If you need me, I'll be in the lab.

It Figures

I got up this morning, made coffee, had a blueberry muffin, and sat down to work on my book.

When I opened Scrivener, the excellent tool I am using to write this thing, and received a message that an update was available for download and installation.  I have updated like this dozens of times so I clicked ok.

Somehow the update failed.

When the program comes up, it gives me a scarey error message, it tells me to uninstall the program and reinstall.

No guts, no glory. Why not, I have backups.

I uninstall, download the current version, install it, open it up, got to the menu and I see a "Backup Link".

There is no "Restore" menu option.

I drink way more coffee before continuing. I tried several things that didn't work. More coffee was the only thing that worked.

I finally figured out that I needed to unzip the backup manually.

--It only took me an hour. Back to work!

Maps as a Tool

Middle Earth from The Lord of the Rings

I love maps.

I'd completely wallpaper a room in the house with maps if I could get away with it. I'd love a map room!

Anyway, I use maps a lot as a writing tool.

It is good to know how long it would take a character to travel somewhere on foot or horse back or in a car.

It helps me know what they may see if they look to the horizon, the weather or even the moon(s) in the sky. Even floor plans and building layouts help me sort out action and business.

--I love maps. You should too. Love them NOW!

Scrivener

Writing a novel, research paper, script or any long-form text involves more than hammering away at the keys until you’re done. Collecting research, ordering fragmented ideas, shuffling index cards in search of that elusive structure—most writing software is fired up only after much of the hard work is over. Enter Scrivener: a word processor and project management tool that stays with you from that first, unformed idea all the way through to the final draft. Outline and structure your ideas, take notes, view research alongside your writing and compose the constituent pieces of your text in isolation or in context. Scrivener won't tell you how to write—it just makes all the tools you have scattered around your desk available in one application.

I credit this tool with helping me hammer through my first draft!

Scrivener also has a ton of training vids on YouTube:



--It's a GREAT tool and only $40!