The first step

It is time to begin the creative journey. What you may not realise is that you have already been travelling for some time. This journey isn’t a new journey. But it may be a change in direction. It may involve a change in what you’re carrying. It may mean you need to change your perspective.

The next step will be different from before. It will have direction, it will have purpose and it will lead you somewhere. The exact destination may not be known yet, but it will be realised.

Come, take the next step.

There’s nothing to add about this. Its inspirational beauty will suffice.

The 30-Day Creativity Project

She has a new song to sing and she’ll be the muse for all our creative needs. So get ready, it’ll soon be time once again to balance inspiration, preparation and perspiration. But first, let’s party…

Happy Birthday !maginality

Bring forth the DJ

Planet Funk – Too Much TV (The Sun Remix) from glowpeak on Vimeo.

Since the last post I seem to have fixed the issue that caused me to lose the site and thankfully the database back-up worked fine. Remember children back-up your sites.

I am almost done with getting the theme I want to use ready, I just need to convince myself that is the route I want to go down. If not I’ll end up using the standard theme, and again upset all the blog a-listers.

In the meantime, be creative it’s what you were born to be.

What is more likely, is that I have done something, added a plugin or some other piece of code that has taken it upon itself to cause mischief.

Well, the site is back and currently running. But it does look a little weird at the moment.

Normal service will be resumed…. someday… soon…

Sounds like…

The 80s saw the wide use of the drum machine and samplers in music. And that meant some interesting times. Certain musicians and artists used these instruments to go beyond what was physically possible with a real drummer or real musician. They used the medium to develop their creativity and art.

Meanwhile others used the virtual instruments to create a clean sound. In fact, and this is why I am writing this, they tried to make the virtual sound exactly like the physical. And I was part of that too. I remember spending hours crouched over a Yamaha drum machine attempting to make it sound like a real drummer… instead of asking the several that I knew to play a ‘good beat’.

And the point is… ?

I can’t help thinking that to try to make something sound exactly like something else, with no discernible change or improvement, is pointless. Why simply re-create?

If you have something in your creative bag of goodies then use it to its full potential. Push it. Move beyond what was originally intended.

Take an image
Take a stamp
Take a sound
Take a word

and create… you know you want to!

And if you wanted to know the inspiration to this post. I believe the only ‘real’ sounds here are the vocals, but even they may have been tampered However, I would like to add that I really love this song, and pretty much everything else that came out of Sarm West in the 80s.

Specialised software

If you want to write the next ‘Girl who did something a little bit strange’ series, you could use software specifically created for you. And, quite helpfully, the software divides itself neatly into Mac and Windows flavours. Almost.

Prior to this year if you had a Mac then de facto software was Scrivener.  This wonderful piece of software allowed you to plan your novel with a virtual reconstruction of a corkboard. It’s basically an index card system that allows you to research, collate and then add to text to your notes.

If you were of the Windows or Linux persuasion, then you could get a similar, if less pretty (but hey, isn’t that all that Mac software is?) piece of software called yWriter. I have used yWriter for years. The software was created by an author, so if you like the way he creates his novels, then you’ll like the yWriter.

Normally that would be a done deal, however, Scrivener is about to launch for Windows. I used the demo version to win NaNoWriMo 2010, so I have experience of both pieces of software. There isn’t much to choose between them. Scrivener does allow you to export to ePub format, but then MobiPocket creator is probably the better option to create eBooks.

Personally, I prefer yWriter, but that was the first piece of software I used. I’ll let you decide, because they are both great. And if you want to try Scrivener for Windows then follow this link.

Focus on writing

Another issue for writers is the need to shut out distraction and get on with the actual writing. One of the problems of computers is that they multitask. Unfortunately, whatever you have heard, we don’t!

Well help is at hand for you too. FocusWriter (available Win/Mac/Lin) is a sufficiently powerful word processor that’s main aim is to shut out distractions. I love the way this is light, portable and very simple to use. My only issues are that it doesn’t offer background music (or I haven’t found it yet) and that functionality is pretty much available elsewhere.

Word Processors

Any word processor worth its salt has a full screen option. If it has this then you have a distraction free environment. If it has an outline option then you also have a story planning piece of software.

What I am saying is that if you have a decent word processor do you really need any of the above? If you don’t then take your pick from those listed. They all work and are great at what they do. But, don’t overlook what you already have! Both Google and Microsoft offer very good online, cloud storage option for writing and saving your novel. My NaNoWriMo effort for 2010 was a collaboration between Scrivener and Google Docs.

The way forward

Start. It is easy to put off writing by taking too much time wondering what piece of software you should use. The software is out there. You novel is in there. It is time to mash up the two of them. I’ve given you a list above, it’s up to you to create. And if I’ve missed anything, please let me know in the comments. Over to you.

‘. a long time ago in a galaxy not far away.’