Shiny Writing Tools & Process Hacks
Or SHRIEK there's a new ALPHASMART? What is an Alphasmart anyway and other things we use for making words (LOTS OF PHOTOS)
Hello again!
I’m at that best stage of a new writing project, where I’ve done the preliminary synopsis and proposal so have a feel for all the elements, and am about to really dig in on making words. This involves all sorts of parts of my process I’ve come to rely on over the years that aren’t technically writing, but certainly enable and help with it: making a playlist, hunting down some research books (but not too many!), doing a notecard scene/chapter outline, taking a lot of daydreaming walks while listening to playlist, typing in lots of excitable fragments that may or may not make sense later in my notes app. Waiting or the sound of the perfect first line (for now, anyway) in my head.
These are all things I think of as writing adjacent, writerly hacks. But then there’s the equally pleasing to talk about kind of writing methods — the actual tools you use or can use to write.
CAVEAT: I AM NOT SAYING YOU NEED ANY EXTRA STUFF TO WRITE. STRICTLY OPTIONAL. Please do not say I said that that, because I did and am not.
Now on to the process porn portion of this post.
Like most of us, I mainly write on my laptop (an Apple MacBook Air). These days, at the Lexington Writer’s Room or at home—if I’m inside, I’m probably hooked into a large monitor, so I never have to squint or get that squinting headache. If I’m writing outside (which I also love to do), I’m probably using either my laptop or an Alphasmart Neo.
Speaking of which… the entire reason for this post is that the Freewrite folks are doing a new ALPHASMART!!! Yes, it’s still spendy, but I’m caving.
This is also my vision of how this partnership came to be:
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Alphasmart, it was around from the ‘90s-early 2013, originally mainly for use in classrooms. A portable keyboard with a small display, memory, and no internet (except for the fancier model, the Dana, which I have never used) that runs on double AA batteries (for a long time—I’ve changed mine once) and is nigh indestructible (a promo video showed someone hammering in a nail with it). It developed a cult following among journalists—especially those working in areas where you would not want to cart a heavy, expensive laptop—and also heavily-distractible fiction writers. Even at its most expensive, it was pretty cheap. By the time I got one, seen below with a younger me and Puck the Dog, they could be found for about $20-40.
You can still grab them for about $50 on eBay, and they were no longer being made as of 2013. That’s why I possess three (including that one).
I use them regularly, and I suspect you can tell why they rock. No distractions, a great comfy keyboard, and you can only see enough screen to write, not edit. They are excellent drafting tools, and I break mine out at least once or thrice per book, sometimes more. They’re also extremely portable. I finished my first novel, Blackwood (now Strange Alchemy), on one in the car on the way to WorldCon in Columbus. I wrote new words on one for The Frame-Up just in the past few weeks.
The only downside is getting words off, though it has always been a treat to watch them slowly appear as if typed by a ghost, it requires a USB cord which means an extra adapter these days.
I’ve been eyeing the Freewrite’s existing models, but I am, well, when it comes to stuff for me, non-gifts-for-others stuff: cheap. So I even recently bought this set-up as a workaround after Gretchen McNeil (who is amazing) posted about getting a ton of writing done with this bluetooth keyboard and the Scrivener app on her phone. I like nothing if not a hot tip. Please to ignore all the desk messiness.
I like the keyboard a lot, and have it set up to work with my phone and laptop so far. You might as well know that I go through at least one cheapish mechanical keyboard per book, on average, so I have a stockpile of roughed-up keyboards that look kinda like this (my current home keyboard—the wired variety tends to be cheaper; I just search for blue switch typewriter-style keyboard for the feel I like, and this one has lasted quite a while).
Christopher is even more far-flung with his work methods than I am. He likes to switch up between his laptop and handwriting in fancy notebooks with fancy pencils or fountain pens, using his first gen (but recently refurbished for free, because the company was like this is so old and rad) Querkywriter mechanical typewriter keyboard, which I bought him because he wrote his first-ever novel on this typewriter (we have matching ones, which Ellen Datlow encouraged us to buy in Asheville at an antique shop and I think cost $50 total, while we were all there for friends’ wedding lo many years ago before typewriters got expensive!). Right now, he mainly composes/edits on his giant iPad Pro with the Querkywriter.
Christopher’s main accoutrement in a series of photos:
(Ignore the dust!)
Anyway, as you can tell, we both like to switch up our working methods…which can be a hack to get yourself back in the swing of things. I’m also a big believer in ergonomics and part of that to me is a nice tactile writing experience. I outline using notecards and a wall (which I’m about to start doing).
So, yeah, I reserved a new Alphasmart. I’m excited about it. If you think it might work for you and have the scratch, go big, but if you don’t, search out an old-school model. They’re inexpensive and you can figure out if you even like the thing. Because none of these methods are ideal for everyone and some of them aren’t even ideal for writers they work for at various points in the process or in certain projects.
And that’s fine. Think of it as just an extension of the geekery of shopping for office supplies. PEN SHOPPING. MY GOD. That’s a whole other post.
Sometimes the right tools can help. Speaking of which, the only thing I definitely think writers who want to publish should have is Microsoft Word. I’m sure you’ve got workarounds like Open Office and such, but it is — alas — the industry standard and at some point you will need it. For track changes and to keep from driving your production editor up the wall, if nothing else.
Pro tip: I’m offering this here, because I constantly run into people who have access to this but don’t know it. If you or a loved one has a day job or is in school/college, you may very well have access to a discount licensed version of full Microsoft Office including Word through work/school for, say, $20 a year. Look into it.
The other software I use regularly is Scrivener, which some people love and some people hate. I’ve switched back to it, because I found Microsoft Word becoming unstable and losing stuff during my last book project. But I also just like it until the final stages and can sync it with that lovely Bluetooth keyboard until the new Alphasmart goes on sale.
Unless someone at Freewrite wants to slip me an early one. BATS EYELASHES, WILL BE YOUR BEST FRIEND. I mean look at this shiny.
So…what are your favorite process hacks, tools, and work methods? Shout them out in the comments!
My pen journey has taken me to the fetchingly blue Schneider Slider Memo XB. Also, I love the speckled egg surface of the new Alphasmart device, which I had never heard of until your post. And I very much enjoyed “excitable fragments” - sums it up perfectly.