NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 13

Bad News: I’m officially more than 10,000 words behind in NaNoWriMo.

Good News: I’m not giving up.

I’ve been very frustrated with my story from the very start this year, which has really caused problems with the whole word count thing. But I’ve decided to continue to push myself to write something every day for this month. I know there are parts of my story that I want to get out, and I won’t let myself stop until December.

Since my word count is lacking and I don’t have much to update as far as my story goes, I thought I’d share some of the technologies that have gotten me through this year’s NaNoWriMo.

Scrivener

If there was ever one program that included every option an obsessive writer could wish for in a writing program, Scrivener is it. From planning my novel out in a virtual cork board to turning into a distraction-free writing environment, it’s got everything. It also compiles the final product into manuscript form or ebook! (I even used it to turn Relief Journal‘s latest issue into a Kindle file.)

Google Drive

As great as Scrivener is, I only have it on my laptop at home. So when I need to write on the go, I use Google Drive. There are other systems similar to Google Drive, but Google is probably the easiest to work with whether I’m on my work computer or my iPad.

Google+

I’ve said it once before, but I’ll say it again: Google+ is the best place for people participating in NaNo. Google+ can seem like a ghost town if you’re looking for interactions from the same friends you have on Facebook. But your Facebook friends aren’t all participating in NaNoWriMo. Additionally, Google+ is much more like Twitter in that you can follow lists (aka circles) of people or hashtags. The community I’ve found in the NaNo Google+ Circle I have is the biggest motivator/encourager I have (aside from my wife).

Reddit

For the last year I’ve been saving reddit posts (mostly from r/writingprompts, r/shutupandwrite, and r/askreddit) to get me going for when I’d get stuck in writing. Those posts have come in very helpful in creating backstories for my characters, though they were a little difficult to find amidst all of the cute cat videos that I also saved…

Well, that’s all. Time to get back to writing.

The post NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 13 appeared first on Ian Philpot’s blog.

Three Techie Things You Don’t Want to Miss

I’ve normally kept my tech findings to myself, save for a few conversations I have with people when they bring up the subject. Last month, I went out on a limb and wrote a techie post with some cool/free suggestions, and I got some great feedback. So I’m going to try to share three new websites/technologies every month and you can take them or leave them (but you’ll be cooler if you take them).

Hoarding cloud space

In my last tech post I wrote about the usefulness of storing files in the cloud. Since then, I’ve been added three more cloud accounts (CX, SkyDrive, and SugarSync). I feel like each one is a brand new closet that I get to store stuff in, which is great until I forget what’s in which closet.

Then I came across Otixo—a website that helps users manage their cloud accounts. The neat part is that I can move files from one cloud account to another without having to access them directly. Otixo also has a space for collaboration and group projects that I haven’t had time to explore that yet, but I will be making time for it soon.

Backing up your social account media

While my last post talked about how important it is to back up your social account data, I recently came across a website that streamlines your ability to back up your online pictures and videos—pi.pe. You can move photos from your flickr account to your Dropbox, move your Facebook videos to YouTube, and more. (The first thing I did was store all of my Instagram photos to my Box account.)

Now let me be clear, pi.pe is not a replacement for IFTTT. While IFTTT is life-changing, your recipes only work going forward, so there’s no way to go back for data before you created your recipe. Thankfully, pi.pe can go back for your photos and videos. The best news is that pi.pe is still in beta, so there’s a good change that they are going to have a lot more available soon.

No really, the internet can work for you

Just in case you didn’t do it the first time I told you, sign up for IFTTT. No. Seriously. I can’t tell you how helpful it can be. Well, maybe I can.

Here’s a list of my most recent IFTTT recipes:

• When Barnes & Noble posts their free eBook every Friday, send me an email with a link to the free eBook.
• If I post a new tweet, then add it as a row in a Google Drive spreadsheet.
• If I upload a photo to Instagram, then upload it to my “Instagram” folder on Facebook.

As an incentive, if you sign up for IFTTT and share a recipe in the comments, then…I’ll tweet about it. How’s that for a prize?

Three Things You Must Do Now Because They’re Cool and They’re Free

So over the last few years, I’ve really embraced technology and social media. I love the tools that have been made available, I love the platform these tools have created, and I love being on the cutting edge of change. But there are a few things that I’ve come across over the last couple months that I feel strongly about, and I’m going to share them.

Note: Every website/service that I mention has no monetary cost to the user.

Put the Internet to work for you

IFTTT (IF This Then That) is the most useful site for anyone who uses the Internet often. The site uses the APIs of websites and web tools you already use (or should be using) to make tasks happen. IFTTT has 50 channels right now, so a lot is possible.

Here’s an example: I have connected my Facebook and Evernote accounts with IFTTT. I have a “recipe” in IFTTT that says IF I post something on Facebook (THIS), THEN save a copy in my Evernote (THAT). I have the same thing setup for my Twitter account.

But it gets better.

I have my cell phone connected to IFTTT, so I get a text message whenever the forecast says it’s about to rain soon. I have also been getting text messages anytime a U.S. athlete wins a medal in the Olympics. And, whenever someone posts an Apple product for free on Craigslist, I get another text message.

My favorite recipe has my Foursquare account connected to my Google Calendar. Anytime I check in to a place on Foursquare, it creates an event on my Google Calendar, so I have a running history of the places I’ve been to.

So. Freaking. Sweet.

Archive your social account data

Did you know that Twitter only saves your last 3,200 tweets? After that, they disappear. (Or should I say, “fly away?”)

You probably know that Facebook saves all of your information, but did you know you can ask them to send you everything associated with your profile since October 2009?

As a writer, I hate the idea of losing anything I’ve written, and most people tend to agree.

There are a few places you need to go to get your account data:

• twDocs — Export almost anything from Twitter into a series of different file types.
• Facebook Archive — Because nothing is more tragic than losing your precious Facebook information.
• Google Takeout — A Google product that exports all of your Google account information (Google+, Voice, Drive, etc.).

 Get in the cloud

The cloud is a magical place of storage for your computer files, and it’s wonderful because it lives out in the ether (aka a company’s servers) rather than your computer. This makes transporting files simple. At my work, cloud services have almost completely replaced the use of thumb drives.

But, as I’ve learned the hard way, cloud services are best used to back up your important files. I’ve lost files from my last two computers crapping out on me. (Yes, “crapping out” is a technical term.) <cheesy grin>Never again thanks to the cloud.</cheesy grin>

The best news is that, even if you haven’t clearly signed up for a cloud service, there’s a great chance you already have one. Do you have an Amazon account? Then you have five gigs available on their cloud drive. Do you use Google Docs? Then you have a five gigs available in your Google Drive.

There are plenty more cloud services available, but the two I use the most are Dropbox and Box. Dropbox is nice because it puts a folder on your computer that automatically syncs to the cloud, plus it makes sharing files with others very easy. Sharing on Box is just as good, but its interface is web based so you upload files through their website. Box’s best features are the ability to track versions of files and the ability to edit some documents while on their website (similar to Google Docs).

Are you ready to have your mind blown a bit? Because Dropbox and Box are both channels on IFTTT, so you can backup your Facebook photos, Instagram pictures, emails, blog posts, YouTube favorites, and so on.

Now only if I could get IFTTT to backup my social accounts and upload them to the cloud. (If I figure this out, I will let you know.)