Well, we're so close to release day for Beneath A Darkening Sky , and I've celebrated this by becoming a member of the Horror Writers' Association ! I also had a set of author photos taken in a local graveyard, complete with an entire flock of sheep watching me as some previous visitor had left the gate open for them. So now, I'm faced with the decision of which story to share with you. We've been through a few for this blog series, and I'm left with three: Guidman Trowie (a tale set in Orkney and inspired by the unique folklore of the islands); Moonsong (a love song from a werewolf to the moon); and Eaves-Drip , which is the story I'm going to talk about in this blog. It's no coincidence that these three stories have been left. Along with Ay Atomics , they're the short and (not-always-very-)sweet ones. Eaves-Drip was written while we were on holiday in Perthshire one autumn, but it goes back to Lincolnshire, where I grew up. Lincolnshire is ful...
Day 7 -Thursday 7th November 2019 – Software
Now the world has moved into the technological age we’ve largely abandoned the pen for the keyboard. I do still have one story which I love writing by hand, but by and large my writing is now done on a computer – usually my laptop.
It’s taken me a long time to settle into any form of writing
software, but these days I tend to gravitate towards Scrivener for my
writing. I (mostly) like the layout, and
I find its sensible approach understandable enough so that even I know
what’s going on! The use of the binder
and corkboard approach is really easy to use and keep tabs on. But I’ve got to be honest, I have no idea how
most of it works! Ultimately, my books
make their way into Word, are shaped and formatted, and then converted to .pdf
files. In this way, I feel like I’m
using the best aspect of all the software I have!
Here are a few considerations about choosing the best software
for you:
- What do you want it to do? If you’re after a word processor document, you really can’t beat Word, but it’s much more difficult to cross-reference research than in writing software like Scrivener. For a professional level, .pdf files are the most reliable, but when you’re converting them, remember to embed your fonts, or some of your characters can be distorted or lost.
- Software doesn’t feel loyalty. Don’t feel restricted to only one programme, you
can get the best of all
worldssoftware! - There’s no right and wrong. If you decide you’re happier writing your story on a different programme, on a typewriter, or by hand, that’s fine! Just find a willing volunteer who will copy it up for you at a later date. BUT always keep copies of your writing. You may not like it now, but I guarantee you will be disappointed if you lose it!
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