Show Off Your Toys

My system is as simple as it gets (well for me that is,), Gel Pen and notebook; to be typed up after I return from school, and a typewriter if all else fails.

My tech is somewhat old school, but you can not beat a type-writer from the eighties! Well maybe with a baseball bat....

I'm doing most of mine this year on my AlphaSmart NEO, which has become a close friend in the last few months. It will all get transferred onto an iMac in the end, using a no-frills, low-distractions word processor I like to use called WriteRoom.

Toshiba laptop, with roughDraft
Alphasmart dana, using palm alphaword
Asus eeepc (4gig surf), using openOffice
kingston 1gig flash drive for backup and sync with the eeepc
tungsten palmpilots, using dataviz wordToGo

Unfortunately, my sharp organizer's screen is dying more and more, (one row and two columns of pixels not showing up now,) and I've gotten out of the habit of using it, but the eeepc, though bigger, more than makes up for it in my writing-on-the-go arsenal.

Looking over this list of writing programs - it's a good thing that they all play pretty nicely with RTF files. :) I've noticed that my version of wordToGo often doesn't want to convert an RTF file that's come directly from the eeepc and openoffice, but I just need to open it up in roughdraft or wordpad, insert a space and put it back, save again, and docsToGo is mollified. :)

Lenovo R61 running Ubuntu Linux
Open Office
RubyRoom (Q10/WriteRoom for Linux type thing)
Maybe Celtx for Linux.
Labrynth Mind-Mapping for Organizing
Dr. Pepper
Other Caffeinated Drinks
Candy
Lots of Candy.

I appreciate "old school." I do much of my work by hand as well. I'm not going to invest in a flash drive quite yet, but I have an iPod shuffle that will hold documents for me (works just as well). I'm probably going to do most of my plotting & outlining on paper, as it's just easier for me to keep track of. The "note taking" programs I've seen just don't do it for me, and I can't take them on the bus.

I haven't decided which computer is going to take the brunt of my writing. I'm thinking it's going to be the PC we have in the kitchen, although it scares me sometimes, because it has this tendency to crash, and I have lost my music, etc. a couple of times. The PC also uses OpenOffice exclusively. The iPod will be my friend when I go to the office, this way when I get bored at work (what?) then I can pump out a few lines here & there.

HP tx2500 Tablet for taking notes and actually novelling. And doodling on everything.

12" screen and amazing battery life make this little thing the perfect nano machine!

Q10 at home, Alphasmart Neo when away.

I just wish there was an easier way to transfer from Neo to Q10, so I could leave the Alphasmart in my locker and not have to take it home every night.

During school and computer-less hours I shall be using my AlphaSmart Neo named Orlando. Orlando has seen me through two NaNos and is sorta like an old friend. *huggles* The rest of the time I'll be on my family's crapastic PC.

AlphaSmart Pro (from 1994!) when I need to minimize distractions (since  all   it   does  is let me type, no formatting, no word count, no calculator, nothing) or when I'm out of the house and planning on writing.
A Moleskine ruled notebook and a ballpoint pen when I'm out of the house and have a sudden idea.
OpenOffice 2.4.1 under (:sigh:) Ubuntu Linux (was finally persuaded to try it; I don't like it better than NetBSD, but I don't dislike it enough to go through the hassle of switching back) for the majority of my writing.

Backups to two separate fileservers, because I lost 1/4th of my first novel when my hard drive died and then the hard drive of the machine I was using as a backup promptly died as well.

At home, when I want to be by the TV, have access to my Excel spreadsheets, or otherwise be in the living room - Windows 2000 Pro, Word 2000.

When at lunch, in bed, or out and about for any reason - my AlphaSmart 2000, and a pen paired with a single 70-sheet college-rule spiral-bound notebook (I believe in the power of hyphenated technology.)

If I get incredibly nostalgic at some point, I may also drag out the dip pen and ink, with the fancy calligraphy paper. There's something about having to work REALLY hard (like, a dip every three letters hard) that brings joy to my words. Kind of like how I like my crummy hand-carved wand far better than my expensive store-bought lightsabre.

(I feel like such a geek having typed the above..)

Get a proper quill pin without a metal nib. Write a few words, sharpen with a knife, re-dip, write a few words, sharpen, dip, etc.

Black MacBook and Scrivener. Life became so much simpler when I switched to Apple. (I might also do some rough work on my iPod Touch if getting out the laptop would be inconvenient, but hopefully not much as the keyboard is a little frustrating.)

I'll be using my pink Dell laptop with Word 2003 and a flash drive. I'll more than likely be toting the laptop to and from the office with me as I have a 40 minute commute (by bus) every morning and afternoon. The flash drive will allow me to work during down times in the office. I will also have my novel "bible" and an ink pen with me at all times in case inspiration strikes while I am without computer access (ie staff meetings).

My black Toshiba laptop named Nanashi will be my primary writing companion. Soundwave will be supplying the music. The rest of the electronics will hopefully be silent for the month. *eyes video game consoles*

Elise, my toshiba that I got for graduation in June and instantly thought "Finally! a laptop to write my Nano in!"

And my cute little memo pad to carry around just in case.

I've recently switched from a Lenovo ThinkPad R61i running Vista and Office 2007 to an older IBM ThinkPad X24 running XP, and soon, Office'07. The X24 is pretty fast for how old it is, and I really like the much more compact size and lighter weight.

Aside from that, I'll be scrawling random notes onto my Gregg fuled steno pad, and I'll have the document backed up onto a flash drive, which I'll also use for editing it using the computers at work, in classes, and my own desktop at home.

A desktop with RoughDraft for the normal everyday writing sessions
A laptop with RoughDraft for the write-in sessions and for when I just need to get away
Fountain pen and paper for those times when I just can't get to a computer, all to be typed in later

All of this will be backed up to a flash drive, both my hard drives, and my email. You never know. Just saying.

Still unnamed MacBook Pro for research.

and the typewriting posse— haven't picked which to use:
Marvin (Royal portable)
Noel (Olivetti-Underwood Studio 44, semi-portable)
Marlene (full-size Continental)
full-size Underwood
Smith-Corona Galaxie 12, portable(ish)

Also, a Moleskine notebook and Client pen for planning, notes, etc.

Mostly my husband's Dell Inspiron, which runs Ubuntu. Also sometimes my work computer if I get inspired on my lunch break.

Mostly will be writing in Open Office, but will be using Google Docs for inspiration when at work.

I have a flash drive in this apartment somewhere; I just need to find it. We also have THREE external hard drives, so I'm not lacking in backup tools!

I will be going back and forth between my Mac Laptop and my Dell Desktop (PC) -
I will also finally have my own space/office in our new house - which my partner and I will be moving into on (ready for this) - November 1st - it is the top floor of the house (a redone attic) - music and writing - sequestered up there for 30 days - does life rock or what ?

Mac Pro and MacBook Air.
Scrivener for writing.
SuperNotecard for research and planning.
Git for versioning.

Given that my shiny new Air is so small and light, I'm reluctantly saying goodbye to my AlphaSmart Neo.

Dale

My Acer laptop and Word 2007, even though this computer is on its last leg.

I may be getting a Macbook soon, though. So I would probably use that instead.

And of course I'll be copying everything and backing it up on a flash drive. (:

MacBook (Verity) + Storyist ftw, guys. I bought Storyist this summer—I downloaded their trial out of curiosity and found that it meshed really well with the way I work.

I, also, have my HP laptop (Penguin Master) with Q10 which is my main machine. For when I get bored in class, I've got my trusty Alphasmart Dana.

For backups I've got my sleek and sexy little iAudio F2, which serves double-duty as my MP3 player and USB flash drive.

I actually have a laptop this year, I was so happy to get it. Hee. I'm using Vista and Liquid Story Binder, which I love love loooove! Oh and my flash drive, from which LSB can run, Of course.

I'll be using a Compaq Presario C774TU laptop with Word 2007, Liquid Story Binder XE and OneNote 2007 installed to write my novel, and my iPod to keep me entertained.

Most writing sessions will be on my Compaq Presario laptop at home - name Big Daddy
Out and about session on my Acer Aspire One - name Junior Blue
Memory stick and Gmail for backups

Using Open Office on both.
Outlining and planning will be a combination of notebook (Pukka Pads) and pen (Uniball Vision Elite for preference) Microsoft One Note on Big Daddy and almost certainly a pack of big index cards.

And my Palm PDA (Tungsten E) keeps me organised so I have some chance of getting this done!

***pout***

I am currently coveting a laptop. But sadly, I am stuck with my not-so-stable-but-practically-screwed-onto-the-counter desktop. *sigh* With openoffice no less (equally as unstable).

The good news is..... I LOVE handwriting so I will be doing hardcopy first and only using the computer for transcribing/wordcount purposes. That said, my favorite tools of the trade are....

~ 2 packages of those *new* Sharpie Pens (very much like the Pilot fineliners , for those who haven't checked them out yet)
~ 25 (yes I said 25) pads of super-ultra-narrow ruled economy paper (has 50 lines per page - I write small) that unfortunately I can only find at Grand And Toy (the wonderful company that won't ship to an individual, only to a company that maintains a charge account with them...**grumble**....but that's a whole other topic....

I have a brand spanky new flamingo pink Dell 1525 running Vista. I will be writing in Open Office, as usual, and using my wifi at every hot-spot I can. "Pinkie" has about an 8 hour battery life, so I can write for hours without an outlet.

Last year I wrote on my trust Gateway M275 tablet. I loved and still adore that machine, but I have to use the new one, at least for a while. I may eventually go back to the Gateway, it is lighter weight to carry around, but its battery life is just about nil these days; I think I can get an hour, maybe.