Writing on the Move

Today's EarWorm
Today's Date: September 5, 2016

So I have to join(ed) my friend (who I love to bits and pieces, she is my sister without blood between us okay?) on trips. The first one was on the first. The second one is upcoming on the 12th. Fun times right?

Yeah, especially since I do have, you guessed it, writing to do while I do these.

I actually have a few solutions that work well for me so I thought I would talk about it here.

If you find that something works for you, tell me. I would love to hear that they worked. Or if you do something not on this list, tell me still! I would love to hear everything you have to say.

I don't bite, I promise.

Anyways, let's go over what I do when I'm out and about with no wifi.

Tablet/Phone

I actually have both but the smartphone I have is more of a glorified mini-tablet since I don't have a data plan attached to it. Which is fine. It works for me. 

Really it does. 

Before my friend gave me the phone, I used a tablet with a keyboard. The keyboard, unfortunately, died a horrific death with half the keys not wanting to work. But now with the phone, I can just as easily type on that.

I have GDocs downloaded on it and I do have wifi capabilities, so that's not a problem. As long as I have power and the ability to get some wifi sometime, I can type on any of my files that I have set up for offline work. And I put that to good use.

I open the file I want and I start to write on it. I've done it in car's, on buses before, at the doctor's office, anywhere that the urge to write has taken over me. I pull it out and start tapping it out. Took me a while to get the hang of writing on the damn phone but I can even do it when I'm stuck in bed. Which sucks majorly but it can be done.

Paper and Pen

Ohhh yes, I write the old fashioned way to. Yes, I kind of have to. I have a small hoard of pens and I'm forever finding more to add to that collection. I go through a pen in a month if I'm not doing a lot of hand writing. 

I've learned how best to write in a moving vehicle okay? I've learned how best to hold my pen and how to decipher my already messy writing when it came time to type up the words. 

I never go out of the house without a backpack with a notebook or a binder full of paper, at least three pens, some chapstick, lactose pills (yay for lactose intolerance! Makes eating icecream a fun time), my phone, car charger and charging line, carpal tunnel glove, a clipboard (for a solid surface), a couple of my travel sized notebooks (for ideas), hair clip, hair ties, and a body spray. 

Or two.

As me and my friend say "We don't carry purses for very good reasons. We have a lot of stuff that helps keep us sane". And this is true.

My writing keeps me sane while we wait for our ride to get to us when we have them leave us to shop while they do their thing. 

Oh and lately I carry around a travel sized bottle of suntan lotion and a small thing of baby powder. 

Look, it's not that hard to find a way to carry things around for your use. I use a sling shoulder backpack so I have options on how I want to carry the darn thing around. It has two pockets (one main one on the front and one small side one that usually carries my IPod mini, phone and headphones) and the big area that carries all that I need. 

Cause I do also have to carry a wallet and a set of keys around with me. It's cute and it's durable, and mostly waterproof as proven by being caught in a sudden rain storm. 

It's not that hard to carry around supplies. You carry one such supply on you. And if you can text, you can write on a phone with a GDoc app. 

But how do you write when you're on the move? 

Writers Meme Tag Questions 1

Today's Ear Worm:
Today's Date: May 16, 2016

First and foremost, go over to this here Link, and read my interview done by the every lovely Connie! It's my first one and I kind of had fun doing it.

But I decided to do a couple of writer tags but just do them on here since I can't do a video properly right now due to my throat.

So this is part one and the list of questions if you wish to do it yourself is here on Maxkrin's Tumblr Blog.


01: When did you first start writing?

When did I first start writing? Gods years and years and years ago. I was about 12 years of age actually when I started scribbling silly little poems before moving onto fanfiction that will never see the light of day right around 15.

02: What was your favorite book growing up?

I didn't really have a favorite book until I was like 14. And then it was Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" which expanded to a few of her other books.

03: Are you an avid reader?

Yes, I am. I read quite a bit actually.

04: Have you ever thrown a book across the room?

No. No, wait yes, once. When I tried to read "50 Shades of Grey". I threw it hard enough to break the spine.

I. Do. Not. Regret. It. One. Tiny. Bit.

05: Did you take writing courses in school/college?

Outside of the basic English courses, no I didn't. I find that if I try to take a course on writing it tends to mess with my writing and I don't learn anything at all because I'm sitting there going "this is to stiff". It's kind of counter-productive.

06: Have you read any writing-advice books?

Again, they tend to be counter-productive for me, but I have read a few when I was first starting to write and looking to become better. One thing that I've taken from them is all "practice is a good thing" and "editing is your friend". So pretty much what I knew.

07: Have you ever been part of a critique group?

No because the last time someone asked for a crit, I was rather blunt that read as harsh since the bit that I was reading didn't look like she had tried to edit it much less make it look like a story.

08: What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?

Not a lot actually since I rarely share my stories, but the best bit I could have gotten was from a wonderful friend who told me to try psychological horror. I have and have learned that I love writing in that.

09: What’s the worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?

"You suck. Your story sucks. Your characters suck." That's it. Yeah. Not the least bit helpful.

10: What’s your biggest writer pet-peeve?

Dialogue tags and punctuation! I swear people seem to not know how to write dialogue tags with proper punctuations. Let's not go into that yes? It's not that hard to understand. *sighs*

And "Damsel in distress with more than one guy after her". Just...overkilled lately.

11: What’s your favorite book cover?
Mmm, not sure actually. But it has to be J.A. Marlow's series book covers.

12: Who is your favorite author?

I don't really have a favorite author actually. Surprisingly enough I really don't. 

13: What’s your favorite writing quote?
Frank Miller's quote about a noir hero. It's a good thing to have in mind when writing it.

"The noir hero is a knight in blood caked armor. He's dirty and he does his best to deny the fact that he's a hero the whole time."

14: What’s your favorite writing blog? c;

No real favorites again. I watch and read so many that I don't have a solid favorite for various reasons.

15: What would you say has inspired you the most?

My mother. She's been here from day one and encouraged me to find a new story in everything that I do. Which is what I'm inspired by. Just living my life and moving through things.

16: How do you feel about movies based on books?

They would be well done I think but I think that it would need to be watched by the writer if they're alive, or someone who knows the books well enough to make sure that the important things get into the movies.

17: Would you like your books to be turned into TV shows, movies, video games, or none?
I wouldn't mind any of them actually. But my books would probably be better to be movies more than TV shows and video games. Except my Magical Girl series actually. That would make a good TV show if done right.

18: How do you feel about love triangles?
Love triangles actually kind of annoy me to a point. Unless it's very well done, I tend to stay away from them when it comes to reading or writing them.

19: Do you prefer writing on a computer or longhand?
A mix actually. It depends on the story and what I'm doing during that month. During April and July (Camp National Novel Writing Months), I tend to write on my computer with very little longhand, and during November (National Novel Writing Month) I write exclusively on my laptop.

20: What’s your favorite writing program?

My favorite writing program is actually just Gdocs and OpenOffice Writer. I don't have the money for anything else really so I'm happy with what I have.

21: Do you outline?

Yes, yes I do, mostly because if I don't I'm not going to get far.

22: Do you start with characters or plot?

Mix actually. I'll start with a few characters and work the plot out that comes with them.

23: What’s your favorite & least favorite part of making characters?

Creating personalities, figuring out looks, and sexuality. All of that is just such a pain in my ass but I do it. 

24: What’s your favorite & least favorite part of plotting?

My favorite part of plotting is creating it. My least favorite is sitting down and fleshing it out. It's a pain but it must happen.

25: What advice would you give to young writers?

Research is your best friend. That old adage "Write what you know" doesn't have to mean "don't fucking well learn nothing in the course of your damn life". You have books. The internet. Use it! Learn things. It'll come in handy with your writing and with your life to. 

Come back next week for the second half of the questions!