Ink Odyssey Transcript

Welcome to Ink Odyssey, a podcast for creative writers. My name is Stephen McCumber, and I am a fiction writer. I’m here to share my experiences and thoughts with you. Being creative people who endeavor to imagine and dream, let’s get started with a little practice, shall we? First, imagine some music, calm and low. Can’t hear it? Try again. [Cue music] Timbers shudder as our galley bumps against the dock. The great barge market floats in the middle of a bay encircled in the arms of a long dead volcano. Merchants fill every space they can buy and shelf items in every nook and cranny they can make. One merchant sells nothing but abacus’s from cheap painted scrap wood for teaching children to ones of exotic woods and spider silk and polished stone. Across the way, a merchant sells talismans and wards against evil from simple writing on paper to carvings in fossilized bone. Everywhere you look there are items of every quality for every trade. Pens and paper, swords and shields, saws and chisels, pots and pans, needle and thread, on and on and on the stalls go with ever more to show. Can you see it? Are you with me? Good. Get comfortable and let’s talk. Today I would like to talk to you about the tools of writing.

When I say tools of writing, I don’t mean technique or method; I mean the physical tools we use to write. Pen and paper are essentially what we’ll be talking about. In today’s world, however, we have far more options than that. Not that you need more than pen and paper, if that’s what you enjoy then by all means, keep doing it. Before we dive in too deep, I want to talk about costs. Writing is one of the least monetarily

1 Before we dive in too deep, I want to talk about costs. Writing is one oIfn tkh eO ldeyassste my oTnraentasrcirlyipt expensive pursuits there is. Trust me on this. If you write on the computer odds are good, you didn’t buy that machine for writing and writing only; it serves other functions that are probably more important in keeping your life running smoothly day to day. As a woodworker, I can tell you a good hand tool costs more than most writing software, and a power tool costs more still. A variety of power tools are easily more expensive than a computer. Painting either digitally or physically is far more expensive, paint and canvas aren’t cheap, a good artist’s tablet for digital work isn’t either. Music is the same, I’m not even seriously into music and the instruments I’ve bought add up to a higher monetary figure than all of my writing expenses. Where writing isn’t cheap, is in the cost of time. Writing will eat up every moment of your life if you let it. I’m saying this from personal experience, there’s so much to do and we can only do it step by step, and it will devour every moment you offer it. My point is this; if you are serious about writing, spend some money on it, even with fancy things it won’t be expensive. If those fancy things make your day to day writing experience easier or more pleasurable, then it is money well spent. If money is tight, I understand, but if you can save up here and there, it’ll be worth it. So where do we begin? Let’s start with hardware. As I’ve said before you need little, just pen and paper, and somewhere to write with them I suppose. The beauty of a notebook is you can use it anywhere, it just depends on your comfort level. I can’t point to any studies I’m afraid, but I’ve read that when writing by pen and writing by computer, our brains behave differently. I only say this to tell you that if you find writing by hand is key to your creative process, there is probably a valid scientific reason for it and let no one tell you it’s outdated and that you should use a computer. Do what works for you, even in how you write. That being said, if you haven’t tried to write on a computer and you have one, give it a go. Digital information is much easier to duplicate, copy, edit, and manage than handwritten papers, plus you can print them off to write on. Better yet, there’s new software and hardware coming out now that nullifies the modern day problems of writing by hand. Scanners exist that scan a sheet of paper and turn the words into a digital format. I’ve never used one of these tools and haven’t researched them much, so I can’t tell you how accurate they are. Another option is some new tablets coming out that you can write on that feel more natural. One such is the ReMarkable tablet, I’ve looked into it and it looks interesting. I’m not endorsing it mind you, I have no hands on experience with it and cannot vouch for it, but it is something that would be fun to try out. These tablets will cost, but the newest ReMarkable tablet is four hundred dollars at the time of this recording, a good table saw is over a thousand, and a Wacom tablet for a digital artist can be two or three thousand, so you’re still coming out ahead of other creative fields. For the rest of us who don’t write by hand, that leaves typewriters and computers. Unless you really love a typewriter and the nostalgic value of one, just use a computer. As far as computers go there are smart phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. I really don’t want to get into details on these, they all have pros and cons which have more or less weight for each of us. I’m going to assume you’re familiar with these devices and don’t want to go over things you probably already have figured out. If you need to buy something, computers are powerful enough nowadays that even the base models should be able to run writing software with no problems. Anyway, that’s enough on that. I’ll tell you about my setup in terms of hardware and 2 Anyway, that’s enough on that. I’ll tell you about my setup in terms ofI hnakr Odwdyasrsee ayn Tdranscript software, why I have it the way I do, and then I’ll wrap up with other software that’s out there. All right, my setup. Having a desk job and writing has led to me sitting down far too much throughout the day, because of this I bought a standing desk with a hydraulic system and motor with a digital keypad that has saved settings, I can raise it to my desired standing height and lower it to my desired sitting height at the touch of a button. This takes up space and cost a few hundred dollars, but paired with the standing mat I bought it has made a noticeable difference for me. Standing desks can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, so you may have to do some hunting to find what works best for you. I have a desktop computer with two large monitors, a split keyboard, headphones, and a monochrome printer. I have two monitors because I like to have everything I need visible instead of swapping between windows. When writing my prose I’ll have half of one screen for the scene, the other half for my plan, and the other monitor will my other reference material if it’s needed. Listening to music through my headphones makes it easier for me to focus on my work and get lost in it. If you’re unfamiliar with a split keyboard, think of a keyboard that's been cut in half with a cord connecting the two pieces. I’ve got broad shoulders and having my arms pinched in front of me for hours day after day was causing constant pain. Having the keyboard parted and wider made a tremendous difference for me. That’s one reason I hate laptops, I find them uncomfortable to use. That being said, I bought a split keyboard for my laptop and my wife got me a lap desk for Christmas, so it’s far better than it used to be. I would highly encourage anyone to look into a split keyboard, it’s strange at first, but I love them and they have helped cut down on joint pain. I have three pieces of software I use for my writing, though I probably must get another one or two, which we’ll get into later. I have Scrivener, Aeon Timeline, and Pro Writing Aid. Scrivener and Aeon Timeline are what I use when building and writing my story. Pro Writing Aid is what I use when it comes time to do my line-by-line edits to polish my words for publication. Both Aeon Timeline and Pro Writing Aid can work with Scrivener, it’s not a seamless integration, but it’s not too complicated and for me they add enough benefit to outweigh any inconvenience. Scrivener is about fifty dollars and has a version for Mac, PC, and IOS. Their Mac version is more updated than their windows version, so if you’re Mac user you are in luck. Aeon Timeline is available on Mac and PC as well and costs fifty dollars too. Pro Writing Aid is available on both platforms, but it’s pricing is different. They have three options, a monthly subscription of twenty dollars a month, a yearly subscription of eighty dollars a year, or a lifetime license for three hundred dollars that includes every update they put out there. It is by far the most expensive of the three. Please note that I checked these prices when writing this episode, and I cannot expect them to remain true in the years to come. Also note that I’m not affiliated with these companies and not sponsored by them. I find the software helpful in my work, and the entire point of this section is to tell you what I use. A lot of options are out there for writers in terms of software. I’ll give you a brief list, understand that this is not a comprehensive list or comparative. Basic word processors adequate for short-works include Word, Pages, Google Docs, and Notepad. I started writing my trilogy in Word and while it was fine early on, later it became cumbersome to juggle and manage all the files involved or to navigate massive documents. If you are going to go this route, I would suggest Google Docs for the simple reason of portability via Google Drive. Bonus to Google

3 suggest Google Docs for the simple reason of portability via Google DriveI.n Bk oOnduyss tsoe yG Toroagnlsecript Docs is everything is backed up in the cloud from the start. Being able to use your phone to write something and then pull it up on your laptop or desktop later without having to transfer files by email or flash drive is convenient. If you work on something else like I use Scrivener for instance, consider having a document or two in docs for working on the go that you can just copy and paste from into your primary software. A quick side note. Do whatever you can to make writing more convenient. I’ve found in my life repeatedly, that if I want to do something but there’s a few extra steps involved that make it feel like a hassle, I’m less likely to do it. This is mainly because I think it’ll take me five minutes to set up and I’ll only be working for about ten or fifteen minutes, so I’ll just wait till tomorrow. Getting those ten to fifteen minutes in is important, make it as easy as possible for yourself to get them in. Another note is comfort. Do your best to ensure you are comfortable when writing, the more comfortable you are the easier getting lost in the work will be, and staying there longer. Back to software. More dedicated software includes things like Scrivener, which we’ve already talked about. Ulysses is mac specific so I know little about it unfortunately, but from what I’ve heard it is beloved by its users and has good device sharing capabilities which would make working on the go and at home much easier. Final Draft is a piece of software for screen writers, this isn’t a format I know well, but I’m mentioning it to illustrate the variety of software that’s out there. A few more that a quick web search brings up are Typora, which looks like it would work well as a critiquing software among a writer’s group. Evernote looks like it would be useful for keeping track of research. Focus Writer, IA Writer, Dramatica, and Storyist are a few more that come up. There’s a lot more out there, but I would highly encourage you to do some looking around and find the software that’s the best fit for you. If you’re writing a novel, please look into software that’s meant for novelists, it really makes life and writing easier, and it’s not expensive. If you are a windows user and plan on becoming a Patron, consider Scivener as that’s what I’m doing my template files in. Another type of software you’ll eventually want is grammar editors. A quick web search brings up Grammarly, Ginger, Pro Writing Aid, and Hemingway Editor. I know, I know, Word does grammar checks and so does other software like it. But guess what? They don’t catch everything. They also don’t check your style or word repetition or many other things we should probably consider. Some software, like Grammarly, are free to use while others like Pro Writing Aid can cost a good chunk of money. Grammar software isn’t necessary until you want to polish something for public consumption, so use the free stuff before then. Once you are ready to publish a piece of work, however, look into a tool you need to purchase, odds are good it will be better software with more capabilities that will help fine tune your work. Don’t underestimate the value of fine tuning words, they can enhance the flow of the story and reader comprehension and emotional impact. If keeping focus while writing is an issue, there’s software to help with that too. One productivity software is Write or Die, in this you set up a word per minute goal and start writing, if you slow down the screen turns red and a little monster comes after your cursor, it even has a kamikaze mode that will delete your words. I haven’t looked into this kind of software, but there are others out there I’m sure with various degrees of whimsy and attempts to make it more fun. Aside from encouraging word counts, there’s software to limit distractions. Three such tools are Freedom, Self-Control for the Mac, and Stay Focused for windows. What they do is to block Internet access or your ability to go to websites like Facebook or Instagram, if you find you

4 Internet access or your ability to go to websites like Facebook or InstagramIn, ki fO ydoyus sfeinyd T yraonuscript constantly check those when you should be writing, consider looking into them. There’s still more software for writers. It’s endless, it really is. Anyway, when it comes time to publish, there is software for formatting work for print editions and e-books. Vellum is a mac specific software for formatting a book and there is Adobe’s InDesign. There is other software out there, one such is the Aeon Timeline I talked about earlier. I know there are several niche tools that are immensely valuable to the right people. It is just a matter of finding them. There is a vast array of tools and tech out there to help you write your book. I’m including links to the software I own in the description for this episode, and a quick list of every software mentioned. Again, this is not comprehensive or comparative, but it should give you a good starting point to do some research and find what works best for you. Odds are good you won’t find one that’s perfect, but you can get close. Before we part ways, I would like to talk about backing up files. This is just as much a tool as anything else we’ve talked about. If you don’t want to go the route of cloud storage, have several devices you store data on. Have one device nearby your workstation that you can transfer files quickly and regularly on in case of a computer crash. Before cloud storage I had an SD card I kept in my wallet with all my writing data. If you don’t have something that’s portable and goes with you everywhere like a wallet, have another device you give to a friend or family member in case of fire or some other disaster. Cloud storage is by far the most convenient, but if you don’t like it, there are other options. The important thing is that you have data backed up. Losing weeks of work sucks, losing months or years of it, that is devastating.

Unfortunately, our time today has concluded. For those who’ve heard my ending repeatedly, I’ll say goodbye now. I hope you enjoyed today’s installment of Ink Odyssey and to see you next time. Until then, go turn your ideas into ink.

If you would like to know more about me or connect, the easiest way is through my website, McCumberWorkShop.com If you have questions, comments, or opinions to share, you can reach me at [email protected]. I’ll answer your questions via email and voice them on Ink Odyssey. If you wish to remain anonymous or for the question to remain private, please say so. From my website you can connect to my social media accounts, sign up for a newsletter,

5 From my website you can connect to my social media accounts, sign up for a newsletter, Ink Odyssey Transcript email me, and link to my Patreon page. For social media I have Facebook, Instagram and twitter, all under SDWMcCumber. I’m not a very active social media user, but I’m there if you would like updates or to connect. Twitter is where I’m most active. If you would like to support Ink Odyssey, please tell a friend and share your favorite episodes. If you would like to become a patron, please visit Patreon.com/sdwmccumber. Even if it's one dollar a month, that’s another dollar I can support my family with and I will be grateful. My patrons can listen to episodes as soon as I finish them, get book and movie recommendations detailing what I think they can offer us as writers, template and companion materials when applicable, access to a discord community, and can even see every step of my process in select projects. Thank you again for listening, I hope you enjoyed this installment of Ink Odyssey. Until next time, let’s go, turn our Ideas Into Ink.

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