gdp's Comments

Becoming A Writer Seriously : TypeWith.Me: Collaboration Made Simple

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 01:00:20 +0000

The first collaborator has already left a contribution to the post, with some very valid observations from the vantage point of a student. The document is still open for additional collaboration.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : MacCompanion's Special Issues For Writers

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:17:37 +0000

Rob, the link to the contact form on your blog [nice looking, by the way] seems not to be working. I tried to leave a comment on your blog, but kept getting error messages. So I'm coming to you via my blog's comment facility. Thanks for your comment on my blog about Nota Bene. Would you be willing to write a Guest Reivew about that program? I own an earlier version of it, but found the rigid document structuring a bit too confining for most of my work -- but I still think it is a fine, powerful and under-appreciated software for its niche. Also, for the first time in a year, I clicked my way onto your Intense Debate comments page. That answers your question about how often people actually use that facility! And you are one of the few commenters on my blog who's got an IntenseDebate profile. But I'm glad I did visit, because I learned a trick about use of bit.ly -- I'll look into it today and probably follow your suggestions. THANKS. BTW, my frustration with the Intense Debate comment form on your blog may encourage me to ditch that service and try something else.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : MacCompanion's Special Issues For Writers

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:58:50 +0000

Rob, I actually paid for a copy of Nota Bene, version 7 or 8. At the time --and up until now -- I've been struggling with the research, organization and writing of an account of a major historical event from 1800. I closely reviewed all of the word processors and related software for PC's that had a research bent to them, and I even looked very closely at Scriviner for the Mac. For a while I thought that Nota Bene was the best. However, I found myself slowly using it less and less, for these reasons: I found the rigid structuring and layout of content according to academic standards very constricting for most of my work. I tried to set up my own "layout and format style", but found the process difficult and never got results I liked. And, finally, at the time of purchase, it was not possible to include photos or graphics in the body of my work. Some communications with the Nota Bene help desk [they were very responsive] indicated that graphics capability might come along in a future release, but I have not checked out later releases. I've never tried Mellel -- have only read user reviews. I'm intrigued, but not enough to get a Mac or the software Parallels, which allows running Mac and PC software on the same computer. I've always wanted to do a thorough review of Nota Bene on this blog. I agree, it has not received the attention it deserves. It's a powerful program for academic writing. QUESTION: Would you be willing to do a GUEST REVIEW for my blog?

Becoming A Writer Seriously : Joe Nassise: Tapping Into The Routes Of Distribution - Part 2

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:36:03 +0000

Readers of this post may wish to visit Word Nerd for a similar interview with Joe's co-author Jon Merz. Find it at: http://bkwriter.blogspot.com/2010/02/author-answe...

Becoming A Writer Seriously : 2009: Products I Can't Live Without as a Writer

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:38:44 +0000

Thanks, Dave. Just visited your website. Was especially pleased to see your post of three Stephen King video clips about his take on writing. Yes,, I agree, seeing and hearing the writer himself beats simple quotes in an article.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : Joe Nassise: Tapping Into The Routes Of Distribution - Part 2

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:23:56 +0000

I just discovered that Amazon has now released a FREE KINDLE APPLICATION for the Blackberry. Yet another way to read e-books on your smartphone.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : TOP 30, Mind Maps, iPad's Word Processor and PDF--again

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:10:14 +0000

Mark, just visited your home page. I find it especially appealing for some reason: simple, straight-forward, uncluttered -- and somehow very human and emotional. And the VIDEO clips! So evocative. Good luck with your challenges for the year. Let me know when the novel is done. And thanks for the note about MindMeister. I think you are right on. Mind mapping can be very helpful to some people -- but for me, it's a time-waster. On the other hand, I've seen mind mapping used in group brainstorming sessions, where the technique really shined. An excellent tool for teachers.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : Our New Design

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 11:23:57 +0000

Thanks for your observation about the organization. Actually my "table of contents" was firmly set even before I wrote my first post in December 2006. I spent about 2 months conceptualizing the blog before going public. However, the table of contents has mostly been hidden away in a drop-down list where few readers would see it. I wanted to wait until the blog was fully fleshed out before making the contents so visible. Now that I'm getting 3000-4000 unique visitors a month from search engines, I think it's time to make the contents more prominent, leading to this design change. Your point about the dull-looking header is well taken. Eventually, I hope to spruce up the site's appearance. Thanks for your interest and comment.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : TOP 30, Mind Maps, iPad's Word Processor and PDF--again

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 14:48:25 +0000

Authorian, while I'm not a fiction writer, I did look at some story structure programs a couple years ago. They were more like story outliners though. Would you be willing to a post, or even a short series, to share your experiences with story development software for our readership?

Becoming A Writer Seriously : TOP 30, Mind Maps, iPad's Word Processor and PDF--again

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 01:40:04 +0000

Authorian, that's the way I think too. Learned to outline in high school, and really like the ease of building outlines with today's software tools.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : Create Ambience For Your Writing Sessions

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 16:41:30 +0000

Charlotte, just visited your blog. What a pleasant place.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : Yep, It's An Ipad: Highlights and A Video

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:35:28 +0000

Was pleased to see that ComputerWorld has just posted an article at its website echoing the very same highlights of the iPad that I pointed out -- but with more detail. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9149862/Th...

Becoming A Writer Seriously : Yep, It's An Ipad: Highlights and A Video

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:29:52 +0000

My thoughts exactly!

Becoming A Writer Seriously : icurrent: A Great Way To Start The Day

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:19:21 +0000

Charlotte, I also use Google Reader, where I "follow" over 150 blogs. Of course, with that many, I don't follow them that closely -- and I get every post within each blog. icurrent delivers only the topics I'm interested in -- it's much more efficient for me.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : David Lyons: Case Study in Self-Publishing - from POD to Ebook

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:13:51 +0000

Hello, Morris. Thanks for commenting. Your comment sent me right to my bookshelf where I pulled down your excellent book "Print-On-Demand Book Publishing," which I bought soon after it first came out. I just thumbed through it again and found that it still contains very useful info. By the way, I'm planning to blog about your new post, your blog and your books later this week. Important enough to get on my blog's front-page for a few days.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : HyperLocal News Websites: A New Route for Journalists

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:25:08 +0000

Shields, that is an especially helpful comment. I recommend that anyone reading these comments read your post [see the link in comment above]. While I myself use Wordpress hosted on Netgator, Wordpress MU came along after I got into blogging. I've never really looked into it. I'm particularly intrigued by BuddyPress, which I'd never heard of before.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : HyperLocal News Websites: A New Route for Journalists

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:02:55 +0000

Thanks, Steve, for that clarification. Certainly you pointed out in your post to your news blog that such "big boys" as the Washington Post are backing hyper-local news initiatives. I was intrigued myself to discover that the Seattle's major newspaper is "partnering" with the three hyper-local news sites that Neighborlogs lists as examples of its software in use. I'm sure there are increasing numbers of such examples.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : Journals and Diaries: Useful Tools for Writers

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:27:57 +0000

Thanks, Mark, for your input. Red Bubble is new to me, will check it out. I use Evernote too, but I find it doesn't allow me to analyze my entires very thoroughly. Still very useful for isolated bits of information.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : Scriptwriter Alert: One-Day Discount on Movie Outline 3

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:02:27 +0000

For those following these comments, you may be interested to know that AN AMERICAN WIFE, the most recent play by Michael Downend [see comment above] and his wife Karen Blomain, is online at HEARTLAND PLAYS [http://heartlandplays.com/catalog.php\\] although not in its entirety. Most of it is there, however, should anyone want to read it sans the final scenes. Thanks, Michael, for bringing this website to my attention. It will certainly be of interest to other scriptwriters.

Becoming A Writer Seriously : Journals and Diaries: Useful Tools for Writers

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:10:39 +0000

Thanks, Kevin -- useful points. I certainly agree that there is nothing quite like the hand-written journal. My Progoff journal that I kept 3 decades ago remains one of my most valued possessions. I return to it from time to time to remain grounded. Digital stuff, I'm learning, is fragile, especially those with their own proprietary file format. What happens when a software is "abandoned" by its developer? I have probably more essential data in KeyNote than in any other software -- and the developer abandoned it years ago. Fortunately, the program still works well for me, but it does make me nervous to know that my data is locked up in an abandoned file format. Three years ago, I wrote a post extolling RTF as the file format of choice for writers, due to its universality. Your recommendations of Notepad and Wordpad fit into the durable format category. Still, all that said, for projects and information with a time-horizon of 2-3 years, the power of some current software programs is very enticing. They often make manipulating and analyzing data much easier, and often provide insights that might not otherwise come to light. I'll be curious to see how this comment thread develops.