Did I say that aloud? (or why you shouldn’t use voice recognition apps in public.)
C.E. Grundler
They say you should always make time to write, but sometimes it’s a matter of finding time not to write. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I have a collection of muses that, once they’re on a roll, have no ‘off’ switch. They bombard me relentlessly with ideas , day and night, with no regard for where I am or what I’m doing. In the past, I’d get frustrated if I couldn’t transcribe these moments of inspiration, but now that I have Evernote, that’s no longer an issue. Writing has become a 24/7 endeavor, no longer limited to specific hours or ‘ass in chair’ time. This simple (and free, unless you go deluxe) app truly has freed me to write when and where ever I chose. Evernote runs on Apple and Android phones, as well as all computers, and syncs so seamlessly that when used in combination with Scrivener, it makes this process of herding cats otherwise known as novel writing infinitely easier. In fact, it’s Evernote that made me make that final jump into the realm of smart phones, and other than the random phone call or text, Evernote is pretty much my phone’s primary raison d’être.
Simply put, Evernote is my memo pad, my idea collection box, my reference file, and I would be lost without it. My phone is always close at hand, and now, none of my brilliant or less than brilliant ideas escape me. Inspiration hits while I wait in my car for a freight train to pass, and by time the gates rise and I’m back in gear, I’ve already recited a terrible chapter into my phone. (NOTE: Voice recognition can be a bit off at times, which is why the last sentence read ‘terrible chapter.’ I can’t figure what I actually said, though terrible might be an accurate description, so we’ll go with that.) Trips to the grocery store, which should take me 20 minutes, often stretch over an hour. Eventually I return home with eggs, cold cuts, and another 1,000 words that I can pluck from Evernote and drop into Scrivener.
A word of caution, though. Once you get accustomed to the voice recognition feature, it becomes a habit that can backfire if you aren’t careful. It’s highly amusing at those times when, in a rush to get a thought down, I forget myself, pull out my phone, and start gleefully describing in graphic detail the way I want someone to die. Discussing murder plots with your phone as you peruse the produce can make your fellow shoppers rather uneasy, especially if they believe there is someone on the other end of that conversation. And when I’m wearing my bluetooth, buried beneath my hair, it looks more like I’m talking with a voice in my head, though watching my fellow humans react to that concept ultimately falls under the category of ‘research’. It’s interesting to see the way my fellow grocery-gatherers will abruptly back away, regarding me uneasily, though not once has anyone notified security or called the police. Remember: there are really only two kinds of people who spend their days thinking of creative ways to kill random human beings — mystery writers and serial killers. In public, texting violent passages into Evernote is far less likely to create misunderstandings.
The last year thoroughly derailed me, and it’s taken some time to get back on track. Now that this train is moving again, with the noisy muses at the throttles and the twin engines of Scrivener and Evernote keeping things rolling along, it’s a non-stop ride until I hit “THE END”.
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