Pretty much probably the lamest question ever

Petroglyph · Feb 17, 2007

Soooo I work at the hospital on occasion and if no one is in labor I have a large chunk of time to work on my masterpiece. I have, in the past, trucked my laptop along, but I find that the presence of my computer jinxes the entire hospital and every pregnant woman in the greater metropolis, because all of their waters break at once and I am too busy to fire up ol' faithful. Plus things get stolen at hospitals and, while I would love to buy a new computer, I should probably be budget concious.

I am hesitant to haul a disk back and forth, because the computers at the hospital seem to have no disk drive. They may, but I may be too lame to identify such a thing.

I could use pen and paper, but I really like typing as I write.

Is there some type of online thing where I could type my novel, save it, and then copy and paste it into a Word doc? I am considering just sending myself emails, but I wondered if there is something, umm, better than that.

I hope my question makes sense. Thanks for any thoughts you have.

Chumplet · Feb 17, 2007

I'm wondering if you have a web-based email account, like hotmail and such. If I log onto my Rogers account through the web, I can email something to myself and copy and paste when I get home. Just a thought.

Sage · Feb 17, 2007

What about a flashdrive? (also called a thumb drive, I think) Most computers have USB ports nowadays, & it works just like a disk.

E-mailing is what I do when I don't have a flashdrive handy or to backup a novel one more way, but I'm sure there's a document version of photobucket somewhere (& if not, there should be).

alleycat · Feb 17, 2007

There are such places online. I've never used them so I can't provide a link offhand.

AnnieColleen · Feb 17, 2007

http://docs.google.com

I've started using it recently, to work on stories during my lunch hour and such. It's working pretty well. There are some formatting quirks between GoogleDocs and Word (I prefer typing in Word & copying/uploading to GoogleDocs), but those are minor.

My novel's not up to 50K yet

, but I would think it'd be pretty easy to split a larger file into two documents. Both would still be easily accesible from the site.

scarletpeaches · Feb 17, 2007

I'm thinking of learning shorthand. You get to write as fast as you type, and if someone looks over your shoulder and can't read it, you can claim it's to do with work.

MicheleLee · Feb 17, 2007

If you have internet capabilities at work I suggest typing and emailing it to yourself. I used to do that when in college. I'd type/write on my school account and send it to myself. There might also be an option of a private blog, just by you for you, if email is a no no. However, my husband works at a hospital and he strongly cautions you to use pen and paper because most hospitals in this area have a policy that if you use their computers for anything other than their work you're automatically fired. And, I also know his hospital DOES spy on their employees because, er, honestly he is one of the reasons why they made that policy. Not that what he was doing interfeed with his work, just that they don't pay you to do anything not related to them. They're real strict about that.

Tallymark · Feb 17, 2007

midwife said:
I am hesitant to haul a disk back and forth, because the computers at the hospital seem to have no disk drive. They may, but I may be too lame to identify such a thing.

You should get a flash drive--most new computers don't have disk drives anymore, because people use flash drives (or cds, but you don't wanna have to deal with that). Like Sage said, the hospital computers ought to have a USB port (unless they're all occupied at the time with other stuff); it may even have a front-loading USB port for convenience. They're great; they're small and fit in your pocket, some even have a keychain attachment. They're priced according to how much file space you want on it; for text documents, you probably don't need too much.

With a flash drive, you don't have to bother with sending, uploading, being caught using the internet when you shouldn't be, etc.; you just save it to your drive, pop it out, take it home. Also, the nice thing about a flash drive is that it doubles both as a way to work away from home, and as a place to backup your work.

ColoradoGuy · Feb 17, 2007

I have the same issues you do. I use Network Solutions web mail, and they have a storage place to put things on their server, then access them later from somewhere else. You can work on them and then restore it. You do need to have appropriate software resident on the computer you're using to read the thing, though.

It also makes me feel more secure to have copies of my files stored somewhere else.

PeeDee · Feb 17, 2007

I use Google Documents.

Or, I just have a print off of the page whre I left off in my back pocket. I write and print without saving until I'm done wirting, and then type it in when I get home.

Google Documents works wonderfully, though. When Carrie and I collaberate, we do so very comfortably through there.

Vanatru · Feb 17, 2007

Google Docs is very sweet. I used to carry jump drives, but it was kinda difficult at times and not always workable(specially with these old russian computers).....but I've been able to access GD from all over.

kdnxdr · Feb 17, 2007

If you use hotmail you can use microsoft to create yourself a new Word document. Write whatever you want and then email that document to yourself.

Jamesaritchie · Feb 17, 2007

Google

I use the Google service, as well. Works great, but the 500kb limitation can be a problem, and Imelda has it right. Right now I have a 50,000 word YA novel sitting on there, and it came in at 447kb.

It's still a wonderful site, and when you get home you can download the work to your own computer, and break a long novel into two or three files on the site, so I can see writing anything using this.

PeeDee · Feb 17, 2007

Google's faster and smoother (at least, for me) than Yahoo! Briefcase, or the Hotmail ability to create Word documents (which have, in the past, come out corrupted for me.)

And I like the way Google has collaberation set up.

That said, I'd recommend trying to get used to handwriting. It can have uses beyond being able to write in ten spare minutes while at work.

Petroglyph · Feb 17, 2007

Thanks for all the tips and advice. I think I will look into that Google doc thing. Flash drives are way outside my sphere of computer knowledge, but maybe I can pick my husband's brain. He is useful that way.

Michelle, thanks for the heads' up. I am not a hospital employee, so I think I am pretty safe. I can eat, sleep, read, whatever as long as my ladies don't need me. But it is always a good thing to keep in mind.

Ahh, PeeDee, my handwriting degrades yearly. It's all those docs in my life.

Thanks again to all. The resources are amazing.

Neeli · Feb 17, 2007

Won't people mind you tying up a work computer for your own work? I know this was a BIG no-no in most of the hospitals where I worked. I'd really recommend getting to like the paper and pen thing. It's so portable and cheap!

PeeDee · Feb 17, 2007

Sorry, Midwife, that wasn't even CLOSE to being the lamest question ever...

Petroglyph · Feb 17, 2007

Neeli said:
Won't people mind you tying up a work computer for your own work? I know this was a BIG no-no in most of the hospitals where I worked. I'd really recommend getting to like the paper and pen thing. It's so portable and cheap!

Nah. I have access to four computers that no one else has reason to use most of the time I am there. I will be in no one's way.

Ok, PeeDee, now I will have to think of even a lamer question.

PeeDee · Feb 17, 2007

midwife said:
Ok, PeeDee, now I will have to think of even a lamer question.

Here you go.

*ahem*

"Does any1 else liek fiction novels here 2???"

There you are.

Prawn · Feb 17, 2007

I saw a post here a while ago about a person who had a palm pilot with a fullsized foldable keyboard. THey had something that fit in their pocket that they could write a novel on.

THat is probably a couple of hundred bucks. I have a Moto Q smart phone, and I wouldn't want to write a novel on it, but just tonight I wrote a few paragraphs on it while we were at the store and I had an idea hit me. It has a 1 gig SANDISK, so I could probably write the whole library of congress on it if I had an infinite number of monkeys.

Thumbdrives are cheap, if your computer has a USB. I bought a 1 GIG thumbdrive for 6 bucks on EBAY last month. Just search for thumbdrive or flashdrive.

Sage · Feb 17, 2007

midwife said:
Flash drives are way outside my sphere of computer knowledge, but maybe I can pick my husband's brain. He is useful that way.

If you like floppy disks, you'll like flash drives. They are amazingly easy to use. I've only started using them within the past year--got one for work & a free Staples promo one a friend gave to me for my novels--& I've found them so much easier for transfering data than anything else I've ever used. You just drag a file or save directly into it, & it's compact enough to transport pretty much anywhere. Before I lost the cap, I carried mine in the side pocket of my work jeans just in case I got a chance to work on my WIP during my job (now it's a little bulkier with the case I bought to keep it safe without the cap, but it still takes up very little space in my backpack).

The only problem I personally have is that every time I stick any USB plug into the port, Musicmatch pops up onto my laptop, which is annoying. (And if anybody happens to know how I can get it to stop doing that without removing the program completely, I'll take suggestions

)

maestrowork · Feb 17, 2007

Flash memory fits in your wallet. Jump drives fit on your keychain. And Google Mail (2GB storage) is good, if you have Internet access at your location. For backups, use multiple methods including external drives, CDs, DVDs, jump drives and online storage.

PeeDee · Feb 17, 2007

For backup, I tend to have stuff all over. I send stories to myself in my e-mail, I put them on my iPod and my SLVR cell phone, and print 'em off sometimes, and usually I send them to someone or another to read....

The redundancy is wonderful.

Sage · Feb 17, 2007

PeeDee said:
I put them on my iPod

You can put novels on your iPod?! :e2thud:

maestrowork · Feb 17, 2007

The iPod is yet another 30GB (or 60GB) hard drive. I put my files on my cell phone, too, which has an SD memory card.

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