's not a bad phone for reading. I think I might give the Galaxy Note II (or best version available when my contract is up for an upgrade.)
MY COMPUTER.
It is what is it. My space is limited to my kitchen table and I would love to get a second monitor. Even though it's a buncha years old and way past that upgrade point. I'm very happy with it. It's actually portable enough where I don't need much space to work because it's an All-In-One computer. I do a fair amount of side work lettering comic books. Work a great deal with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and dabble with HTML programs.
I've thought about getting a laptop for the bedroom but...
MY TABLET.
I think is perfect for the bedroom. Lots of time I find myself lying there composing songs and thinking up new ways to kill off new and old characters. I own a Kindle and Android tablet. They both do a great job for what I need them for.
SOFTWARE/APPS
I couldn't live without Google Doc. Everything I write eventually goes up into the google doc cloud. Doc is my primary writing tool. Period. I use it on my phone. I use it on my tablet. I use it on computer. When I'm not using doc, i'll use Final Draft like most rooty tooty writers. Another good writing program is Open Office.
I use Google Hangouts a shit ton. Coffin Hunters co-creator and collaborator Joe Simmons and I are always chatting it up. Working on new ideas for Coffin Hunters and other dream projects.
For the longest time Thunderbird was my writing software of choice. Now it just home to my most used gmail accounts. (NOTE: Google just released INBOX and it's sexy as hell.)
Dropbox and
Evernote are my other two most used apps for sharing files and writing. I should probably use Evernote more than I do.
SOCIAL MEDIA OR TIME WASTERS.
I won't lie. Social Media and forums are my kryptonite. I send a good 20 hours of my day on place like
Twitter,
Tumblr,
Blogger and
Instagram. Thankfully they don't suck as much time as Facebook did. Which I 100% avoid when I can nowadays. There is a new spot on the web called
Ello I kinda dig because of it's simpleness. I still enjoy hanging out on forums. Meet a lot of creative people there. One particular place
Digital Webbing.
OTHERS.
I always have a pen and notebook nearby. I'd love to have a fancy pen, but with a five year old and a middle school teenager. They would just go missing. A simple Papermate, Sharpie or a good old fashion #2 pencil isn't far out of reach.
Same stories with notebooks. Loved to have a buncha Moleskin journals but they would just end up being a coloring book. Nothing wrong with a Steno Pad.
I always have Spotify playing in the background.
Not far out of reach are some of my favorite books. I'm always flipping through them whenever I get stuck. Doug TenNaple, Carl Hiaasen, Jasper Fford, Lewis Carrol, J.M. Barrie and Showcase Present books are a personal favorite.
THINGS I NEED.
Things I need could and should be it's own post. But the biggest thing would have to be a way to control my writing time. Most common suggestion is getting a cooking clicker.
That's about does it. I'm sure I will have an "Oh Yeah!" moment and want to add something later.
Carry on,
