I’m a victim of my own insides. There was a time when I wanted to know everything … It used to make me very unhappy, all that feeling. I just didn’t know what to do with it. But now I’ve learned to make that feeling work for me. I’m full of emotion and I want a release, and if you’re on stage and if it’s really working and you’ve got the audience with you, it’s a oneness you feel.
-Janis Joplin
While falling asleep, sometimes I remember things I forgot and sometimes I think up things I want to remember, but will forget. Like most people, this happens to me all of the time. I tell my sleepy brain, don’t forget this! and repeat my brilliant thought over and over in my head in hopes it will come back to me the next day. It rarely does.
Of course, there are pens and a notepad way over there on the nightstand and the option of turning on that really bright lamp. Ugh, I can’t move. Don’t make me move! And don’t you dare turn on that light and burn my eyes out of their sockets! Okay, I might be exaggerating just a little, but you get my point. Like most people, when I’m in the process of falling asleep, I don’t want any interruptions.
I think I’ve figured out a good solution for this problem by using a smart phone, a dictation app, and a Twitter account. I’m sure you can see where this is going.
I’ve downloaded the Dragon Dication app onto my iPhone 3GS and synced it with a Twitter account I made specifically for my note-taking. (I locked the posts on mine for privacy, but that’s just my personal preference.) I listen to music off of my iPhone while I go to sleep, so it’s usually conveniently located somewhere near me. Now, when that brilliant idea chimes into my dopey head, I grab my phone, start the dictation app (if it’s not already open), slowly recite the idea, then tap a button to send it as a tweet when I’m done.
I’ve just started using this method of sleep-time note taking and it seems a lot more convenient than the conventional way. The light of my iPhone’s screen is easier on my eyes compared to a lamp or even a book light. I don’t have to reposition myself to write and a simple typeface replaces what would have been my drowsy chicken-stratch. I just say my thing, tap on a couple of buttons, and I’m done.
(Aside from posting to Twitter there are other options, including sending your dictated text as an email, SMS, or copying and pasting it to another application on your phone.)
How about you? Do you use a pen and notepad for jotting down ideas? Or maybe some sort of recording device? Please share you methods in a comment below!
(via Sean. Previously posted here on 11/29/08)
The destructive character knows only one watchword: make room; only one activity: clearing away. His need for fresh air and open space is stronger than any hatred. The destructive character is young and cheerful…it cheers because everything cleared away means to the destroyer a complete reduction, indeed eradication, of his own condition.
…The destructive character sees nothing permanent. But for this very reason he sees ways everywhere. Where others encounter walls or mountains, there, too, he sees a way. But because he sees a way everywhere, he has to clear it everywhere. Not always by brute force; sometimes by the most refined. Because he sees ways everywhere, he always positions himself at crossroads. No moment can know what the next will bring. What exists he reduces to rubble, not for the sake of rubble, but for the way of leading through it.
The destructive character lives from the feeling, not that life is worth living, but that suicide is not worth the trouble.
In twelve more days, the madness of writing a novel in 30 days begins! (If you’re unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, check out their site). I’ve failed miserably in the past, but I have high hopes for this year for the following reasons: I’m much better prepared for it and I’m putting together a support group of sorts.
The preparation consists mainly of notes. Lots and lots of notes. I’ve never been good at outlining a plot, but I do have a system where I can get ideas down and expand on them. And the ‘support group’ I’m refering to exists on Google+. I’ve made a NaNo circle and have been filling it with NaNo writers from all over. It will be so nice and encouraging to chat with people that are having fun and making themselves crazy at the same time!
Another benefit of socializing with other NaNos is the knowledge base. People are posting great links to writing websites. As writers, we all know the tips, advice, and mantras. And as writers, we constantly need to be reminded of them.
Here’s a couple of links I found well-written and/or helpful. If you have any sites you’d like to share with me, please post the URL in the comments below. Oh, and if you’re on G+ and would like to be added to my NaNo circle, please let me know! Good luck and Godspeed, you crazy, crazy NaNo writers!
Links:
-12 Reasons To Ignore The Naysayers: Do NaNoWriMo
-25 Things You Should Know About NaNoWriMo
Last month, when I went into Supercuts for a trim, the stylist tried to sell me some It’s A 10 Miracle Leave-In Product. Since I already have several half-empty bottles of different kinds of hair product at home, I left with some sprayed on my wet hair and nothing more.
Later, when I was at home and my hair had dried, I realized I should have gone for it after all. I didn’t experience a ‘miracle’ but my hair was a lot less frizzy. I went back a couple of days later and bought a bottle.
I also bought an InStyler® Rotating Iron a year ago and I haven’t regretted the decision. This iron has held up well so far and never fails to straighten my frizzy hair. If you have curly hair that you want straight, an InStyler will make your life easier, trust me.
–She underlines the fuck scenes for ya? Jesus, if she underlines the fuck scenes for ya, she must worship the ground you walk on.
–They teach you how to underline in college.
–Not the fuck scenes, they don’t. Braden, you gotta learn to put out more, you know what I mean?
Click on the link below the video to help out!
