Make Writing Easy [KOCPU #4]
My first writing tool wasn’t the most comfortable.
I was 4, and I’d received a blackboard with chalk as a gift. All around the edges it had letters and numbers.
And I copied the letters, ran to my mother (who was nested on the couch as usual) to ask her what that letter meant, describing the form.
Then back to the blackboard to copy another letter.
Later on I got a real typewriter, and with a computer things got even easier.
And it should be easy.
In my opinion, writing has to be both easy and fun. It’s the editing that’s tough, but that’s a whole other matter ;-)
There are several ways you can make writing as easy as possible. And I’ll mention some of them here:
- Learn touch-typing. The faster you type, the faster you can write books, and the faster you can get your thoughts down on paper. There are free courses available online. Believe me, this will make a huge difference for you, if you don’t already know how to touch-type.
- Use a tool that makes it easy to format your book afterwards when you’re ready to publish. I use Scrivener (first for Mac http://malka.im/scrivenermac now for Windows http://malka.im/scrivenerwin). It takes a couple of hours to set up the compilation settings, but after that it’s a one click operation to format for Kindle or CreateSpace or one of the other places you can publish your books.
- Dictate if you’re a slow typer. I have Dragon, but you can also use the free dictation tool from Google Docs.
Those are my favorite methods to make writing as easy as possible.
What are yours? I would love to hear from you.
The Other Posts in KOCPU:
Publishing On Kindle? Find Your Category [KOCPU #1]
Research for Your Kindle Book [KOCPU #2]
Writing an Outline for Your Kindle Book [KOCPU #3]
I actually got a keyboard device off of EBAY that lets you type and save up to 8 different documents. It runs on batteries and you can take it anywhere. You can then transfer what you've written and saved to a computer . I use it to write undistracted by the internet. I think that it was originally a device to train students in poorer school systems how to use the computer
I like using Dragon. I also take notes the old fashion way, pen and paper.