The Writing Process: Settling In To Write 3

1. Keyboards/mouses 
2. Music/Shows/Movies
3. Internet access/Tabs opened

So it is time to go over the next part of this process I suppose huh? Well, let us start.

So we've gone over Setting up your writing area, figuring out how to sit and somewhat over writing utensils. I suppose that we should go over Keyboards and mouses. And of course printers. Almost forgot that.

Wait...Shouldn't that be mice?

Maybe if I was talking about multiple mice, which are rodents. I'm talking about a computer mouse. A basic computer mouse will fit your hand, hook up to you computer in some way, have two buttons (left and write) and a scroll wheel. Some are just trackball mouses. Those are easier on the hand since you don't have to move it, but are tricky to use if you're not used to them. 

I myself can use either one but tend to go with a corded mouse since I don't like having to replace batteries all that often. 

So why should we look into buying a mouse?

If you use just your track pad on your lap top, you will find that the range is rather limited right? I don't mind mine, I really don't. But I prefer to use my mouse when I'm editing. This allows me to highlight a lot of text without using keyboard commands (which we'll go over later on when we start to talk Editing) or the short range of the track pad.

I also find that using the scroll wheel helps me in the long run in trying to get up or down a page, especially a page that I want to keep my cursor in a certain place so I can get to that spot easier. Why? Because I dislike having to hunt for my last spot especially if I'm in the middle of a paragraph that I'm editing.

Fine. So would I need anything special?

Nope, nothing special. Just a basic mouse will make your life that much easier.

So what about keyboards?

I talked about this in the last post right? Well, I'm going to tell you again, having a mouse and keyboard that is attached to your laptop will allow you greater freedom and space to find a comfortable position. 

What kind of keyboard though?

That all depends upon you actually. Ask yourself these questions when it comes to buying one.

Do you like a regular keyboard with a number pad attached to it? 

Do you need large letters? 

Do you want one that lights up? 

Do you want an ergonomic one instead of a standard keyboard?

Do you want a soft click to your keys or a harder click?

Do you want soft tap or a firmer touch?

Do you want one that is wired or wireless?

All of these will help you narrow down your options and then you can go into any electronic store that sells computers and accessories to test out keyboards.

Wait, wait, wait! 

What the hell is the difference between ergonomic and standard?

Well, standard keyboards come with every desktop. They have all of the normal keys that you would expect along with number pad to the side. That's a standard keyboard.

Now, ergonomic keyboards are actually meant for those who type a lot. First, hold your arms out before you, just naturally. They sit in an upside down V shape, don't they? That is the natural resting position of your hands in front of you.

Ergonomic keyboards follow that natural line and split the keys into two parts. 

I've actually just added a picture to this because it's just a lot easier to show this to you guys.

This is a pretty basic one. You'll see others that are more geared towards gaming but these are made for typing. As you see, the main keys and the F command keys are spit down the middle while the space bar is curved to allow the thumbs to sit as they will. 

It helps those who have wrist or hand problems in the fact that it allows your wrist and arm to sit in a normal position instead of a forced bent position when you use a standard keyboard.

As I said before, go to a store that has a variety of electronics and sell computer accessories, test out some of the keyboards and the mouses, find what feels right with you. It's all about what is comfortable.

I'll eventually get my hands on a split keyboard myself.

Okay, so I have a keyboard, mouse, computer, and everything else.

What are you going over next?

Music, TV shows, and the such actually.

Wait...what? Why?

Well, mostly because they do affect how you write, how long you write, and what you write. I'm sure that as you sat down, you probably turned on something to have some kind of background noise right?

Unless you're someone who doesn't like having noise in the background, then you can just move on to the next section if you so wish.

But music, TV shows, and other things all help create an environment for which you can write to.

Personally, I tend to write to whatever catches my attention at the time, thus I have several playlists of music, movies, TV shows and various other things on various accounts. Such as Netflix, Youtube, and Pandora.

When it comes down to it, it all depends on what you want to do that day. I find that most often then not, music that is instrumental, or without words is best. You can find quite a lot of such items on Pandora or on Youtube. With pandora, just look up instrumental and go through their stations to find out what you would like.

I like my station based around Jia Peng Fang myself. Very interesting sounds and very soothing.

But I also like documentaries about things since I can just kind of play them in the background without worry. I also tend to listen to horror movies since most of them don't really require your attention. It's all about what works for you and going from there.

Don't be afraid to play around and test things out. Youtube is a great place to experiment, as long as you stay away from the cute cat videos.

Okay, so what are we talking about now that I have my music set up?

Well, how about we talk about what you have open while writing?

What's wrong with what I have opened?

I'm guessing that you have a tab open to youtube, a couple tabs to other social medias (such as Facebook, Pinintrest, and Tumblr), and if you're an online reader, a couple of tabs to various stories right?

It really doesn't matter what you have open, what matters is how distracting it is to you. That's where your will power is going to come in. You need to stop and close those tabs. 

Bookmark them. 

Send the links to yourself.

Do what you need to do but get rid of any tabs that aren't required in your writing. This means that unless it's your background noise or research, it doesn't need to be opened. I can tell you right now, that despite the fact that I have a few tabs that aren't a part of my research open, I'm not on them constantly. 

But when I first started to write? I had only the tabs that I needed whenever I was on a computer. And when I wasn't writing, I would open those tabs then. After a while I had trained myself into being able to ignore those tabs while working. It just takes time to do this.

So until you learn how to ignore any tabs that you don't need, I would close them. 

Clear that bar and focus on your writing. Seriously. It will do nothing but help you in the long run.

I think that's everything for this round, so shall we move onto the next set?

The Writing Process: Settling In To Write 2

The Writing Process: Types of Writing Tools