Writing on the go or away from home?

[kitty_fic]

Do you do any writing on the go or away from home?

Do you take your laptop with you? Or something else?

What if taking your laptop isnt an option but you have some time to spare or find yourself in a cozy coffee shop?

Do you write on your phone or other portable device (iPad? Apps?)

Or do you switch to handwriting? I've seen someone say that even jotting 25 words on a sticky note is a good way to get some writing done on the go.

What works for you?

Comments

[kitty_fic]

Do you use an app or anything for writing on your iPad?

[kitty_fic]

Thanks! I don't think I've tried that on the iPad!

[who_la_hoop]

I have a memory stick, for when I want to write fic at work. Otherwise, I handwrite. I always have a notepad and pen in my handbag. I couldn't work on a phone - I'd go crazy! I get finger and wrist pain from typing too much/using touchscreens as it is.

[kitty_fic]

Thanks for your comment bb! I've found myself handwriting things more often lately... even if it's just notes

[blossomdreams.livejournal.com]

When I'm on campus I usually write in the lounge or the coffeeshop or a few minutes before class starts. I always carry some notebooks with me to remind me what's on my to do list to plot and plan stories, and to add songs that I think relate to the characters and pairings. I use my notebooks to plot out stories when I'm visiting family because they like to look over my shoulder when I use my laptop.

If I don't have my laptop I go to the computers in the library that is set up like an open cubicle and use my ipod as a memory stick.

[kitty_fic]

I know what you mean about people looking over shoulders! That is the good thing about notebooks vs a computer!

[analise010.livejournal.com]

I rarely take my laptop with me if I'm going anywhere farther than Starbucks. Otherwise, I write notes on my iPod or Kindle Fire, depending on what's on my person.

However, if I'm somewhere *important* and can't take out my electronics, I'll handwrite scene outlines to stay sane.

[kitty_fic]

So a combination of things! Thanks for your input!

[exx-cecilegr.livejournal.com]

I will write while commuting or staying at another house or hotel, always on the netbook or in an old fashioned notebook by hand. I'm no good at concentrating in a public place, though.

[kitty_fic]

Sometimes I like to go to Denny's and hide in a corner booth. But I agree that if there is too much going on or too many people I can't concentrate either!

[emansil-12.livejournal.com]

No laptop, not iphone, no ipad. Just a notebook and a writing utensil or three, and I'm good.

I do have to have at least some degree of quiet, or privacy, to get in the zone.

[kitty_fic]

I find myself handwriting in notebooks a lot more lately. More for notes, but also for the occasional scene. I just hate to go back and transfer it later (becuase I'm lazy XD)

[emansil-12.livejournal.com]

I hear you!, (see this post http://emansil-12.livejournal.com/37521.html) but I can't type and create at same time. So this is the lesser of the evils.

[kitty_fic]

You know! I'm glad you linked me back to that! I had it open in a tab for the longest time because I wanted to comment, but I think my browser must have crashed!

I'm so totally behind on commenting and replying to comments so you may be hearing from me as I catch up on everything! XD

[kinky-kneazle.livejournal.com]

I have my baby Phil - an Asus Transformer TF201 which comes with a docked keyboard. I can write 700 words on the bus on the way into work on a good day. I am, in fact, typing on it now! It runs Android and for all Androiders, I highly recommend the app "write", which is just a blank screen to write on - no distractions - and it saves automatically, a godsend for when you accidentally hit a key that takes you out of the app, which I used to do regularly. The keys are a little smaller than I'm used to, but it works for me! And everything connects to my dropbox, so it's all in one spot.

I also write at work on occasion - never anything smutty. If I'm writing at work I write it on an email and send it to my personal address, then copy/paste to my document once I'm at home. I wrote most of Yuletide that way.

[kitty_fic]

That is awesome that you can write 700 words on the bus!

I think the iphone may have that app as well. I should also look into getting a dropbox!

[valinorean.livejournal.com]

I had to search FAR AND WIDE just for an app for this because I can't write on a notebook since I lose things and I can't lose that. And I want to be able to read where I left off just to make sure there's continuity.

I ended with two apps. The first one is My Writing Spot (http://www.mywritingnook.com/) It syncs online so I can write both online and on my phone. When I switched phones, it suddenly stopped working so I ended with Helipad (http://helicoid.net/), which is better imo because there's an app for your laptop too. So even if you don't have internet, you can write in your laptop then just sync online when you have.

[kitty_fic]

I've been using My Writing Spot and I really do like it but I've wondered if there was something out there that was better. I'll check out Helipad! Thanks!

[valinorean.livejournal.com]

I saw you were asking about filing systems for fic ideas (further below). Have you tried Scrivener? I use it for all the plot bunnies I get. I even created my own template with folders and folder for each fandom, one-liner ideas, and even entire plot outlines

[kitty_fic]

I haven't but I have heard good things about that program.

I really need a protable system for my plot bunnies though... does scrivener have an app?

[valinorean.livejournal.com]

that's the only down side I guess. I don't think it has a portable version :(

[kitty_fic]

Ah,yeah :/

Maybe I will still check it out and see what it's like - if I love it I can come up with a system for transferring things to it later

I'd like to have something that has a tagging systsem maybe... so I can find the things I'm looking for later easier.

[teas-me.livejournal.com]

Depends on where I am when I'm away. If I'm at school, I just use the computers in the library. Sometimes, when I'm in class and I get an idea, I'll jot it down in my notebook on the back pages. If I'm going on a trip - like I'll be doing next month - I'll bring the macbook with me.

[kitty_fic]

Thanks bb for all the ideas! <3

[k8sfic.livejournal.com]

If I want to get some concrete writing done, I need my laptop. I'm actually sitting in a hotel right now, doing an overnight for work.

Otherwise, I have a Kindle Fire HD I type notes up on--whether it's an idea for a scene or even just what I want to happen in the next scene.

I usually don't do any writing while on the go, just because my job involves a lot of driving. If I come up with something I want to jot down while driving, I find a scrap piece of paper and put down the most important parts and hope I can figure it out later when I get back to it, lol.

[kitty_fic]

What program do you use on your Kindle Fire? Is there an app or something that works for you?

Maybe you need a voice recorder for when you are on the road :D lol

[vanessawolfie.livejournal.com]

I write on the go sometimes, and in school/classes and basically everywhere I have time/energy/plot for it. If I don't have my laptop, which is rare, if I'm not going to be using it someplace I'm staying for at least a day/two, I have this notebook, A5, which is so pretty and if I don't have that, I grab the nearest paper I can get my hands on and if I don't have a pencil/pen, I borrow SOMETHING from someone.

When I actually do have access to a computer and if that's more handy than writing in my notebooks, (sometimes, I write sitting with my friends at school and then it's inconvenient/rude to just up and go to the next school computer. But when I do, I just open a gdoc and then I can access it where ever I am.

[kitty_fic]

I've started writing more on pen and paper which is working out okay but I just hate to go back and type it up later D:

[vanessawolfie.livejournal.com]

yeah, but what I've learned from typing it up later, is that because normally it takes at least some hours before I get to it, I can often proof-read or fix things as I type it up. It makes my writing better I think, although I agree, sometimes it's frustrating.

[kitty_fic]

You make a good point. It's like built in editing!

[vanessawolfie.livejournal.com]

That's how I use it. I took this creative writing class last year and my teacher kept telling us to write fast, then 'salt' it for 24 hours and come back to it and edit. I do that by writing on paper and then later writing it up. Sometimes I can't wait, but sometimes it makes the work much better.

[kitty_fic]

Great tips! I always love hearing what people learn from writing classes

[tryslora]

I am sitting at my son's TKD lesson, with my laptop, right this moment. I intend to edit and post my Yuletide piece once I'm done being distracted. I bring my laptop with me often, to track meets, to TKD lessons, and I used to bring it to basketball tournaments to use between games.

I've also brought my iPad along at times, but I'm more likely to do art on that these days rather than write. That might change now that the kids are no longer always stealing it from me, so it's a bit more private. I have a notebook as well that I carry when I can't carry anything else and think I'll be able to have some time. I just need to remember to print something to work with then! I also keep printed manuscripts to read and edit sometimes.

I have a bad habit of carrying writing with me often. It's either that or knit!

[kitty_fic]

Yes, I have that problem with my ipad also! My kids use it so it worries me to do too much on it for fandom. However they just got Nabi tablets for Christmas so hopefully that will cut down on sharing my ipad!

[celestlyn.livejournal.com]

I normally take my netbook with me when I go places. Otherwise my ipod Touch or Kindle Fire HD work for short notes and things. I don't like to type on the touchpad all that much, so I keep my notes short. Perhaps a small, portable keyboard would the useful. Not sure if the Kindle has them yet, but if not they probably will eventually.

[kitty_fic]

I have the portable keyboard for the ipad and it works really well! Definitely something worth looking into!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I ride to work, work like a demon, then ride home from work, so there is rarely any time in the day for me to get any writing done when I am doing an in-office contract. Sometimes I have a few good ideas, though, so I have a teeny tiny paper notepad in my handbook that will have notes on it like 'HG's parents wonder why she doesn't write to them during period frozen. Hogwarts explain?? Y/N? How are magical injuries dealt with?' or 'Really, Malfoy? You were expecting me to angst over that? When have I ever shown tendencies to introspection and self-examination?' which belong to two entirely different fics. This can become confusing when I forget to transcribe things at the end of the day and I have found old notepads with great lines in them but no idea what story they were for.

Usually I write on my laptop at home. Previously it would go for adventures in the real world with me and I did get a lot of writing done in local cafes, but at the moment it needs a new battery, which involves leaving it with the Apple people for a week and I have not HAD a week to let go of it. I would take my netbook out to cafes, but it takes too much brain to flip back and forward between keyboards, and I hate the Windows system on my netbook.

I always write on the laptop with a little A5 notebook beside me to do things like write down character names, and reminders from canon, and ideas for future scenes. At some point I stop writing and go through what I have and make sure that all plot points are both rational and related to the rest of the text, and try to pick up things I had an idea about in Act 1 but then forgot about because 10,000 things intervened between that and Act 2. This is probably the most useful writing 'thing' as far as process goes. This notebook gets carried around with me when I am working on a story in case I have a good idea and am somewhere where I can develop it. My most recent one was written in during my last haircut, on the train, while waiting for Mr B to do some shopping, in bed and during a car trip. But I find it hard to do too much handwriting, because I am aware of how much I will need to transcribe later. Instead, I tend to knit when I have hands-available time, because that ends up with a 'done thing'.

[kitty_fic]

Yes, I really dislike having to go back and transcribe it later so I am reluctant to do too much handwriting. However, I have found that handwriting can sometimes open a block so there is that.

What do you do with your notes later? Toss them? Do you have a file system? Specifically if it's something you want to use later and not meant for a specific fic?

[scarletladyy.livejournal.com]

No, I can't write on the go or away from home. I need to be in a comfortable environment, which is only my own home! I'm rarely away from home though, so it's not really a problem.

Although, a couple of years ago I went to Disneyworld for my 21st, and I had a couple of fest fics due right after I got back. I didn't have a laptop at the time, nor any other portable device (and even if I did, I wouldn't have taken them to the US), so I printed off my assignments, put them in a folder and took an A4 pad and pen with me. I wrote a bit on the plane, and then in the early mornings before we went to the parks or in the late evenings after we got back. When we got home, I had to very quickly transfer what I'd written to the computer.

I wouldn't want to do it again; I found it very hard to write away from my comfort zone. On the odd occasion when I've taken my laptop to my mums, I've tried to write, but I just can't. I'm weird like that! If I get fic ideas while I'm away from home (or even when I'm just drifting off to sleep!), I'll scribble them down to remember for later.

[kitty_fic]

I know what you mean about comfort zone! My problem is that it's so hard to find quiet in my house and I do my best writing in quiet and with no distractions so I'm on the lookout for somewhere I can go and hide away to do some writing. I've tucked myself away in a Denny's booth before and that has been okay but still a bit distracting with waiters and such walking by.

[enchanted-jae.livejournal.com]

If I get a plot bunny or an idea for a title or somesuch, I'll jot it down on any old piece of scrap paper. However, if I want to actually WRITE, I carry a small notebook in my purse. It's full of fic particles in a combination of chicken-scratch/shorthand.

:D

[kitty_fic]

Do you have a filing system for bunnies/ideas that you want to use later?

[enchanted-jae.livejournal.com]

Not...really. I have a couple private posts on LJ that I stash them in. I did finally create a separate post for "creature fic" ideas, though.