Becoming A Writer Seriously - Latest Comments

Re: E-Book Readers: The March Forward Continues

tomcolvin — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:18:15 -0000

Scott, you've got good points about portability and ability to download into
an ugraded reader. Thanks for pointing out those benefits.

Re: E-Book Readers: The March Forward Continues

Scott Cheatham — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:52:05 -0000

Hmm..Well, Sony does allow you to redownload any books you purchase so if I upgrade down the line, at least my library will be current. I have a Reader ebook and love it. I love the fact that I can up the font size so my eyes don't get as tired when I read. Every book becomes large print if I want it to be!

I guess the larger reader would be nice but one of the things I like about the 505 is it's size and portability. It's a nice tradeoff for keeping several books at hand in a manageable size.

Re: From Book To Location: A Remarkable New Facility

tomcolvin — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:13:09 -0000

Clyde, what a pleasant surprise to hear directly from you. Yet another
example of how a computer- and internet-savvy author can build audience and
contacts.

For other authors out there, have you set up a Google Alert to keep a watch
for the name of your book or even you yourself? It's easy to do -- and it's
free. It's an important marketing step every author should take.

There may be other facilities out there that accomplish the same thing. I'd
really appreciate some discussion about how others track mentions of their
work.

Re: From Book To Location: A Remarkable New Facility

Clyde Ford — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:37:22 -0000

Tom,

Thanks for your kind words about OnScene and Precious Cargo. Keep up the good work with your blog.

Best,

Clyde Ford

Re: Keeping In Sync

tomcolvin — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:10:07 -0000

Interesting scenario you sketch out for you. I think lots of others are
finding the same thing.

Re: Keeping In Sync

BillinDetroit — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:55:37 -0000

Ummm ... how long did you wait for Vista? Were your expectations fulfilled? At what price point?
I had XP on this machine. My wife has Vista on hers. Her machine spec's out at twice mine. Mine ran circles around hers. So which one did MSFT give the axe?

When XP bailed out (and took 800+ once-in-a-lifetime vacation photos with it), I loaded Ubuntu. Nothing I need won't run on Ubuntu.

Re: WakeUpProductiveBlog: How To Manage Yourself And Your Time (And How To Dramatically Increase Your Personal Productivity)

tomcolvin — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 04:29:12 -0000

Sebastien, thanks for your observations. Yes, this video is tilted toward
business. But some writers are engaged in writing as a business, and it may
be valuable to them. If visit the video's website and poke around, you will
find a case study of a writer who finished writing her book in 6 weeks.
[Wish that could happen to me!]

On the other hand, WriteToDone offers great insights too, a very helpful
site for writers.

Re: WakeUpProductiveBlog: How To Manage Yourself And Your Time (And How To Dramatically Increase Your Personal Productivity)

Sebastien B — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:06:09 -0000

Thanks Tom! Great video. But it's a bit "business" oriented, and not really for writers. I prefer Leo's recommendations on his WriteToDone blog: have clear goals, find triggers, allow yourself some rewards, etc. (The "focus" concept is common to all strategies).

In the video, I liked the principle of having a great beginning of the day (water, exercise, great meal, meditation, reading). Leo wrote once something that I liked very much about this: when he wakes up (at 4 AM), he "greats the day". That may sound strange, but that's a way to find something authentic in your relationship with writing. Simply, deeply, great the day.

Re: WakeUpProductiveBlog: How To Manage Yourself And Your Time (And How To Dramatically Increase Your Personal Productivity)

tomcolvin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:16:13 -0000

Ray-Anne, glad you liked it. If you go to the site and poke around, you
will find a testimonial about a writer who completed her book due to the
inspiration of the time management strategy.

On a related issue, I made this post using the facility of Vodpod.com. I
was rather surprised that it puts the video on the blog so that it starts
playing on its own accord. I'm not sure I like that. I'd prefer that the
reader has option on click on a play button. Do you or others have any
reactions to this?

Re: WakeUpProductiveBlog: How To Manage Yourself And Your Time (And How To Dramatically Increase Your Personal Productivity)

Ray-Anne — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:41:48 -0000

Thanks so much for this link - it is an excellent summary of key elements of time management - all in one place! Well worth the time.

Re: WakeUpProductiveBlog: How To Manage Yourself And Your Time (And How To Dramatically Increase Your Personal Productivity)

tomcolvin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:30:50 -0000

observations about posting via www.vodpod.com: The task of posting worked. However, it lost paragraph breaks. AND it sets the video to open immediately, rather than allowing the reader to activate the playback. I'll investigate to see if that can be changed. Please bear with me...

I fully concur with Eben's directive to set out BLOCKS OF TIME. You may wish to search my blog for my review of ACHIEVE PLANNER, a program that is based on this concept.

Also, Eben is talking primarily to people who are building an online business, with product to sell. For writers, we may find that he places too much emphasis on the business side, and not enough on the content side. That can, of course, be readjusted to your needs. However, do NOT toss the business side out completely as irrelevant. It isn't. Writer do need, at some point, to promote and sell their work.

Re: Keeping In Sync

tomcolvin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:41:13 -0000

I agree, Katherine. I suspect that Linux will begin making inroads based on
experience of those using these mini's. Word will spread that it's not a
fearful OS -- and it's FREE.

Re: New Book at Amazon About Self-Publishing

tomcolvin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:39:19 -0000

Tracy, once you've read it, I hope you will let me know. I'd love to have a
guest review of it.. Thanks.

Re: New Book at Amazon About Self-Publishing

Tracy — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:16:38 -0000

Thanks Tom! I've posted a note about this in the storyheart.com blog and will order a copy sometime next month.

Re: Keeping In Sync

eyrea — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:56:09 -0000

Thank you for the link!

I find it interesting that so many of these mini-notebooks are coming out
running some form of Linux or another, and while it's noted in the reviews,
consumers don't seem to notice or care that much. It's as if the OS and
applications are only noticeable if they irk people.

Re: Keeping In Sync

tomcolvin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:36:11 -0000

Katherine, thanks for sharing that info regarding Linux. Very interesting!

Just this morning in Manila, an ad appeared announcing a new mini-notebook
with Linux OS for about $200. You can review this PC at www.ilikeblue.com.
This computer is yet another example of a flourishing new trend, whcih I'll
probably write about in coming days.

Re: Keeping In Sync

eyrea — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:14:19 -0000

On Ubuntu Linux, Conduit Synchronizer and Unison are both available.

Re: Solving the iMac vs PC dilemma

tomcolvin — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:27:10 -0000

Thanks for sharing yr experience.

I'm still in a quandry though. One day I'm all set to buy an iMac. The
next day I wince about the expense. And the time it will take to find Mac
programs that will do all I need, especially freeware.

Not sure I like the PC hardware alternatives. So far, no dealer in Manila
I've talked to is willing to dislodge Vista and reconfigure with XP. May
consider putting together custom PC with help of a local shop that does such
things.

But your encourage may push me forward toward the Mac.

Re: Solving the iMac vs PC dilemma

TM — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:47:30 -0000

Hi Tom,
Just came across your site - really unique and very interesting information! I went through the PC vs. MAC dilemma about a year ago and ended up getting a Macbook Pro. Parallels is a good alternative if you need to run both operating systems, though I've heard it can slow down your processing speed (I bought Parallels but never installed it). Bootcamp is another alternative - only downside is you have to reboot your system if you want to switch from one operating system to another. At any rate, aside from the frustration of occasionally running into applications that don't have mac versions, I don't miss my PC a bit.

Oh, and I just recently starting using Celtx - awesome.

Re: Solving the iMac vs PC dilemma

tomcolvin — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:48:09 -0000

Long-term pleasure vs. short-term financial pain -- yes, that's just the
issue. Thanks for reminding me, Paul, especially as this morning I woke up
with the notion to "save my money."

I'm certainly convinced that the Mac is a joy to use. But my biggest
hesitation has to do with available software. I have lots of Windows
programs that seem "indispensible," such as Whiz Folders, Keynote,
Paperport, and others.

That's where the convenience of Parallels comes in, the ability to run both
Mac OS and Windows simultaneously. However, what if I find myself still
using, say 90 percent of the time, Windows programs. Do Windows programs
work better under Parallels on an iMac? Or is performance identical to the
PC experience. Haven't found the answer to that one yet.

Re: Solving the iMac vs PC dilemma

paul merrill — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:29:03 -0000

If you get the iMac, the regret of the higher price will wear off *long* before the pleasure of using it will.

Re: Solving the iMac vs PC dilemma

tomcolvin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:29:12 -0000

Miguel, speaking of Spain -- and off blog topic for a moment -- my major
life project these days is researching and writing a major history of the
Balmis Expedition of 1803-1807, which was sent out by King Carlos IV to
convey the new smallpox vaccine throughout the Spanish colonies. It's a
rather daunting task for someone whose spoken and written Spanish is
rudimentary and whose reading capability is only so-so.

Anyway, I spent an interesting month in Spain several years ago and expect
to return next summer. Fabulous country with a truly amazing history.

Re: Solving the iMac vs PC dilemma

migueldeluis — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:35:05 -0000

Your welcome. Celtx was designed for movie scripts, but it organizes a novel well enough too, and it runs in any OS, I *think*.

As for me I'm intrigued about the Mac. Maybe in the next few months if I finally secure the job I have been working so earnestly for. (And I need to see how they really work, they have never been popular here in Spain)

Re: Solving the iMac vs PC dilemma

tomcolvin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:55:17 -0000

Thanks, Miguel. Celtx is new to me. I'll have to look into it. As you may
know, I've written about a blog of another of my readers which is doing a
series on the writing tools she uses in Linux. I'm reminded that I need to
check to see what updates she's written recently.

I'm intrigued with Linux myself, though I've not yet tried it. There's a
chance I'll get an inexpensive Asus eee mini-notebook that runs on Linux as
my travelling companion. While travelling recently, I bought a magazine
that covers the various versions of Ubuntu -- and it lists a lot of the more
important Linux software packages.

Re: Solving the iMac vs PC dilemma

migueldeluis — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:40:01 -0000

Hi Tom, what draws me to Linux are:
a) Price
b) Simplicity
c) Stability

As for software I use celtx to organize my writing, a Moleskine for drafts and Open Office.