So you want to write a novel, and you're ready to start. You got to start writing, or your head will explode from containing all the descriptions of the places, or the dialogues of your characters. You're sitting on your favorite chair in your room before your desktop or comfortably perched with your laptop at the corner cafe. Then what? The word processor is the writer's main tool. Will you be choosing your desktop software like Microsoft Word, or will you be getting it done on the cloud like Google Docs? Of course, there are pros and cons, like price, or working offline. Owners of Macs would prefer Scrivener, perhaps. Another option is FocusWriter. It is a free, downloadable software, and will work with Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux computers. It is not as popular as other word processing software, but it is designed specifically for writers. FocusWriter is a simple writing tool that promotes a distraction-free environment. The bare interface allows you to focus only on what you are writing. It has features to hide any other components on your screen, including your computer's clock. However, it has timers and alarms that you can set to bring you back to the real world. You can also set goals, which allows you to strive to work in a daily basis, to set your longest streak. FocusWriter was developed and maintained by Graeme Gott, an open source programmer. Aside from FocusWriter, he has several other projects that can be found on his site.
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People have been writing ever since they learned how. Scholars have discovered writings in ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia and Egypt dating 3000 years back. And people write not only to communicate, as symbolic communication systems are distinguished from writing systems.
One of the reasons why we write is because writing is a creative activity, and creativity has positive effects on health, self esteem, and vitality. In other words, we write not only because we enjoy the activity, but we also want to enjoy the fruits resulting from this activity. Aside from being a tool for thinking, expression and encouraging activity, here are some of the psychological benefits of writing:
If you have been writing previously and want to be faster doing it, or you want to begin writing and just want to do it right, check out this infographic on the 15 ways to write faster. I personally like Tip #6, because you not only help yourself, but others as well. Today, people have so many tools, channels, and apps to communicate with one another. Technology has provided a great number of options for us to communicate and collaborate "to get things done." But how, as persons, have we improved our capacity to not only send but also receive information? The amount of data being exchanged is staggering. We are responding to alerts and notifications the instant they arrive, distracting us and making us lose focus. So, how can we impart meaningful and substantial information when we do not even have time to think about what we have to say? In my opinion, the best way to be productive is to plan your day (week/month) ahead, prioritize work that is important, respond only to urgent AND important questions, put the phone face down on vibrate, schedule a time for reading emails at a later time, and stay away, if possible, from social media, until the weekends. With that strategy in place, we can now choose the best tools for communication and collaboration. Slack seems everyone's favorite, but there are many alternatives. One is Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams is a group chat software with premium plans as well as a free plan. It has the essential features of chat, file sharing, and video calling. People just need to sign up, invite friends and we can all start our conversations, even with our phones by downloading the app (iOS, Android, and Windows). Some of the features in the free plan include unlimited messages and search, guest access, up to 300 users, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote Online apps in Teams, 1:1 and group online audio and video calls, screen sharing, hundreds of integrations, and 2GB file storage per user. I am definitely going to try it out.
From March 3 to March 9, get delightful discounts on many e-books from participating authors.
Check out the discounted prices on Sounds Like A Plan and my new fiction e-book, The House That Ananias Built. After two years in the making, I have finally finished my new historical fiction e-book. It was a wonderful experience, a pleasant episode, and an educational journey. In short, I really enjoyed the whole process. I learned many new things, including about myself as a writer. And because of these revelations, I know what to do better the next time I started writing my next project.
Interestingly, Jack Milgram created an infographic about 20 Quirks & Strange Habits - The Weird Side of Famous Authors. Hey, whatever works, right? According to personal success experts, people are successful because of their sincere desire to succeed and because they work at achieving their goals. It's not enough to desire, people have to really work at it. One concrete way of achieving our goals is to build good habits that bring us closer to achieving our objectives. We all have habits, but we have to be consciously careful that we are building the good ones, and also breaking the bad. A helpful tool for this is the Way of Life app. Way of Life runs on both iOS and Android devices. It has a unique color coded system for ease of use. Users can list the good habits they wish to do more, and they can also list the bad habits they wish to do less and less. It also has a diary function for jotting down important notes. It only takes a few seconds a day to accomplish, and by the end of the week, users can look at charts that provide users information and trends. From there, they will know if they are moving as planned, or if they need to exert better effort, or change their approach.
To be boring is to be uninteresting. You don't want to be one, as a person and as a professional. However, the person you're talking with might think you are because of how you are choosing your words.
To help us look more sharp, witty, and bright, here is an infographic from Donna Norton about 28 Boring Words and what to use instead. Transforming that idea into a reality involves more than creative wishful thinking. One of the essential steps is planning. It is the part where the drawing on the napkin gets bigger and begins to have more details. There are several tools to help people think about the necessary activities and resources. One of them is Tom's Planner. Tom's Planner is an online project planning software. It is a Gantt chart on the cloud, where users can list down the details of their tasks, estimates, resources, costs, and schedules. It is easy to use, with drag-and-drop feature. Moreover, it allows a team of several members to have access to the same chart, without having to keep and update their own separate copies. Tom's Planner has a free plan and also has paid plans. The free Personal plan allows a user to work on one project schedule. On the other hand, the Professional plan includes up to 20 project schedules at $119 annually, and $239 annually for the Unlimited plan, with unlimited project schedules. It includes many other features, such as templates, dependencies, filter and search, reports, and more. Has it ever happened to you that a friend asked you "How was it?" to describe something - a book, a movie, a slice of pizza, or a smile - and when your response was "Good," there usually is a second confirming question, something like "It's that bad, huh?"
Nowadays, it seems the word 'good' is just not descriptive enough to describe something that is actually good, engaging, entertaining, delicious, or irresistible. Here is a very useful infographic by Jack Milgram, all 200 powerful words to use instead of 'good.' I hope you find using this a propitious opportunity in describing your next brilliant idea. Everyone gets a brilliant idea from time to time. However, developing that idea into something more recognizable, say a business plan, involves focus, patience, and a lot of hard work. Fortunately, there are tools available that can help people create a written business plan that communicates a clear vision. One of them is Palo Alto Software's LivePlan. LivePlan is an online business plan software that works for any type of business. It provides users a guided step-by-step process for starting their business. It does this by collecting data in sections. These include setting up the business, defining a strategy, and developing a "pitch," which is a great way to summarize a business strategy. LivePlan has a lot of forms, templates, a library of sample plans, and more. The annual package starts at $11.66 per month billed on an annual basis. Users can try it for 60 days, and if not satisfied, they will get 100 percent refund. It is an easy way to build a business plan at half the time. Moreover, it has dashboards that will help monitor the health of the business even beyond the business planning stages. |
AuthorHi, I'm Joseph Saints. I am an engineer with 10 years combined experience in network engineering, system administration, and project management with the telecoms and IT industry. I am a fan of fantasy and science fiction books and movies. I also enjoy Japanese mecha anime, superhero comic books and movies, and martial arts films. Archives
December 2019
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