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On a surprising number of mornings I walk into my office and start writing in my Celtx.

On a surprising number of afternoons, my clients apparently don’t realize I’m a fraud.

I owe at least some of the credit to Celtx, the open-source (largely free) screenwriting software that makes writing my documentary format scripts so easy, I can actually focus on the writing (given my skill level, focus is critical).

Celtx is free, and pretty damn nice.

I [heart] Celtx

Celtx isn’t the sleekest piece of software ever produced, but it pretty clearly is the Swiss Army Knife of the scriptwriting world.

You can write movie, TV, A/V, radio and theater scripts on the thing (it does graphic novels too, though there’s little point in using it for novel writing), and you can keep your script on track using its virtual index cards and notes.

It’s largely free (I feel guilty about that, so I’ve twice bought the $14 version with the extra features I don’t use), and yes, it’s available on Linux, Mac and Windoze.

All of which impressed me — before I heard they were on the verge of rolling out a long list of improvements (some of which gave me a warm, tingly feeling):

• A new free cloud service that syncs your projects
• Updates to their iPhone/iPad apps
• A soon-to-be-released Android app
• Sync across all mobile apps
• Updated desktop app
• Other things I’m too lazy to type

The Rare Rave

I don’t often rave about software, and Celtx certainly has its faults (a sometimes chunky interface being chief among them).

But I remain amazed by its power and how easy it makes my job. As someone who paid real money for basically every word processor that was built in the 80s, free and powerful are an interesting duo.

(Gossipy aside: I’m equally amazed by the willingness of “professionals” to whine about the $20 or $50 price tag on a truly stunning piece of software, which recently happened after I suggested a screenwriting wannabe buy FadeIn Professional to write his next script, which he hoped to sell for hundreds of thousands.)

I have few illusions about my video scripting prowess, but I have been around long enough to know that when you’re working at the edge of your comfort zone, a little help is never a bad thing.

That’s why I’m taking a minute to support an open source software package (a largely free one) that makes my job a lot easier.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

• iPad use is heaviest in bed
• Reading is the #1 usage of iPads
• Only 1/3 of the respondents use their iPads at work

Sixty-eight percent of 889 respondents said they or their families regularly use tablets in their bedroom — more than any other location. Using tablets in the “living room while doing other things” is a close second, at 63%. Just over half of respondents said they use their tablets in the living room without other distractions.

Tablets’ popularity in the bedroom may be because reading is so popular on tablet devices. Sixty-one percent said they preferred to read e-books, newspapers and magazines on a tablet rather than computers or smartphones. That’s the biggest preference for any activity.

Overall, tablets are most often used at home. Only 45% reported using the devices on-the-go, and about one-third of respondents said they use them at work.

One benefit of reading ebooks on a tablet is that it frees you from entrapment into one any ebook seller’s closed, proprietary universe. I’ve purchased ebooks from Barnes & Noble, Google and (barely) Amazon, and I can read all three — plus all the freebies and scripts I stumble across on the Internet — on my tablet, something that can’t be said about a Kindle Fire (Amazon is apparently blocking apps from competing booksellers).

I also understand the portability issue; a 10-inch tablet is a nice size for watching movies, but it’s just ever-so-slightly too big to carry around in public (or the office) while still looking cool.

In fact, in a Bold Prediction, I think we’ll eventually see a healthy market for 7″ tablets, especially among business users, who will find them more useful than a smartphone for most tasks…

Keep reading, Tom Chandler.

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“I think I’ll choose happiness.”

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

Relax. You’re among a large crowd of (slightly confused) friends.

You’re experiencing iPhone Fragmail Syndrome.

(click image to buy this wonderful card)

Hand a client a smartphone and the anytime/anywhere road warrior attitude that goes with it, and while they’re clearing their inbox and giving themselves high fives for efficiency, you’re trying to piece together an actionable answer from ambiguous, incomplete, typo-obscured emails.

Fragmails.

I recently asked a client for feedback on an ad concept.

“like, but hiher” was the “Sent from my iPhone” response.

Uhh, OK.

I asked another to approve their company bio, which I included in the body of the email.

“Add more xtensve and delete enterprise” came back.

Yeah. I’ll get right on that (the word “enterprise” wasn’t in the bio).

I know it’s a shocking concept, but detailed answers sometimes demand emails with upwards of a dozen words, which your average smartphone user thinks is at least six too many.

Some also don’t seem to be reading the original emails very closely, at least those who answer my three neatly bulleted questions with a single, unformed answer.

Welcome, my fellow freelancers, to a bold new age of instant communication.

Unfortunately, it’s as incoherent as it is speedy.

And we haven’t even touched on the concept of autocorrect, which can turn an email into a sexual harassment suit faster than you can say Damn You Autocorrect.

There is no known cure for iPhone Fragmail Syndrome. In fact, most of the perpetrators seem awfully proud of themselves, and therein lies the problem; “Sent from my iPhone” is not only a branding statement that would make PT Barnum smile, it’s also a considered a Get Out of Jail Free card for what came before it, which just might be incomprehensible.

Since I’ve yet to convince anyone to write an answer in longhand and then send me an iPhotograph of it (this works on a surprising number of levels), I’m simply going to turn lemons into a fizzy lemon beverage; I’m adding the title of “Puzzlemaster” to my LinkedIn profile and powerful cryptology software to my PC.

Kep Writg, Tom Chandler.

Client contact is a lot harder and the lack of services sometimes rankles, but there are compensations:

Keep writing (when you’re not looking out the window), Tom Chandler

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Click here to view the embedded video.

We’re seeing an explosion in video, and little surprise; many of the technical (and affordability) hurdles have fallen, and what’s left is the usual “Great ideas and hard work” stuff that writers have always faced.

It’s not a bad time to be a videomaker…

Keep writing (and filming), Tom Chandler.

After my daughter appropriated the iPad I’d originally bought for work purposes, I craftily acquired an Android Tablet. I wanted to know what all the noise was about — and see if tablets would prove useful in my writing life.

So far, my answer is “not very.”

My 10″ Toshiba Thrive tablet (slightly bigger than an iPad, but comes with HDMI and USB ports) is handy for checking emails and surfing, but it hasn’t yet proven useful for presentations, and it definitely hasn’t become a preferred writing tool.

Or even a particularly useful one.

In fact, when I stumble across a post or email demanding a lengthy reply, I’ll usually “share” it with myself, figuring I’ll deal with it when I’ve got a keyboard.

And therein lies the problem.

For writers, you can’t beat a good keyboard, a reality uber Sci-Fi writer Charlie Stross cops to in this post:

The iPad is primarily targeted as a media consumption device. Yes, I get that. Apple are focusing on speech (via Siri) as a next-generation tool for conversational interaction with iOS devices. I get that, too. But if iOS is going to reach its true potential as the next generation of general computing, then among other things, it needs a vastly better text input system. The current one is so poor that I’m not writing this blog entry using it. That’s a warning sign. It ought to be a no-brainer that the iPad (or an equivalent 10″ touchscreen tablet running Android) should be usable by a writer. It has a brilliant battery life by laptop standards, weighs two-thirds as much as Apple’s lightest Macbook Air, and has a range of text editors and word processing apps available. So why am I not using it?

He’s not using it for the same reason I’m not writing this post on my tablet.

It’s painful to do so.

Your Fingers Do The Talking

Writers use keyboards, and the out-of-the-box touchscreen keyboards on iPad and Android tablets are awful.

In fact, the included keyboards don’t even offer cursor keys. And moving by words, sentences or paragraphs isn’t part of the standard text editor.

After you’ve tried to edit out that six-words-ago typo using your finger, you too will curse those who thought cursor keys were optional.

Fortunately, my Android tablet made installing a cursor-equipped touchscreen keyboard relatively easy (I don’t think iPad users are similarly blessed), and that improved things a lot.

It just wasn’t enough.

I even applied the Coffeehouse Test, where I ask myself what I’d take to the local caffeine joint if I needed to write catalog copy.

My Starling (Linux) Netbook

• Reasonable keyboard
• Light and portable
• I can happily write on the thing for hours
• Runs the powerful editors I love (Emacs, Komodo Edit, Sublime Text)
• Productive mutli-tasking environment

My Tablet

• Has a terrible keyboard
• Is hard to read it on a flat surface (like a table)
• Supports only simple editors
• Best at doing one thing at a time

Simply adding a bluetooth keyboard to the tablet might solve some of the issues, but now you’ve got two pieces of gear that serve the same function as one netbook.

It’s not exactly a big win for the tablet.

Stop Talking

Some point to speech-to-text input as the Next Big Thing in writing technology, but frankly, it won’t wash.

First, go to that coffeehouse and try to get some work done.

After you’ve been thrown out, pick yourself off the sidewalk, go home, and use that speecgh tool to enter information into a note while you’re talking on the phone.

Finally, dictating an email isn’t horrible.

But I’ve tried dictating copy, and it’s a mess.

The same is true of handwriting recognition, which is slower than typing by an order of magnitude.

The Silver Lining Is The Cloud

With the ability to replace keyboards, a built-in file browser and other goodies, I’m a lot happier with my Android tablet than I was with the iPad2 (which my three year-old pretty has converted into a dedicated Dora the Explorer device).

And despite my reservations about the thing, I like it — and recognize the need to occasionally edit or even create a short document on my tablet or smartphone.

Which is why I made all my files available on all my machines using the Ubuntu One file sharing service. (It’s built right into Ubuntu Linux, and apps are available for Android devices; Dropbox serves the same function for those still stuck on Windoze).

Because I write 90% of my work using text editors — which utilize simple text file formats — file compatibility isn’t an issue.

Screenwriters using tools like Celtx and FadeIn can use apps to edit their work right on their smartphone or tablet, and while I haven’t played with it, some people are logging into their desktop machines from their tablets.

(Working on the smartphone or tablet is typically more about guilt abatement than raw productivity, but we all make accommodations with our neuroses.)

I’m not condemning tablets; I’m suggesting they’re not much of a productivity booster for writers, at least not compared to a netbook or the new wave of “ultrabooks.”

They do fill a niche, and writers will eventually come to grips with tablet productivity. Using the cloud, basic text formats and the right apps, I’m finding a way, though not a wildly productive one.

In other words, I’m not selling my netbook.

Keep writing (one whatever tool you choose), Tom Chandler.