My Writer's Toolbox (Melissa Robbins)

      Every person wanting to improve his or her craft must have the right tools. A painter needs the right brushes to paint his masterpiece and yes I spend $6.99 a piece on the really nice markers at the craft store. There is a difference between coloring with those than the Crayola ones. The same applies to writers. Let’s open my writer’s toolbox and find out what helps me.

  

   My library (looking rather tidied up at the moment): Of course it fits in my toolbox. My box is bigger on the inside. ;0) The library is my favorite room in the house which makes it ideal to create stories. Along with my desk and computer, my library shelves are full of books to fuel my creativity and for research purposes. Don’t forget the comfortable chair for reading. Since I burned up the laptop, my husband insisted that our next PC be a professional computer, one designed for staying on for long periods of time. I LOVE it.

   My plotting board: Also in the library, it’s on the right just out of the picture. I would be lost without it. Scenes are on cards and I pinned them to my bulletin board. I know what scenes I have to write and where I’m going, like a road map.

   The Internet opened so many doorways into worlds that some people would never experience. One day, I hit the jackpot. Some wonderful souls imputed for a digital diary ALL the incidents in Northeast England during World War Two. I know when the blackout times were for each day. What areas were hit. Damage reports. Times when the sirens went on and off. Everything.

    Photographs: I collected photographs for people, uniform and clothing references. What houses looked like in the 40’s. Speaking of tools, there are photographs for items that we just don’t use anymore with technology. My fourteen year old boy can’t just throw a shirt in the front loading washer, not that he would do that if he could.

   My notebooks: I need a place to put all the items I found for my stories. My toolbox may be ever expanding, but my brain can only remember so much. The leather bound ones are my favorite. I write ideas and scenes in them. Stuff in photographs of people, planes, and houses, maps, and sketches I’ve drawn. They are novel scrapbooks.

    Music: I can’t write in silence. I HAVE to have music playing softly in the background. When I sit down at my computer to start writing, I click on Itunes, Word, and Excel in that order. Lately, I play soundtracks like Transformers 4: Age of Extinction and How to Train Your Dragon 2. Both epic soundtracks, the songs inspire me and my characters. Some songs are soft when my hero is contemplating the world and other songs when he and his mates are taking on the bad guys. Drago’s Coming is my favorite one from HTTYD2. It’s a “let’s ban to together and kick some villain butt” song. With its mournful pipes and trumpet, Stoick’s Ship makes a great song for a fallen comrade.

   That’s just some of the items in my writer’s toolbox. Do you have any like these in yours?

The Recycled Tech Writer’s Toolbox. (Kate O'Hara)

I worked in a construction area for a time and was required to wear a hard hat. Mine was labeled “Recycled Tech Writer.”  I’m a techie – a true geek. I learned to compose on a manual typewriter keyboard with my first full-time writing job in 1964. I kept a notebook and pencil by my bedside to write down dream induced ideas, but any actual writing was done at the keyboard. That same year I wrote my first computer program in an obscure language you’d now call assembler. I bought my first home PC, a TRS-80 Color Computer (affectionately called a CoCo), in 1980. Since it didn’t have a writing “app,” I programmed my own word processor in basic so I could do my freelance tech writing jobs on it. I have owned and worked with so many different computers, peripherals, devices and software over the years I can’t even remember all of them, much less list them. So, what’s in my writer’s techie toolbox today? A 2007 desktop computer with Windows.

Doesn’t sound too cutting edge to you? Well, I have to admit I rebuilt it 2 years ago and it has a few performance enhancements, but it was a multimedia monster at conception. Sure, I have a lot of current software for special purposes, but my primary one for writing is Microsoft Word (in Office 12). I know there are spiffier writer apps and newer versions of Office, but at my advanced age, having a trustworthy old friend I know intimately is a comfort ;-) I have used Word as my primary writing tool for decades (and decades before that) since it first became available. Learning the quirks and capabilities of this versatile software over the years has made composition easier for me in many ways, so I stick with it despite trials of newer software that try to lure me away. I’ve tried various laptops, notebooks, tablets and countless software, but have slowly abandoned them as adding more trouble than value. So, I am now reduced to composing on one old desktop computer with an old version of the oldest graphical interface word processor software. Some geek, right?

I did grudgingly add a new piece of software last fall that I like a lot, Scrivener from Literature & Latte. I wasn’t won over to their word processor, but the organizing tools are terrific for someone like me. Being a techie, I admit to still being a plotter now that fiction is my passion. Scrivener can organize my writing projects by a variety of types: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Miscellaneous (like poetry) and even Scriptwriting with appropriate tools and layouts for each. The project is then built of parts, chapters, scenes, etc. These can be displayed several ways, but I like to use the corkboard so I can see all my notes and rearrange scenes or plot points by simply dragging and dropping them. The tools I love best and use most are the character and setting descriptions. This is a reasonably priced piece of software for writers who might like to organize ideas all in one place instead of using multiple notebooks, file cards and whiteboards.

To be fair, I have a Kindle tablet and use it for proofing and markup away from home. I also get a lot of help from online technology like Google for quick research without a trip to the library plus dictionary, style and thesaurus sites. I can send files around the world for collaboration and loosely translate them into nearly every language instantly. The computer age has made writing both faster and more immediate, but not necessarily easier. You still have to do the tedious chore of putting words on paper—or at least on a screen. The motto for techie writers is “Save early, save often.”

What is in my Writer’s Toolbox? (Z. Minor)

Currently my writing office is equipped with a desk-top computer and a laptop, both computers have Microsoft 2013 and I use both of them. The desk top for writing my novels and the lap-top for tracking what I’m writing. Confusing - not to me, let me explain.

I use the lap-top to keep a timeline of my story as well as a master list of names and important events taking place throughout the story. This stops me from having to relook up the information I already used. An Excel spread sheet keeps track of chapter numbers, page count, and which characters are in the scene. This keeps me having to remember the who, what, and where as I write – especially important in rewrites - so I don’t forget some little detail; like eye or hair color, and names - especially spelling of names and places.

I use the Internet for my go to place for gathering historical information which I weave into my stories. Even for contemporary novels I find the Internet most helpful. Because I enjoy doing research I have found over the years I can spend way too much time on this portion of my writing process. Add the fact, I use only a small portion of any material I gather, otherwise my story would become nothing more than a history lesson. As I write I use the research I have collected as a backdrop for a scene or some tidbit to enhance the time period of the story. I actually do most of my research while I’m in the process of writing my first draft. If I find I need more information to help me paint a better word picture or to give more clarity when I am working on a second or third draft of the story – it’s back to the Internet and a little more research.

My favorite writing tool is a software program called Dragon. I speak into a microphone and my words are put on the page. This is most helpful when my hands get sore from typing. Sometimes the program and my voice come up with some interesting words, especially if it is not a very common word. The program updates after a voice session and there are ways to put favorite or special words into the program’s vocabulary. But when the same word has two different spellings and/or two different meanings it can get very interesting. One example – I said the word flower and Dragon printed flour.

What I really like about this program is when Dragon reads the story back to me. I catch a lot of mistakes, misspelled or missing words – my mind many times is ahead of what I am typing. I have found sentences with either too much punctuation or none at all. Many times I hear a sentence and think that is not what I meant to say or this needs to be reworded because it is confusing. It was the best investment I made to improve my writing.

I have a great imagination but thinking up characters, scenes, dialogue, and settings, and writing it down are very different tasks. So I write, rewrite and, rewrite until I have a solid story.

Z. Minor

Author of Historical Romantic & Contemporary Suspense Novels.

Writer's Toolbox (Katherine Pritchett)

Every job is easier with the right tools. Just ask a plumber trying to replace a faucet with kitchen tongs. Or try to pluck your brows with a pair of pliers. What’s in my toolbox? Oh, lots of bright green tools: reciprocating saw, drill, brad nailer. And a pole saw. Circular saw. Weed eater. Mower. Power painter. All kinds of drill bits—oh, wait, you mean my writer’s toolbox.

Well, there I have all kinds of neat tech toys: a new 10” Asus tablet with detachable keyboard (very solid) that came with Office 2013. Because I lack the hand/eye coordination of today’s generation that grew up with video games, I use a wireless mini-mouse. I would prefer a Bluetooth mouse to keep my single USB port free, but I just ordered a four-port USB 3.0 hub so I can plug in my mouse receiver, my 1TB portable hard drive and my still-wired old Brother laser printer. I also have a wireless Brother ink-jet color printer for when I need color (or am too lazy to get up from the recliner to print a page or two).

One of the toys I also have is a Bluetooth portable speaker (smaller than my mouse) so I can listen to my daughter’s music with better sound than the Asus speakers afford. And then there’s my digital recorder (not much bigger than my mouse) for when I get great ideas while driving or being walked by the dog. And for good measure, a USB battery charger for mouse, camera and recorder batteries.

I also still have my 15” Dell laptop that was beginning to develop issues after four years. Once I get my desk cleared, I’ll use it as a desktop, with the portable hard drive allowing me to work from either platform. After many years of carrying a full sized laptop from one side of the country to the other, the Asus is a delight. I’m learning to work moving between mouse, touchpad, or touchscreen, whichever is more convenient for the task at hand.

Though I have a nice, comfy, supportive desk chair, I usually work from my recliner or my bed. Or my kids’ couch. Or an airplane seat. Or my front porch. I also have a big desk with bookshelves and a bulletin board in front of me, printer stand with drawers for supplies beside it, and more file cabinets with a desktop on the other side. My office is bright and sunny with a stereo in the corner, and reference books at hand.

I bought a new thesaurus recently, and stayed up an extra hour or so just enjoying the words. Chicago Manual of Style, maps and a baby name book also stand ready nearby, though much of my research comes from internet searches.

But the single most important, useful tool in my writer’s toolbox is my writer’s mind. The artist who paused a moment to stare at something in the mall outside the shop while doing my makeover will become a Russian immigrant who spotted a hit man for the Russian mob in Convergence, my next novel in the Richard Matthews series. The friendly gray cat with the pink belled collar who showed up on my porch (and continues to do so every time I turn into the driveway) might become a messenger in another story. Or a means for two characters to meet. Geese flying south at the end of winter, probably trying to temporarily avoid the Arctic cold front rushing our way, might become a herald of impending doom in an apocalyptic novel.

The eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the skin: all are ways of experiencing the world that a writer uses words to share. In short, it doesn’t matter if you use the newest technology or a number two pencil and Big Chief tablet to communicate. It’s your unique way of experiencing the world that is the most important tool in your toolbox.

My Writing Toolbox by J Vincent

My first books in the late 1970’s were all written in longhand and then typed on a manual typewriter.  My first computer was an IBM PCjr which my husband gave to me for Christmas the year I went back to teaching--along with the payment schedule. It took him 24 hours during Christmas vacation to figure out the software he also bought so I could do my grades. Have we come a long way baby since then! I’ve had a variety of computers over time.  It took me awhile before I could compose on the computer but teaching got me over that.  When I was building the computer lab at school as well as teaching in it I often had to compose lessons, assignments, and quizzes on the fly.  Suddenly it didn’t seem so strange to do everything on the keyboard! I hated Word Perfect which I had to learn to teach the school secretary but it saved my bacon when it came to teaching my students word processing on Apple IIe’s.  When what you saw wasn’t what printed I knew exactly how to fix it due to WP. When I built a networked Windows lab I switched everyone to Microsoft Word which seemed easier in comparison.  So many versions of Windows and Word since then.  I’m on Word 13 now.  I also occasionally use Dragon Naturallyspeaking.  If I were more industrious in training my “dragon”--actually me--I’d use it much more. My present laptop (no more desktops since the last one died) is an HP Envy 17”. I bought this one a couple of years ago because of ongoing vision problems--simply needed a bigger screen although I did not like the increase in size and weight at first.  

Besides Word and Dragon I have other software that assists me in my writing.

·       Family Tree Maker helps me keep all my characters ages etc. straight in the series I am writing.  Quick Verse is what I use to find or refine all the bibilical quotes one of my character’s is well known to spout as well as vicars and other characters. 

·       Webster’s Ninth New (it really was new in 1989) Collegiate Dictionary is the only one I know of that included original date of use.  This is very helpful for a historical author! 

·       I have several “name” books both first and surname.  I especially use A Dictionary of English Surnames and wish I had a French one, too.

·       Roget’s Thesaurus which I originally found extremely frustrating to use and my well-worn Reader’s Digest Family Word Finder--a layman’ thesaurus if you will.

·       A to Z Georgian London and A to Z Regency London with large detailed street maps of the times.

Many of my resources are online these days.

·       http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/noblesse.htm gives me insight into Nobility and Titles in France

·       http://www.essentially-england.com/ is for English Lovers and all things English

·       http://archiveshub.ac.uk/index.html lest me search archives of over 250 institutions across England

·       I access the London Times 1785-1825 and other historical London papers online http://www.merriam-webster.com/ is good for word use, thesaurus source etc.  An OED site would also be useful but free access to OED is difficult to find.  If you can't access the Oxford English Dictionary, you can search Google Books and limit the Search Tools time to whatever date you need. 

·       http://timemapper.okfnlabs.org/rufuspollock/major-battles-napoleonic-wars#0 is an interesting site for basic battle information as well as a birds-eye-view of the timeline

·       http://www.napoleon-series.org/ is a more serious broader information source founded on a Napoleonic magazine for the Napoleonic times from the French Revolution onwards

I could go on and on--after all I have over 2000 books in my sister and my Georgian and Napoleonic research library. Internet sources are also endless.  If I had to pick one tool as the best writing tool I’d have to say myself.  My brain and all the processes within it that I don’t understand but which result in story ideas, characters, where to find the information I need and settings and all the rest amazes me still. When I read, be it fiction or nonfiction, I marvel at how diverse our minds are and what wonders to behold they all produce. Many items in our toolkits will be the same or very similar but what comes out in the written word will always be different.  Isn’t that a marvel as well as marvelous!?