Writing on the Road

Hello!

This post was created before my trip. I knew that I probably wouldn't get to it while I was out for awhile so I created this post early. 

Guess where I'm at? Photo by: sylvester75117, courtesy of Flickr

Don't you just LOVE technology?

If you read my previous blog, it was all about getting away from technology, and going on a trip has a way of helping you with that.

And so you know, because I don't have a SmartPhone, I will, in reality be leaving my computer behind for a solid week.

What does a writer do who doesn't have an electronic tap in?

Hopefully, she has a little fun, makes some memories, and keeps that journal in her purse or back pocket for just the perfect character, the perfect description, the perfect new book idea.

I plan on taking notes when I'm gone and sharing them with you when I return. Who knows? Maybe I'll have the next best seller scribbled down for future success.

Kathryn

Writing by Hand

In this day of ever-changing technology, it's easy to get caught up on the computer and all that this instrument has to offer. I'm on it right now, writing this to you, and you're right there a moment or an hour or a day later, reading what I've written.

Photo by RoboGenius, courtesy of Flickr

But today, after reading this blog, I'd like you to stop and take a few moments to reflect on what writing really means to you. And then I want you to get a pen and a piece of paper (or your journal) and write down your thoughts. You may want to answer these questions.

1, Why are you a writer?
2. Why do you think you chose the particular genre you did?
3. Have you been published? If so, what was it and what brought you the most happiness? Was it the writing itself? Was it the publishing? A combination of both? If you've never been published, how long have you been writing? Set a date now to have your first piece of writing published. Decide what it will be and place it on your calendar. 

You may even want to put together a vision board. Vision boards have your goals on them as well as pictures to compliment your goals and dates of completion. There's something about putting your goals on paper and hanging them where you see them the most often, that brings a goal to fruition. Once the goal is achieved, take off the picture, the words you've created and put them in your journal to remind yourself of
what was accomplished.
  

Photo by Dawn, courtesy of Flickr

We, as writers, need to stick together, and that means that sometimes we need to step off the fast track of the Internet, and take a slower pace by writing everything down by hand.

Can't you just smell that new fine tipped marker?

Reading on a Kindle

I used to think reading on a Kindle was sort of like transporting yourself into the future. All the hard copies of books are gone and all that's left is electronic devices (kind of like Star Trek). Reading this way was as foreign to me, almost as foreign as an alien landing on the planet and speaking to me.What would I say to an alien if I saw one?

 

Photo by: Contentment Sikher, courtesy of Flickr

Fortunately, I know what to say about the Kindle. It doesn't smell special, like those new books with their new ink, or even musty, like those old books with their brittle, yellowing pages that you just can't seem to get rid of. They are flat and substandard when it comes to flipping the pages (sometimes I push the arrow too many times) and with the Kindle, it's hard to highlight.

Yes, I know you can do that, but not by hand.

Reading on a Kindle is not my cup of tea but I have to say that it didn't bother me half as much as I thought it would. I remember the first time I used a microwave, a computer, a cell phone, and how awkward it all was. Now I can only say that I need to gear up to the Smartphone. I call mine a "dumb phone" because it's one of those flip open jobbies with actual buttons to push...

At any rate, my first book, read on a Kindle, is: "Trust Your Heart: Transform Your Ideas..." There's more to the subtitle but I don't want to lose my place and I don't know where to regain it when I do. Yes, I have LOTS to learn.

But I tell you what. I like the idea that I was able to get this book FREE and my husband (bless his heart) knew how to download (or is it upload) it onto the Kindle for me. Now all I do is turn the Kindle on, and wa-la! it's there. I'm also thinking of taking the Kindle with me on my flight to Texas soon. It might be nice to finish the book in flight.

Suffice it to say I'm still learning a lot about the Kindle including what all the buttons are for that I see below the silver screen. Nope, I'm not going to push them.

Until next time...

Kathryn