Some Cool Sites & Apps to Help You Write

So a long time ago, I wrote about the wonderful power of Scrivener [post] Just as Scrivener pretty much saved my bacon, there are some other websites and apps that are amazing and uber helpful in certain situations.

Rainy Mood: [click me!]

I don't know about you, but I love the sound of rain. It is soothing, exhilarating and somehow manages to bring my creative juices bubbling to the surface as it beats out a tattoo on the roof and pavement outside. Many of my more intense moments of deep thought have occurred on a rainy day. From studying to research to writing, having the sounds of rain and thunder in the backdrop somehow helps to propel everything forward. If you love the sounds of a summer storm and need some white noise in the background that isn't going to distract you from the task at hand, open a tab and surf on over to Rainy Mood.

Ommwriter: [click me too!]

Sometimes, you've got a thought sitting there on the tip of your brain. It's a shy thought that is easily startled my loud music and too many facebook and twitter tabs. Even your usual writing program is too cluttered and messy to allow you to coax out this timid thought. Sometimes you hate distraction and need a pure digital environment to clear the air. Whatever it may be, if you need a program that is simple, uncluttered, free of adds and temptations, and has some soothing sounds already plugged in as a part of the package, Ommwriter is the way to go. I've used it a few times, and there's something sublimely pure about writing when you're working in the program. The fear of a blank page is gone, thanks to the pretty, ethereal backgrounds. The focus is on the words you type and such a thing frees you to work in near stream of consciousness without the judgement of the overhanging toolbars. I still remain a Scrivener lover at heart, mainly because my projects are so vast and the ability to have all of my notes in one giant project file is a godsend, but when I do need the simplicity of UI, Ommwriter is my tool.

I hope these two nuggets of awesome help you with your writing quests!

Hugs & Cookies,
Quinn

When Someone Else's Dreams Eclipse Your Own

It's been a while since I've written, mostly because I'm helping my father self-publish for the first time. [I'm by no means anywhere near an expert at it, but there it is.] He's been published in magazines and has co-written numerous books in the past, but this is his first stab at publishing his own work and it's rather overwhelming for the both of us.

Him for the entire world of self publishing that has opened up to him. Me because I've only ever self-published once and have never gone the print route. So it's been a series of starts and stops, editing, image correcting, formatting and headaches all around. 

So the past few months have been stressful and I haven't had the time or means to work on my own projects without feeling guilty that I'm not working on his. 

But I'm taking today and what I can of this week to scratch the writing itch that has been bugging me for a long while. Going from writing 3,000 - 4,000 words a day to zip for months has kinda left me bereft. 

I'm almost finished with Chapter 5 of The Welkinbane, my steampunk novel, with another 13 on the docket. I want to re-visit Thistledown and streamline it for re-publication. Thinking of going the POD [Print On Demand] route for it as well. Plus, I've got Thistletorn sitting on my hard drive half-done, twiddling it's thumbs while I try to get my act together on the plot of the trilogy.

The silver lining of helping my father on his project is that I'm learning a lot about self-publishing, POD, and E-Publishers. Not to mention the Daddy Kudos Points I've been racking up.

I know that I can't ignore his project, but I can't ignore mine either...so finding a balance is going to be a challenge so that we can both reach our dreams. Alternating weeks seems like a good way around the problem and I'm planning on giving it a shot.

Having your dreams eclipsed by someone else's isn't a basket of funfetti and banana cupcakes, but it does feel good, at the end of the day, to help someone else out with theirs.