Samhain Publishing

Hey, all! Jennifer here.
In case you were wondering (and even if you haven’t), I’ve got a bit of a writing challenge going on for the summer with my critique partners. It was going good— until July hit. But I digress…

Anyhew, in my quest for the most words I can possible get on a page, I’ve done some analyzing as far as what my writing vehicle of choice is.
And I have to say, it’s the Alpha Smart. It’s terrible for editing or anything like that, but fantastic for fast drafting or fast writing as the case may be.

You may be wondering how I came to this conclusion. Well, here’s a breakdown of what I’ve found:

The Personal Computer
Pros:

1) Typing is easy and comfortable

2) I like the old Microsoft Word on it; it’s easy to use and I don’t have to convert to a doc. file because it’s already there

3) Little visual distractions: My PC is in the corner of the room—almost a cubicle—and it’s out of the way of the TV and where the kids play.

Cons:

1) I get distracted sometimes because there’s so little distractions and things to look at.

2) The Internet is a temptation

The Laptop:

Pros:

1) If there’s noise or I want a view, I can move to any room

2) I can leave the house with it

Cons:

1) Typing isn’t as easy as the typewriter on my PC—or maybe I just haven’t found the perfect desk space.

2) The Internet is a temptation

3) I really cannot stand Word 2007. It seems like no one I know can open any of the docx. files either so I always have to remember to convert to regular doc. files.

Alpha Smart

Pros:

1) It’s as portable as a laptop

2) It’s lighter than a laptop and VERY easy to type on; it sits more comfortably on my lap, too

3) No Internet temptation

4) If I bring it outside the home, I don’t worry about doing damage to it, because it’s sturdier than a Laptop

Cons:

1) There’s a teeny tiny window, so if I get stuck and want to re-read what I wrote it’s a little bit of pain to arrow up and read—but this could be a pro depending on how you look at it. If you have a strong internal editor like I do, it forces you to not dilly dally with what you’ve just written. There’s no luxury of re-reading, so you almost have no choice but to just move forward and write.

2) This is a “little” con, but whatever you write you need to transfer it to your computer word document. I have a USB cable but some alphies can do it wireless. Both take just a few minutes depending on how much you wrote.

Ta da! That’s been my experience in a nutshell.
How about you?
Do you write?
What’s your writing vehicle of choice?

Jennifer Shirk
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The Role of a Lifetime : my humorous contemporary romance from Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Georgie on His Mind coming to Avalon Books Oct. 24, 2010