Michael Arrington over at TechCrunch was the inspiration for this post.  For the past four years, he’s been publishing his own list of must-have products from his viewpoint as a tech blogger.  His recently posted list for 2009 set me to thinking:  what hardware, software and online services are indispensible to me as a writer?  Here’s what I rely on at least several times a week.

Two Custom-assembled Desktop PC’s:  Late last year, I locked up my laptop in my trunk, where it rests in waiting only as a backup if ever needed.  I travel internationally between two residences, usually via the US, and the new authority given to US customs to seize laptops for no reason galled my libertarian spirit.  I have absolutely nothing to hide, but I just don’t want to put up with the potential inconvenience.  When I do wish to break out of the house, I often carry along an AlphaSmart Neo to capture sudden inspirations.  An Olympus digital voice recorder completes my hardware essentials.

Syncplicity:  This remarkable application keeps both of my desktops fully synchronized, with the side benefit of maintaining an online backup of my most important data.  Software is downloaded onto each computer and an online intermediary repository is set up.  The service runs automatically, with just enough evidence of activity to be reassuring without distracting.  Being paranoid about backup, I also use the Mozy online back up serivce.

LastPass:  Similar to Syncplicity, but dedicated to keeping whichever passwords one approves in sync.  The application also fills in username and passwords for sites allowed into the LastPass personal database.

KeyNote:  This aging freeware still functions as my principle vehicle for organizing information and thoughts.  I’ve written a very full review of it at the link above.

WhizFolders:  Somewhat similar to KeyNote, I use it when I need to hyperlink information with other files and internet sites, as well as to gather the information into a hierarchical structure.

Microsoft Word:  While I’m fascinated by alternative word processors and long to break away from the Microsoft leash, I still return to Word for my bigger projects.  I often need the footnoting, outlining, and graphic layout capabilities it offers.  If not tied to Word for these advanced capabilities, I’d probably turn, as a non-fiction writer, to RoughDraft, PageFour or Jarte.  Or perhaps even to Google Docs [it has footnoting capability now!] or Zoho, as online application alternatives.  Check back here next year to see where I’m at.

Chapter by Chapter:  This small program is essential to keep my big book project organized and the files safe and easy to manage.  It displays a list of all chapters with word count, allows me to move them around within my overall structure, keeps each chapter as a separate Word file, and yet, if I ever finish the book, will pull everything into one big file for final formatting and submission.  The program now also supports OpenOffice.

Essential PIM Pro:  The first software I open every morning.  Not only does it display my schedule and maintain my contact list [which can be shuffled into different categories], it also holds my master list of goals and to-do’s.  Sometimes I want a bigger picture of my goals and activity.  Then I turn to Achieve Planner.

WordPress:  This open-source blogging software keeps my blog running.  I also applaud Hostgator for its impeccable hosting services.  Freeware FileZilla is essential to managing all the themes, plug-ins and photos that underpin the blog.

Firefox:  My browser of choice for gathering information via browsing the internet.  I sometimes turn to the newer Flock, which is exceptional in keeping my “social media” organized and close at hand.

FeedDemon-Newsgator:  FeedDemon resides on both of my desktops, with online Newsgator keeping them in sync.  I use this RSS feed reader for the ones I find most valuable.  I also use the online Google Reader, through which I follow less closely over 150 RSS feeds to uncover news of interest to writers.

Tweetdeck:  This application organizes my increasingly useful Twitter life.  I’m picking up lots of informational leads from Twitter, and Twitter in turn is bringing more traffic to this blog.  I would have never guessed that five months ago.

Vodpod:  A year ago, I had no idea how valuable online video would become for me.  Now I’m finding virtually every week a video worth viewing.  I collect them, as you probably know by now, at my VIDEO FOR WRITERS site ;hosted by Vodpod.  I find a lot of material at YouTube, where I subscribe to numerous informative “channels.”

SoftCAT Plus:  Because I download and evaluate so much different software that might be useful to writers, I use this specialized software database to keep track of it all.

Gmail:  I rely on this web-based email client for most of my business-related correspondence because of its ability to keep communication threads together for easy reference.  It has the added power of working seamlessly with Thunderbird to give me a desktop email client that downloads me Gmail onto my own computers.  I use Yahoo for personal mail and its portal homepage, where I gather my news and sport scores.

AceMoney:  This program is invaluable in tracking my finances because of its particularly capable multi-currency features.

WHEW!  When I started this post, I had no idea I’d cover so much.  Looking back on it, I think I can now retire for the rest of the year.  What else is there to say?  I’ve shared all the best I’ve learned over the past two years.

But things always change.  New software arrives, old software falls behind.  I’m already evaluating hardware, software and web app’s that may displace this year’s favorites on next year’s list.  Follow this blog during the year to keep up with continuing discoveries.

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The Writer’s Technology Companion has gotten off to a soaring start. Drawing from his vast archive at the very successful Lifehack.org, his original, long-running blog, Dustin offers up a list of recommended apps, writer’s communities/blogs and a host of links to posts. Of course, to read it all, you have to follow the link from one blog to the other, a well-proven strategy of cross-fertilization.

If you are the type to notice such things, you’ll see that Lifehack, with its broad coverage of techniques to forge a rich life, has a subscribed readership of over 50,000 regular readers. To illustrate the power of such readership, my blog has just experienced a major spike in the number of visitors today, rising from the usual 200-300 to almost 600, clearly a result of the link back here that Dustin included in his major post there [thanks, Dustin -- by the way, my poor little server went down from the surge!]. So, now in a return of the favor, surge on over to both of Dustin’s blogs, starting with The Writer’s Technology Companion, which you will definitely want to bookmark of subscribe to, and then on to Lifehack, which will probably appeal to you too.

I recommend the following for writers:

WORD PROCESSOR

OpenOffice — a full-fledged office suite, comparable to Microsoft Word except in price.
IBM Lotus Symphony — a “beautified” version of OpenOffice
NeoOffice — an OpenOffice version for Mac users
AbiWord — a powerful, free, stand-alone word processor

ONLINE WORD PROCESSORS

Adobe Buzzword — a new entry, worth a look
Google Docs — particularly useful for online collaboration
Zoho — a full array of applications, including a word processor that can be utilized in desktop form as well.

OTHER WRITER TOOLS

KompoZer — a powerful website creato-manager which some compare to expensive Dreamweaver or FrontPage [I've only recently discovered this myself and will testing it over the coming month]
Scribus — a free desktop publishing application, rather like PageMaker

OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY

EssentialPIM Free — my choice among all. Except an updated review on the blog sometime in the spring.

BACKUP SYNC

MozyHome Free — a most convenient option for writers

UTILITIES

Eraser — securely erase files from your computer
FileZilla — particularly useful for bloggers who need to upload photos [very useful in conjuction with WordPress]

INTERFACE ENHANCEMENT

Google Desktop — index all files on your computer to facilitate a search for your data

BLOGGING

Blogger – the easiest to use blogger platform, favored by many writers
WordPress — more powerful tool with free internet space, easier to upgrade to more professional WordPress version

READERS

Adobe Reader — find this under Hall of Fame category
Foxit — reads PDF files – allows annotations, a useful tool for writers [see under File View]
Google Reader — my choice of RSS feed readers; I rely on it heavily to monitor sources for this blog
Bloglines — new beta version RSS reader [see feature box in PC Mag article]

AUDIO

[Both of these are in the opening Hall of Fame section. Together, they make an excellent team for recording telephone interviews.]

Audacity — record anything playing through your computer soundcard, including Skype calls
Skype — internet telephone

BROWSER ADD-ONS

Zotero — handy tool for cataloging bibliographic on- and off-line sources [requires Firefox Browser]

From this list, a writer can assemble a fully functional computer geared to a writer’s specific needs, all without spending a penny. That’s rather amazing, and certainly reassuring to young writers just coming onstream.

WHAT’S MISSING

PC Magazine’s list, however, leaves out a lot of other helpful software, some of which we’ve already covered here, others in a list of to-cover reviews. Check the categories over in the right sidebar, where you’ll find software tools of all sorts. And keep your eye open for upcoming coverage.

He endorses TXT especially, for drafts — and RTF when some formatting is essential to meaning.  Even if you use Word, you can easily save your documents in these durable formats that can so easily be passed around from computer to computer.  It’s a good habit to get into.

For Jeremy’s full discourse, go to his blog discover fire.  Read the comments too, as I suspect he’ll answer there my questions about his preferred writing software, which will be interesting to read.

By the way, it was Michael Downend who first notified me about Jeremy’s post, a sign that we are beginning to build a writer’s community here, with communications going on behind the scenes, as well as in the comments sections of our posts.  Join in — the more the merrier.

Technorati Tags: word processing formats

In my search for a recorder, I discovered that Olympus nearly rules the market, with an array of models with different features at different price points. Almost anyone can find a suitable recorder for his or her favorite writer, a gift certain to be appreciated. They are easy to find: I bought mine at Radio Shack.

I have relied on my Olympus — model VN3100PC, by the way — on many occasions: an interview a couple of weeks ago, quick observations as I moved from place to place during a rapid travel tour, longer and more thoughtful cmmentary late at night when I was too tired to write.

I recommend purchase also of a small cell phone case, perhaps with room for spare batteries and an eyelet of some sort that will accept a clasp [I'll explain why in my next Gifts post].

CHECK THE TABLE OF CONTENTS: In the right sidebar, the Table of Contents lays out in logical fashion just what topics are covered by this blog. Each line also contains the number of posts for that topic. Just click to view those selected posts. This is the easiest way to catch up with past posts that might be of interest.

LOOK INTO THE ARCHIVES TAB: One of the tabs along the top, this page lists the titles of the past 100 posts — another quick way to review and find past posts that may be useful to you.

CLICK ON THE ONLINE WRITER’S OFFICE: This may be the most powerful and useful element of my blog’s work. A click will take you to my PageCast at PageFlakes. One of the tabs there gathers an annotated list of the blog’s most recent 10 posts, Even more important, you’ll find my Best of the Web citations from my Google Reader Shared Items page, where I gather links to the best posts I’ve found among the 100+ blogs and websites I monitor. On another tab, you will discover an online office, with a gateway to Zoho Writer, a dictionary, calculator and other valuable tools. Yet another tab gathers lists of recent posts at many of the very best productivity blogs and websites, with information that goes beyond writing into general productivity advice, software reviews and such. There’s even a gateway to the best podcasts by and for writers — just turn up your speaker and click your choice. It’s worth “going to The Office” several times a week.

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES: Rather than simply provide a cluttered list of websites, I place my recommendations in a series of pages that categorize the sites and provide brief descriptions. I add to this list continually. You can view it as your annotated bookmarks for writing-related sites.

SOFTWARE: While there are many posts relating to software, this tab pulls together the most important software reviews. This list is updated periodically.

BOOKS: This tab presents reviews of carefully selected books. Rather than inundate you will countless books, I try to steer you to the very best on selected topics.

SO… Please enjoy this blog and all that it has to offer. I encourage feedback and comments so that the blog will tap into a broadest possible range of expertise and insight. NOTE that it’s necessary to click on the post’s title or “Comments” link at the bottom of an individual post to read what others are saying. Moreover, if the commenter’s name is underlined, you can click on the name to go directly to the commenters blog/website, a great way to find other useful sites.

Tom

HTML, the major file format for the internet, attempts to accomplish an even larger task:  transfer of a text document from computer to computer, including both PC’s and MAC’s, via the World Wide Web.  It’s an immensely complicated task, a marvel that it works at all.

Many, if not most writers have no idea just what’s involved.  But the well-equipped writer must understand at least the general workings of HTML.

The problem to overcome is clear enough.  There are PC’s, MAC’s and even Linus operating systems.  And they all speak very different languages.  Moreover, no two computers are completely identical.  Some computers, for example, have the typeface Ariel readily available; others don’t.  On top of it all, computers talk with the internet via BROWSERS, the major ones being Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, the open-source favorite Firefox, the upstart Opera and the MAC’s favorite, Safari — and many others.  Each browser has its own way of doing things.

HTML attempts to make documents viewable in a predictable form across the vast range of hardware and software options.

The result isn’t necessarily what we would expect.  Take this blog, for instance.  In the last week, reader feedback prompted me to take a look at how Becoming A Writer Seriously actually looks from computer to computer, from browser to browser, from operating system to operating system.  I was amazed at the differences I discovered.  I went from computer to computer, calling up the blog in one browser, then another. Even within a single computer, I checked how the blog looked at different screen settings, the 600 x 800 setting preferred by us old-timers with challenged vision, as well as the more expansive setting preferred by game players and graphics nuts.  The differences were startling.  Different typefaces showed up, in headlines as well as in text.  Text size varied dramatically.  The blog’s entries and the sidebar showed up quite differently.

But what was most amazing was the fact that the underlying format of HTML was functioning in all of these different settings.  The more deeply you become involved in writing, the more important it is to understand how this all works.

Unlike RTF, for instance, HTML calls up not a single typeface, but suggests a series which each computer can choose from, depending on what’s installed on the computer.  Moreover, headlines are not individually set.  Instead of calling for 18 point Times Roman, HTML will preset in a style sheet a series of headline styles, labelled from <h1> down through <h5> or so.  Even type size is determined differently, referring more often to the percentage of size, say 80 percent or 110 percent of a designated headline style.  Yes, it’s confusing at first, but once one gets the basic idea, it all falls into place.

As a very fundamental introduction, here’s a video that takes you through the most basic of HTML, where one writes some code to specify type style and size.  ”Code” — a mysterious word.  Code is simply instruction, invisible to viewers unless they specifically call it up, to each computer about what fonts to use, what size, what spacing, all the ingredient to a page’s design and appearance.  The video shows you an example or writing simple code to set a headline and some body text.

The main trick to notice is that each operation is turned on by a piece of code [enclosed by carrot marks] and turned off, using the slash mark, which denotes end of operation.  With that understanding in mind, even someone fairly new to HTML can spot the operational “packages,” that is the code directions and the content that is in-between.

In the case of my own blog, last week I was asked to take a look at increasing type size.  Now I don’t know a lot about HTML or its offshoots CSS and PHP.  But equipped with the knowledge outlined above and some hints from a computer manual, I was able to get under the hood and make some adjustments, which made dramatic changes in the blog’s appearance. 

Having that basic understanding can be very, very helpful indeed.  So, as a writer, don’t run away from discourse about HTML.  Take a look and try to enlarge your understanding about how it works.

BLOGGER’S NOTE: I’ve been holding back a post about one of my most important writing tools, which has been sitting in draft form until a lull in posts would call it forward. Now that I’ve recovered from an illness that wiped me out for a few days, I’ve called up the draft to make important additions and alterations leading to this post.

I rely on note organizers and outlining programs to help me pull information together. For my introduction to such programs, you may wish to read my post Better Than A Shoebox, which explains the usefulness of these programs and the differences between single- and double-pane note organizers.

My favorite program of the lot is KeyNote, a powerful, yet free double-pane note organizer, certainly one of my top five writing tools. To unclutter my desktop and to facilitate program startup, I’ve placed the KeyNote icon into a desktop folder of Writing Tools. There are other, more elegant ways to accomplish this task, but it is so easy just to create desktop folders and to drag icons into appropriate folders.

Virtually everything you need to know about KeyNote is visible in the screenshot. Let’s study it carefully.

First, notice the outline tree on the left, the note on the right. The outline tree can dig down as many levels as you need, without the four-level limitation of some other outliners such as StoryView. Title lines in the outline – KeyNote calls them “nodes” – can be moved around at will, carrying with them everything under them.

The notes can be assigned different color backgrounds. Text within the note is fully configurable. Pictures and “objects” can be inserted within the text. Notes can be as long as necessary. Word and character count of each note appears at the bottom left, immediately changing as words are added and deleted. KeyNote offers an internal spell checker. Foreign text characters can be inserted from a special table. Notes within an outline can be merged to form a single document. One can insert bookmarks within notes to facilitate jumping around instantly. Notes can be exported as Rich Text Files, readable in almost every Windows word processor.

Providing even greater muscle, multiple outlines can be open via tabs running across the top of the content screen. In the screenshot above, you will discover SIX separate outlines relating to the content of this blog, including one titled TO DO itemizing additional steps and ideas that come to mind as I’ve been writing over the months.

Increasing the usefulness of the program, the outline panel in fact can be hidden so that KeyNote functions as a straight-forward RTF word processor. [For more, read my post about the virtues of the Rich Text Format.] Toggle the outline panel on and off with a click of the F11 key. In this mode, KeyNote offers sufficient power that it can serve as a writer’s word processor of choice for documents not requiring advanced formatting, such as headers/footers, footnotes, columns, or tables.

For me, KeyNote’s backup facilities make the program even more attractive. Readers of this blog will remember my emphasis on backing up one’s work. I’ve even written about my personal strategy, which involves as a critical step creating special folders for back up, prefixing the title with a numeral to force the folders to the top of the computer’s organizational structure. KeyNote works admirably into this schema, allowing the user to specify the destination of KeyNote’s own backups. And, astronishingly, KeyNote allows up to nine incremental backups, allowing one to “roll back” to an earlier version of specific files. I, of course, then take the additional steps of backing the backup folders onto external media [USB memory stick or a USB external hard drive, for example] and even upload it automatically to my online Mozy account.

KeyNote has been around for quite awhile, but it is often overlooked, especially by new writers. It is free, open-source software, developed by Marek Jedlinski, a self-trained Polish programmer. What few people realize is that Jedlinski’s professional training is in translation and American Literature. He’s a writer! No wonder that the program seems so responsive in the hands of another writer. Moreover, Jedlinski has been a teacher of American literature in the Department of American Literature and Culture at the University of Lodz. He also works as a free-lance translator, with a specialization in translation and testing of localized versions of major software, including Corel WordPerfect, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Encarta Interactive English Learning. He also translates novels, short stories, film scripts and other materials into Polish and serves as translator to several Polish literary magazines.

While Jedlinski spent years developing KeyNote, he stopped working on it in 2003. It has not been upgraded since. Many in the computer world have consequently forgotten about or turned away from KeyNote. For me, the program remains so powerful and so useful that I still call it my “workhorse.” There’s not a day that I don’t use it.

Fortunately, Jedlinski has not taken down his software website, though it too hasn’t been updated for several years. For more information, read the KeyNote homepage and be sure to click the Features and Screenshots links along the top, which will illustrate more functions within the program. These comments refer to the last update version 1.6.5. Disregard the comments about a forthcoming version 2.0.

A click on the Download link, takes you to the download page, where you will find yet another link to the download within the developer’s site. [If Jedlinski ever does take down his site, the download will likely be available at SoundForge.]

Once you’ve completed the download, I suggest you check the Add-ons Page; the link is on the Download page. Here you will wish to download the Help Files in Adobe Acrobat PDT format, as a reference. Also available for download are some sample KeyNote files, which the program itself can open. Several are very helpful, including the kn_helpknt, kn_handbook and keynote_faq zip files, which provide additional information about the program.

The Screenplay Template is definitely worth study. Open it in KeyNote and read the notes within the outline on the left AND in each of the tabs along the top. I find the kn_pim, kn_inventory and kn_adbk files less interesting, but worth a look anyway.

A 5-minute video on YouTube tells you everything you need to know in the clearest and simplest of terms. And it’s entertaining as well, fun to watch even by those already familiar with RSS. I strongly recommend that you check it out. [You can also check out other informative videos by the same producers -- just look on the right side of the YouTube page.]

If you do not already have a Reader installed on your computer, I strongly recommend Google Reader. Just last week, it graduated from Google Labs as a full-scale application. It’s free.

Once it’s installed, then test it out by subscribing to the RSS feed of Becoming A Writer Seriously. You will recognize, after viewing the video, the RSS link to click over on the right hand column.

For what it’s worth, you may be interested to learn that word about this blog is beginning to spread. Over the past two weeks alone, RSS subscriptions have jumped by 50 percent. We are now averaging over 150 unique visitors a day and over 1000 unique visitors a month; and there are over 60 RSS feed subscribers. That’s good incentive to keep me at work searching out tools and trade secrets for writers that many of you might not uncover on your own.

The program is built around Notebooks, Folders and Pages. The easiest way to understand this structure is to look at it.

The panel at the top left lists all of the Notebooks within PageFour. The screen above shows the contents of the “Arms Around The World” Notebook, with an expanded view of folders, which can be nested in a collapsible hierarchy, and the pages within the folder. The term “pages” is a bit misleading at first, as they can contain a full, multi-page document. In the case above, the writer is writing his chapter about a British blockade in segments, each occupying a page.

PageFour allows up to nine pages to be open at a time, each instantly accessible via tabs, which can be positioned at either the top or bottom [see screenshot below] of the screen. These additional pages can contain additional sections of a chapter, reference notes regarding story characters, bibliographical notes, a chapter outline, a list of to-do tasks. Tabbed pages can come from multiple folders.

Among the more remarkable aspects of this program are several modes of saving one’s work. Open pages are saved at user-defined intervals. Many writers will especially appreciate the ability to “archive” the notebooks, keeping up to 30 copies of the file as it develops over time. One can easily go back to an earlier version if a novel, for instance, has gone off-track. One can even save individual pages as “snapshots,” which are saved to a clipboard, if one wishes to discard revisions to return to the original copy.

PageFour, as a default, saves its files in a rather obscure place. One must use Windows Explorer, or a similar program, to drill down through several layers of the “Documents and Settings” folder to find the files. Fortunately, the program allows for files to be placed in a user-defined location. As you will guess, if you’ve read earlier posts, I recommend that PageFour files be saved in a PageFour folder within a 1-BackUp folder [the numeral forces the folder to the top of Windows Explorer], along with other files essential to back up on a regular basis.

PageFour provides a set of very helpful tools for writers. The program contains a spell-checker and thesaurus. One can quickly get a word count of individual pages. Once active, the word counter automatically displays the word count as one tabs through the open pages. There is, however, no way to quickly get a word count for all pages within a folder at a single glance; it takes an effort to track chapter-by-chapter word counts for a larger work [NOTE: this has been addressed in version 1.60, released in May 2007]. Unusual and very helpful customizable tools allow scans of individual pages for repetition of words and of phrases. One can add common words like “the” and “of” to an “ignore” list.

Extremely helpful to prolific writers is the ability to keep lots of projects immediately available in a single place. Short, on-going articles can be easily kept in a single folder, each occupying a separate page. One can compile notes for research trips and ideas for one’s blogs or websites. PageFour, however, does not offer true outlining capabilities. Hierarchical folders do help to organize material, but one cannot create collapsible outlines. Avid outliners can work around this limitation by creating a non-collapsible outline as a page, which will be immediately available as a tab for reference when writing.

Other useful features include search-and-replace, support for selected foreign language character short-cuts and password protection.

PageFour maintains its files in Rich Text Format, or RTF, the format which I think should be preferred by writers [for explanation, see this post]. Each notebook, folder and page is saved as a separate entity, rather than pulling an entire major work into a single file. Beginning in version 1.60, pages can be easily merged for printing out an entire manuscript for hard-copy submission.

The program can be used for free, with limitations: three notebooks with up to 20 pages in each. Prolific writers can buy the program, with access to unlimited notebooks and pages, for only $29.95 — that’s a bargain in my book. The latest version — 1.60 — was released at the very end of May.

At the software homepage, one can find the PageFour Blog. I recommend that users subscribe to an RSS Feed, if one knows how to manage that.

PageFour can be downloaded at the Software For Writing homepage.