For Christmas, Sean gave me something called the Fly Fusion pen. It reads handwriting. Well, the manual claims it will only read printing, but it can read my handwriting, which is totally cool.
It does require special paper (comes in a notebook), but that's not a huge deal as the notebooks aren't hugely expensive and it will take me a while to fill one.
Essentially, the pen captures what I write, then I plug it into my computer and download it. Each page is stored as a separate .rtf file I can then open in a word processor . Or I can save it as an image. Well, that's more for people who can actually draw *g*. It also can store music on it and has games, but I'm not so concerned with that. The calculator is convenient, though. I just love being able to brainstorm by hand and then upload those notes into my computer without typing them in!
Not that this means I'm throwing over my AlphaSmart - there's still a need for that too, but for me, especially when it comes to brainstorming plot ideas, I find putting pen to paper works best. I've no idea why, but there it is. Sean knows this, so when he saw this cool gadget, he had to get it for me :) Is it any wonder I love him so much?
As I said a couple of days ago, I'm playing with plot ideas right now, trying to find something that I can carry through to the end that also creates the necessary conflict. Fortunately in the work I've already done on this ms, I haven't gotten too specific about details yet, so won't have to make a lot of changes in the narrative.
I will admit for a while, I was a rather frustrated, hence my silence for so long, but I'm feeling back on track now after borrowing a great book by Dr. Kirsty Carpenter through ILL (Beth at the Sechelt library always tracks down what I need!). It sparked some great plot elements for me :)
So how do YOU break through plotting blocks?
Teresa
Currently Reading: Olivia's Luck by Catherine Alliot
4 comments:
Ooohhh I like the sound of the Fusion Pen. I often write out long hand if I hit a road block or am trying to rework a scene. That would be ideal. I might take a look for one of those.
Wow. I don't think I've ever heard of the Fusion Pen before, but it sounds like a very cool gadget.
As far as plot ideas...taking walks works, reading, talking to my husband and bouncing ideas off of him. If I'm having problems, I also will brainstorm at night when I'm in bed. Something about laying down with my eyes closed gets the ideas going. :-)
BTW - I've read that book before (the French Revolution refugees). It has some AWESOME stuff in it!
I've seen the Fly stuff, they sell them in the toy department of all places. They have a whole line geared for kids that will read their drawings as well as their writing. I hand write as little as possible so I don't think I'd use one.
I don't have plot problems for the most part, my problem is finding characters that mesh with the plot and have both of those elements appeal to me. Not an easy task.
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