Writing the low tech way
I have lost a few articles because of some server problems from my website host. I have been trying to contact them but no reply so far. I guess I will be switching host soon, but not soon enough because there is another half a year to go (I think). So if you know a good reliable host, please let me know.
I will be reposting some old articles, but I did lose one entirely. I have used Wordpress as my backup, but didn’t backup diligently enough to maintain an offline copy. Most of the time, I just write on a simple Text software (to avoid distractions) and delete it immediately once I have published the article. This has given me tremendous power to focus on just writing the article itself, without getting distracted on what pictures to go with it, what font it should be, what links to go with it, facebook, emails etc. I can’t recommend this enough if you want total distraction free writing. Just choose the simplest text editor program. Don’t even bother with Microsoft Word. Notepad on Windows and TextEdit on Mac would do just fine.
However, now I come to a dilemma of not having an offline version. I thought of using my Journal to draft my writings first before posting, but I didn’t want to go through the hassle of setting this up on my journal. I love the simplicity of having nothing else but blank space in front of me while I fill it with words. Editing can come later.
This was one of the major lessons from Nanowrimo. I did not have time to do any editing at all. So I just write. And boy did I write. There are times when I was really tired, and words still came out, although I didn’t recognise what I was writing at all. I was in between the sleep and wake state of mind. This was what I wrote:
One day, I pushed a woman accidentally, but the tribe push trough the love camp and came back to sit and explore. They seem to possess the power of healing. They seem to be able to make sure that none of us is her match, and our main source of fuel is armed in the peoples’ latest receipt.
If you are able to decipher this, let me know.
For Nanowrimo, because I was writing everywhere (physically), I chose Google Document as my platform. You can choose to work offline for Google Docs as well if you have Google Gears installed. You can also “Hide Controls” which gives you a bigger screen estate as you write, the blank canvas that I was talking about.
Coming back to how to write on a reliable platform, I have gone back to using my Journal program. That is backed up on a weekly basis. At least now there is a version which is not linked or synchronised with any other platform. My dumping project has to do with technology as well, and I will be hunting for more stress free writing. I could always pick up a pen and paper. Hmmm… that’s a thought.
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