Technology in the aid of the writing process (Part II)

As promised, I'll describe my current writing framework. Please keep in mind that I came up to this only a few weeks ago, and can be highly improved/refined. It is centered on two main elements: plain text files and a wiki. For the most part, if not all, the tool used come from good practices in software development.

To start with, I ditched all fancy writing assisting software (described in the previous part) and returned to the basics with a text editor. There are many to choose from in different platforms, and I'm using Vim to do the job. In Windows a good alternative is Notepad++ but the old and simple Notepad will do. The reason behind this is to 1) be completely free of proprietary formats and lock-ins, 2) Focus on content leaving all issues regarding presentation and heavy formatting to a later step. Nevertheless, to introduce some basic formatting options while writing, I use Markdown syntax. Markdown is a simple markup language very easy to read and write which can be converted to valid HTML or other formats later.

Example of a markdown file.

Continuing with the workflow, since the files are simple text files they lend themselves to be easily tracked in versioning system/software. This allows to keep track of the changes the files suffer throughout the process and thus return to any previous point. Together with a service like github or bitbucket it can work as a backup solution. Bitbucket works particularly well since in the free tier it offers up to 5 private projects (or as called in the jargon "repositories") and is what I'm using.

The second principal element, the wiki system. I decided to use one to build some sort of database with characters, location, items, world building and so on. Each element can have an entry and I can link between them as I see fit. There should be some free wiki providers, among those are github and bitbucket. In most cases, wiki providers use one or another flavor of a markdown syntax to write on them, making an extra argument to write the content part also in markdown.

Since I touched on the topic of versioning and services offering it, I could also talk about other nifty tool provided by the software development world: tickets/issues. For now, I'm using them as reminders of details or decisions I have to make. Ends up being some sort of ToDo list or tasks. Also, I see them as a good tool when working with an editor to keep the corrections and commentaries in a coherent fashion. Probably a wiki could also be used in the same way. But again, a ticketing system (called in the jargon issues) is also provided by services like github/bitbucket.

An extra advantage of my workflow using bitbucket, is that I can work anywhere I want and in any platform. It is extremely portable and I'm sure it supports a lot of flexibility and improvements.

Technology in the aid of the writing process (Part I)

A while ago, I embarked in writing a novel. Since I'm relatively technologically savvy, I decided to look for good solutions (software) to help me in the writing process. The main conditions were that it has to be free, run in multiple platforms and preferably open source.

The first thing I started used was Storybook. Without much experience I considered it to work rather good, written in Java (I disliked that) meaning multiplatform and free with some paid features. Management of chapters, scenes, timelines, characters, location, items and more stuff. All that sounds rather handy together with the possibility to export to various formats. Sadly, in their newest version, the paid features took a bigger chunk of features including ALL the export functions! If I cannot take what I wrote out of the software, it's a useless software. And I don't have any problem with paid premium features, but that level of blackmail is too much for me to take.

Other alternative I found was yWriter. This software has basically the same set of features than Storybook without the annoyances of the paid restrictions. The files are even stored in a widely used format, so there is no lock in. The main downside of it is that it doesn't run anywhere but Windows, so after a while I stopped using it. But for a Windows based writer I fully recommend it.

Beside these two, I did not find any other straightforward solution. At some point a while ago, I found Booktype, but it's a bit more complicated and fully open source. Also, it seems to do more things at the level of publishing, like managing different electronic formats. I haven't tried it yet, but looks very worthy and surely I'll try it in the future.

Since I was not really satisfied with the two solutions I found, I decided another strategy based on plaintext and a wiki to keep track of characters, locations and so on. Maybe it's not as coherent and with nice displays as in Storybook or with the extensive set of features, but it's more flexible, works in any platform, allows straightforward versioning and avoids any lock-in. And if I want some fancy features, I could implement/program them.

In the second part I'll describe my current solution and workflow. Both, the solution and workflow are highly adaptable to others without needing a lot of knowledge regarding computers and technology.

Goodreads as a platform and on becoming a book reviewer

I'm member of a social (hate that word) network centered on books called Goodreads. Mostly to keep track of what I've read (and slightly brag about it), have some statistics and eventually discover new books to read. I don't really participate in the community by writing reviews and engaging with other people, but I do rate all the books I read. It was evident for me, that as a platform it can be an interesting one for writers to engage with a group of [their] hardcore readers (I doubt that the percentage of non hardcore reader in that network is high) for marketing purposes, beta-reading and reviewing.

About two weeks ago I was approached in in this network by an author. This author suggested, that because I read and rather liked a dystopian setup in a certain book (the rating was "I like it" 3 out of 5 stars), I could also enjoy his own new book. He continued by offering me a free electronic copy, no strings attached, to read which I clearly accepted and received... how to say no to a free book. Marketing operating.

Later, one week ago or so, I was again approached by another author after rating rather poorly (just two stars that later changed to three) his book and for the first time writing a very short review. The review was more like a few impressions/opinions about it. He thanked me on my honest opinion and informed me that he hoped to have taken care of those observations in the sequel. Making the story short, he offered me to do a review of the sequel which will be soon published. And of course I accepted and already started reading.

It feels a bit like in high school when I had some deadline to read a book and then, in a similar fashion, having to write something about it. I hope to do a good job and a honest review, and who knows, also to keep doing more reviews. And maybe, some day, I'll get to be a beta-reader for one book. Or maybe to use this community for my own review and marketing purposes when I manage to finish my own books some day in the future.

For now I can add one more thing to my list of accomplishments (actually when I finish it of course), be a proper reviewer.

Sponsored by Sweden

Besides Volvo, H&M and Ikea are probably the most famous brands from Sweden (maybe some would like to include their women, and others more musically inclined, could say Abba). Since I've been in Germany, I've been kindly "sponsored" by Sweden.

Throughout the last two years and a half, the share of my belonging have been increasingly from Sweden (although not necessarily made in Sweden). Nowadays, I would estimate that between furniture and clothing, over an 80% come from a Swedish company.

And this does not stop only in tangible objects, but also about my culture consumption in the form of books like the Millennium Series from Stieg Larsson, or music bands like Pain of Salvation, Opeth and Wolverine.

I don't know why it seems I have this subconscious preference and/or fascination with that country. It somehow started more than ten years ago still in high school, while doing a school project and ending researching about public expenditure in Sweden focused on public education.

Stockholm by night.

This year I had even the "chance" (it was more like "game myself the opportunity") to go to Stockholm, capital city of Sweden in mid winter. As can be seen above, the water around the many islands composing Stockholm was partially frozen. Hopefully I make it there again in some more hospitable season.

And who knows, maybe I end up living somewhere there in the future.