I used that fine tool for a good two weeks before I returned to my pleasant, vanilla TextEdit, but that two-week journey is worth understanding. Let me start by saying that I didn’t write this draft in OmmWriter. And I think you should write more, which is why my holiday present for you is OmmWriter. This requirement of simplicity is rooted in my belief that choices are distractions and distractions are the leading cause of you not writing. No macros, no line numbers, no revision control, just pure writing simplicity. It’s just a simple text editor ( Sentinel, 15 pt, FTW) that allows me to do rich text editing, search and replace, bold, italics, and the occasional underline. As sophisticated tools go, TextEdit is bare bones. Is where I’m currently sitting MacBook Pro friendly or not? If that answer is yes, I’ll fire up TextEdit and get started. The choice of which to use often comes down to location. The lessons I’ve learned in that time are myriad, but today I’m thinking about simplicity.įor first drafts, I use one of two tools: a Moleskine notebook or TextEdit. There was a weblog way back when, and then there is this one, which, 15 years after my first foray into independent writing, actually resulted in published work. Since high school, I’ve continued to write constantly. Old writing is like an old girlfriend: the memory is better than the reality. It’s sitting on a 3.5-inch floppy somewhere in a file format I’m certain will prevent me from ever reading it again, and, that’s probably best. To God and Back Again was never finished, let alone published. Seven pages in and I’m worried that double-spacing is going have an impact on whether I get published.Īmbition. I was silently asking myself, “How am I going to make this palatable to the editor? To the publisher?” I sat down at the computer and the story just showed up - seven pages of it.Īs the creative burst subsided, I stared at those seven pages in the word processor - Wordstar - and I began to fret about line spacing, page numbers, and other formatting decisions. What was surprising was the vein of writing I found in myself. I was, not surprisingly, in high school at the time. OmmWriter (and other similar programs) have really helped me see what I’m capable of as a writer and content producer (which is great when you need to pump out a bunch of articles, stories, and posts on a regular schedule), and it’s helped me to know my potential.The first story I wrote for myself was a piece of fiction about God being sent to high school. I could probably go on, but you get the point. I’m getting more succinct and to-the-point, and when I pause for a second to think, I’m not tempted to check email, Facebook, or Twitter. Overall, I’m not just noticing a huge increase in my productivity (on a 3-hour plane ride, I produced about 5,000 words of publishable content-not “first draft” kind of stuff), but also better quality in my writing. Minimalistic writing programs really make me WANT to write-as I know I don’t have to log in to any online tools, close programs, or do anything other than open up a new document. I really should be tempted to write 24/7, but truthfully, as many writers can relate to, I simply don’t want to all the time. This forces me to look over my text for errors, typos, and weird sentences. If there are multiple blog posts or ebook content that I’m working on, I’m often tempted to just press “Publish.” OmmWriter and other writing tools are a step removed from the publishing process, meaning I’ll have to Copy-Paste at least once before I’m able to push my content into the world. When I’m in the zone, I can pop out a few thousand words without a break. OmmWriter takes the full-screen mode a step further, by adding in built-in ethereal music (I promise, it’s not annoying) and typewriter sounds. Minimalism is one of those words that are thrown around a bit too much, kind of like “Web 2.0” and “synergy.” But true minimalism should actually promote focus, concentration, and distraction-free writing. Rather than quit them all, I can just open OmmWriter and not have to worry about losing momentum. First, the full-screen mode of these apps allow me to block out everything else on my MacBook Pro-and if you’re a geek like me, there’s usually a LOT going on between my desktops, TweetDeck, Mail, and other “perpetually-open” programs. ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |