I was inspired to write about my own quest to find a note taking tool because of Amelia June’s recent posts on her experimentations with Microsoft OneNote. Since I’m a poor student, I don’t have OneNote and so I’m trying a cheap-o way to manage my notes. Maybe some of these softwares will come in handy for someone else.

I realized a while back that I needed a way to write down notes as I worked on Morgan. Things would pop into my head — usually along the lines of, Crud, I’m going to have to go back and change that, but I don’t want to right now while I’m flowing along. I better write a note or remember the change for later — and I would try and make a note to myself.

I first tried keeping a notebook handy, but unfortunately I’m not organized enough to always have that same notebook within arm’s reach and notebooks lack a very important tool: copy & paste.

So, I tried to write in RoughDraft, which has a notepad right next to the wordprocessing screen. I loved the program…except for the fact that it was Rich Text Format and thus did not support more advanced formatting options. Could I live without my precious em dashes? I wondered. The answer was “no,” which may seem crazy to some of you, but whenever I saw two normal dashes instead of my usual em dash, it just looked wrong on the screen and it would distract me.

Then I began playing around with almost every free software I could find, which isn’t a lot. I found things I liked, such as LivePad, which is comparable to OneNote in a lot of ways, but it still costs money (granted, not as much as OneNote, but…). I also tried ZuluPad, but it lacked a lot of features I’d've liked (which, ironically, were available on ZuluPad Pro) but I really did like it’s wiki-style linking. Maybe I’ll experiment a little more with ZuluPad later.

I’ve mentioned KeyNote before, and I do like many of its features, as well, but there were a few aspects of it that frustrated me (many of the same ones that frustrated me on ZuluPad). Basically the fact that the files are not .txt or .rtf, so if you want to open the documents on another computer, you’ve got to have the program installed. Since I often nip into the computer lab when I find myself with a few free minutes, I would much rather have something that I could access from any computer — be it Mac or otherwise. Although, KeyNote does offer a lot of the stuff ZuluPad Pro offers (like rich text formatting) and for free.

However, I suppose I can experiment with putting the whole software on my USB key (now that I have 2 megs, its much more easier to put extra stuff on it). But, for right now, I’m trying out NotePad Pro+. It is as the name suggests: it’s a more advanced version of NotePad. What I really like about it is: tabbed documents (very handy when I have multiple files of notes!), everything is saved as .txt, I can set the font, in-document links, syntax highlighting, word count and character count, and an unlimited undo. In the end, I simply copy & pasted the .exe file into my USB key, and now I can have the program wherever I go. Or, if I don’t have my USB key with me, I can open a .txt file and email it to myself or put it on Google Docs and I’ll be able to open it with Notepad Pro+ later.

10:27 pm | Category: Reviews, Writing | | 1 Comment

…because I thought she would be more sympathetic to minorities, being one herself, but she said something that was just as ignorant and steeped in stereotype as the very people she feels discriminate against her ethnic group. It shocked and saddened me, especially since it was directed at MY ethnic group and here I was, a student in her class, not three feet from her. I wrote about it at length in my livejournal and then after some thought, I decided I would share it with a more public crowd because it’s something that really bothered me.

It’s my view, and if you want to share yours, fine. But, I hope I’ll get respectful feedback/comments and not more of the slop I deal with more often than most people think.

12:47 am | Category: Journal | | No Comments

I haven’t written anything in 3 days, and I’ve barely written more than 700 words for 4 days prior to that.

Yes, I can hear my father’s voice saying, “Well, if you wouldn’t spend so much time doing nothing and learn some time management skills…” (sometimes I think he has out-of-body experiences just so he can go nyah-nyah in my head), but it’s very difficult. Who knew that going back to school for a teaching certificate would equal so much homework? I’m spending more time reading, yawning, writting niggly assignments, yawning, scratching my head on teachers’ websites, yawning, and studying for exams than I ever did as a lowly undergraduate. And, if my current plans come to fruition, it may just get worse. I’m thinking of doing my MA along with my teaching certification come spring, which would mean jamming one or two more classes into my schedule and trying to go full-time student in the summer. This could be a recipe for disaster for someone who has laughable time management skills and a tendency to procrastinate.

My recent lack of time is also frustrating because I’d really like some time to write. I guess it’s not surprising, since Saturday I went to an author’s discussion panel that had Emma Bull, Dennis McKiernan, and Jennifer Roberson. After hearing professionals speak about the craft of sci-fi & fantasy writing, I was both encouraged and filled with trepidation. But it was a good trepidation; the kind you feel before you go on a really big roller coaster that has loops and mountains. I came out thinking, It’s gonna be hard, it may be hellish, but hey! When do I ever pick the easy way?

9:23 am | Category: Writing | | 1 Comment

Lately I’ve been incorporating a new way of writing: not thinking about it. NANOWRIMO-ers will know this way well, basically you keep writing and not really thinking about all those neggly questions in the background: “Does this make sense? Will people like it? Am I babbling?” I’m writing entirely closed door, in other words, but I can’t help but think, This is going to be a bitch to edit once I’m done. But, as I seem to have increased my productivity quite a bit, I’m just going to keep trucking.

I’ve also found a nice note-keeping system. Since I don’t use RoughDraft anymore, I want a program to keep some notes on. Since I’m writing more freely now, I also need to jot down things to go back to and check. I downloaded KeyNote for this, and so far I really like the features.

On Saturday, John had his birthday party and I admit, I think I had a few too many tequila shots. But, interestingly, the end result was telling one of John’s friends all about my plot ideas for “Morgan”. I think he probably had a few too many tequila shots, too, because he actually took an interest (usually when I get on my writing monologue, people’s eyes glaze over). Trust me to get tipsy and talk glowingly about my writing and my plans to get published.

Tomorrow is John’s actual birthday day and I’m taking a day off my classes, and he’s taking a day off work, so we can spend some major time together. We’re planning on having breakfast out and seeing a movie. Of course, after this weekend, I am going to be basically broke.

10:26 pm | Category: Journal, Writing | | 1 Comment