Writing (or not) on the road
Today’s Wednesday on Writing will be brief, since I am in New York for The Edgars, and not only is writing on the iPad a laborious process, I also hit the ground running and have little time for a leisurely reflection on the writing process. Today I will be on a panel in the Edgars symposium (I’d give you a link but for the aforementioned laboriousness, you can look it up if you’re interested) billed as a “no-holds-barred look at the writer’s life.” By which I assume they bring us large cups of strong coffee and let us kvetch about covers and advertising budgets for an hour. It should be a scintillating discussion.
But if you were given Hank Ryan’s job of moderating the panel, what would you ask? Anything you’ve just been dying to know about the writer’s life? Shall I tell you about the early morning wakeup call that was satisfyingly persistent, the only minor quibble being that I didn’t place a wake up call? No holds barred, that’s Laurie King’s Mutterings.
Get an Apple wireless keyboard! With mine, my iPad went from a device suitable for mainly consuming information to a device for actual production. It’s lightweight, small, portable and easy to use.
Oh, Laurie. God bless you. Helping out fledgling writers, getting calls from the front desk computer that you didn’t even order… I can only imagine! Best of luck with your panel today, wish I could pop down to listen. But alas, work beckons. Take good care and have a safe trip home.
Laurie, I have an iPad and have found Evernote and Dragon Dictation terrific for writing on the road.
It seems that a writer’s life is 90% solitary & 10% mad social whirl. I’d like to know how you stay grounded (although of course, there are some famous examples that didn’t)
Aah well … when you attend trade shows – mine looks at aviation (why are you not surprised?) – and have a voracious Online audience to feed, then sometime between getting back from the show site (usually 30-60 mins travel) and departing for the evening social networking event (e.g. press dinners) one needs to hack one or two 250-word stories that are not just a re-hashed press release!
Having said that, finishing one off after returning to the hotel room replete and (usually) slightly boozed before retiring to one’s pit, has sometimes produced a better story. That’s where journalism differs from novels – each has it’s own requirements and disciplines. Squirting them across the ether to base can be fun too!
Le Bourget (aka the Paris Air Show) beckons in June.