Progress report

[feuervogel]

Yesterday I managed to get 12 words added before deciding that my afternoon would be better spent taking a nap on the couch. I didn't get nearly enough sleep over the weekend, and I needed to catch up.

Today, I got 308 words and figured out what to do with that misplaced scene I was stuck on last week, for a total of 84128 words with 43 days left to go. Azar only has 7 scenes left, then I go back to the beginning and do Hikaru's.

Then, hopefully, I'll have my 90k+ and be able to get it to a couple betas during July, while I work on the synopsis and outlining the first book (the one about the coup). Another project for after draft completion is to get a bootable USB thing set up for my netbook, which doesn't have enough HD space to download software updates. I have a 4GB USB key, and I'm not afraid to set up Ubuntu on it (though I'm not sure exactly how it works, either. Well, that's what the internet and how-tos are for.)

And thanks to a friend's themed party, I really want some of this. It tasted like fizzy lemon with just the hint of beer. Very dangerous, because it'd be easy to drink an entire 6-pack.

Comments

Ubuntu

[warmfuzzyfreudianslippers.com]

Are you looking to install Ubuntu with a USB, or run it from the USB? I carry around a 4GB USB with Ubuntu (and a 2GB USB with Puppy Linux) just in case I get stuck having to use a PC that isn't mine.

Re: Ubuntu

[feuervogel]

The latter :) I have a 4GB thumb drive (did I say that in the post?), and the netbook has 3 USB ports, so that'll work well. It currently has netbook-Ubuntu on it, but it's not happy.

Re: Ubuntu

[warmfuzzyfreudianslippers.com]

Is it really just a matter of clearing up space on your HD for the package files? Sure you could run Ubuntu from a USB with room to spare for updates on the drive, but you'll notice a performance difference.

Re: Ubuntu

[feuervogel]

My netbook only has a 4GB drive in it, and there's less than a GB free (I have no idea.) I don't use it very often. I don't think I've used it since I took it to Europe last spring (it's much lighter than my MacBook.) For what I do with it, which is surf the web while traveling, though I might use it to type up the synopsis while I'm stuck on Amtrak for 14-16 hours each way, performance isn't critical.

(It's an eeePC of a model they don't make anymore.)

Re: Ubuntu

[warmfuzzyfreudianslippers.com]

Ahh, so does it have its own proprietary version of Ubuntu on it? If so, I might just replace it, with the caveat that you'll probably have to do a bit of work afterward. A proprietary version is often customed to work with the machine's hardware. It shouldn't be too hard to google a solution to whatever problem you encounter, though.

My netbook is absolutely critical to my writing productivity. I carry it with me every day, everywhere, for about 3 years until only very recently. And that's only because I salvaged and resurrected a full-size laptop. I almost forgot what it was like to sit up straight while typing in a coffee shop. :)

Re: Ubuntu

[feuervogel]

No, I forget what it came with, but I hated it and wiped it for Ubuntu lite. It was An Experience, but I managed to make it work. Depending on whether I can get it working properly, I may have it with me at ReaderCon and just go "here, make it work." From what I gather, I can stick the USB drive into my Mac and install Ubuntu on it, then put it in the netbook, tell that to boot from external drive first, then do an fdisk on the netbook. No?

My MacBook is my writing computer, because it has Scrivener on it. I don't think I could go back to word processors! Maybe for a short story, but definitely not for a novel.

Re: Ubuntu

[warmfuzzyfreudianslippers.com]

Unfortunately, I have no clue how to "burn" an Ubuntu .iso onto a USB with a Mac. The first time I did it from a Windows computer, I used a 3rd party utility. But once I got it on there, I just had to boot from the USB and never had to do an fdisk. If I can help at Readercon, let me know. My USB will be in the go bag, like it always is. :)

If Scrivener for Linux ever comes out, I'm there. Rather, I'll try it at least. I've worked to make myself as OS-agnostic as possible when it comes to my writing. As long as a box can read and write .txt and .rtf files, I'm good to go.

Re: Ubuntu

[feuervogel]

Should I just leave the old OS on the netbook itself? There has to be an OSX utility to make an iso, and if not, there's a handy BSD command line.

I'm a Mac user, at least for my computing needs, so I don't mind being stuck with that for writing. Scrivener is compatible with the way my brain works, which isn't, strictly speaking, linear, so the ability to drag and drop a scene into an earlier or later section (and revise to fit continuity as needed) is wonderful. I tried that in a short story, and I ended up making a mess. Stupid OpenOffice.

Re: Ubuntu

[warmfuzzyfreudianslippers.com]

That's hard to say, not knowing the rest of your netbook's specs. From what I understand, though, Ubuntu Lite is kinda supposed to do what Puppy Linux does, like work on older systems (like, p3 old, which is why I have it). My netbook's a pretty "old" model by now, and I'm running Ubuntu 10.04. I don't quite remember if the install took much more than 3GB of space, if that (not including a swap file, but still, if you're using that much space anyway, it might be worth it to switch, and use that 4GB USB to store your files...?

When I used Windows, I used a program called PageFour, which was basically opened up groups of .rtf files as tabs. So I did all my brainstorming and drafting there, and would only use OpenOffice for formatting and polishing. Once I found out that Ubuntu's text editor did essentially the same thing, I never looked back. Granted, I don't know if I could write a novel that way, either. But then, I've always been a short story kinda guy. :)

Re: Ubuntu

[feuervogel]

I don't have any files stored on it, since I got it primarily to use for taking with me to do email while traveling (for pharmacy work, mostly, but that's dried up). Also, there's not even enough free memory to hibernate the stupid thing.

I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on it until I have this draft finished, which is going to be by 1 July. That'll give me a little time to figure it out before the almost-week-long trip to Boston (including 2 days of train each way).

[anthimeria]

May I make a silly writerly suggestion, from someone who loves her outlines?

Get someone to look the outline over for plot holes and flow. I didn't do this for the unicorn book and needed to write a new ending; I did this for Skywatch and was presented with new opening and penultimate scenes, which vastly improved the book before I ever started. It had never occured to me before to get someone to look over an outline, but it helped so much!

(As always for writerly advice, Your Milage May Vary.)

[feuervogel]

That's a good idea!

I'm still trying to work out how my process works best, and I can say that what I've done so far isn't very efficient, so I'm going to try something else and see if I like it better. Writing the novel three times isn't very efficient.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

your productivity - I have envy

[feuervogel]

I have no job -_- I have 8 hours a day in which I can play Farmville faff about on twitter write.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

: )

I may never find out if I would actually manage to be productive if I was in that spot. Considering I will need to be working for the next few decades - not consultant or self-employed- I don't want to find out.

[feuervogel]

Luckily enough for me, Ben's job keeps a roof over our heads. I'd like to get some work now and then, but there's nothing in the area for temp pharmacists. Or full-time, for that matter.