I got up this morning all set to write and catch up on my poems for the PAD November Chapbook Challenge. Then, I was going to write toward NaNoWriMo. And guess what, I’m on my way to it.

I made my list last night, and allowed for Twitter and Facebook and blogging. After that, it was down to the projects that had deadlines. Two things went into this plan.

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Recently, I watched an emotionally charged video. It was a sad story of a young girl sentenced to life in prison at age 16. At the time she made the video she’d already served 13 years. Her story, her voice, her tears were evocative, certainly. I felt compelled to be angry on her behalf. I was even skeptical of a commenter who said the young woman’s sentence was justified.

Beyond the fact that the content affected me emotionally, it got me thinking about just what made it such a powerful video.

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I’m always amazed by how much things can change in writing.

My Celebration Poem

For Mother’s Day, I decided to write a poem for my mom. Getting a jump on things, I started writing the night before. But, I thought about it for longer than that. Anyway, I had this bumpy, lumpy and awkward thing that halfway through, started to resemble what I wanted to say.

After a while, I put it to bed. The project was leading me to that area of my brain I didn’t want to go. The signpost reads:

r u kidding me? you say you write poetry? hahahahaha, tell me a nudda one

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Utah and Alabama Fans on Canal Street, 1.2.2009

This is really a busy week in New Orleans. What with the New Year celebration and the Sugar Bowl tonight, revelers are out and about in great numbers! Canal Street is busy like I haven’t seen in a good while. It took me fifteen minutes to get on the elevator (new technology, not so successful with large numbers). The wait gave me time to look around at all the people, all the red, as Alabama and Utah fans milled about and enjoyed the pre-game festivities.

While most people plan trips like this, there are those who just take the trip. One young man was marveling at his own ingenuity, as he described to a friend how he slept outside on a bench last night. If he didn’t have a hotel room at all, he seemed largely unperturbed by the fact as he continued to enjoy himself.

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Losing the Remote. On a groggy Friday evening, I lost my TV remote. When I lost it this time, the TV input was in DVD mode. I can’t switch input signals from the TV-mounted controls. So I really needed to find it.

I looked in the obvious places, first. And when nothing turned up in those places, I looked in the I-can’t-believe-I-put-that-there places. I got a little frantic but decided that it was early in the weekend. I wanted it in time for Bones on Monday night.

Through my weekend of activities and errands, I looked for my remote when I thought about it, to no avail. One thing was stuck in the back of my mind and not too far: I was making this too hard.

Finding Your Story Line

It can be a lot like finding the remote control. Only in writing, it’s a bit more frustrating. You have your topic, tone, and your point of view, none of which addresses how you get your point across. Often, the bloodless way to get down to the path of your project is to start writing. I find what helps me is to list everything that I know about my topic.

Researching the topic can be part of the process, sometimes it yields the perspective you search for, yielding something that captures your attention. And it can prove you wrong, pointing you in a new direction.

So, don’t think that because you don’t know where you’re going in a topic, you need to dump it. It happens to writers, that we start out with one idea, decide how to reach it, and write until there’s a whole story and it only remotely resembles what was planned.

Added Benefits of Searching

Do you ever research a topic and get to a point where you’re just writing? I find that the research helps me to tap into the data that I have stored in my head. In an editing stage, I search for the information to verify my recollections.

I try not to keep my focus too narrow, like entertaining things that crossed my mind while searching for the remote control. I came up with dinner plans, weekend dress ideas, and this blog post. You definitely want to stay open to new thoughts, as, a good research session can lead to some very interesting tangents, so catch as many as you can.

So Where was My Remote?

Finding the remote. I didn’t tell you what happened with my remote. After a few thorough searches over two days, decided to pay attention to the voice in my head, the one that said I was working too hard. I decided to listen after I’d just bought a cheap remote on the way home Monday evening. It couldn’t adjust my input signals either. I sat at my desk thinking it would jog my memory. I thought for a moment, taking a slow look in the immediate area. And there it was on the floor, face down, blending in with the carpet. I picked it up and was able to tune in to Bones for the last half hour.

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When You Can’t Blog About It

While I was swamped at work I was still saving random thoughts. So, now I’m going back through them to mine for post-able material. As I researched for work projects, thoughts would pop int my head about my blogs, in spite of my dedicated focus.

Since I am a believer in tracking tangential thoughts, I always have at hand something to write on. I have used many different papers through the years and have come to really enjoy writing on blank pages. Since I’ve discovered Moleskines, I have the variety to suit my tastes.

• pocket ruled reporter – goes pretty much everywhere and collects whatever comes to me
• large blank hardcover notebook – catches my poems
• large squared reporter – records/plots business ideas, plans and implementation

My daily journal is a composition notebook.

Software and Browser Addons

Online is another story. I am a WordPerfect user since the days of its DOS-based version. I have Word to accommodate business communications for those who are “WordPerfect-challenged.” I wanted to find something more closely integrated with the internet, so I added a few applications this year and experimented with them. Here they are in the order that I tried them.

Google documents: I like it well enough for ideas and starting posts, journaling progress of ancillary tasks, when I don’t want to pick up a pen, or leave the internet. It’s only a tab away.

Google notebook: It did some things that were really interesting. Like, when you highlight and clip content, it automatically snags the website URL. The great thing about that is it makes returning to the site later a snap—or a click, no re-searching or address-typing required required. It stays out in front of the screen so you can work right from the site you’re on. Or you can pop it out in a separate tab. Or, you can put it in a separate tab, which gives you access to more of the capabilities.

What I like about Google Docs and Notebook:

• They’re portable. Wherever you log in, there’s your work, in the corner, or on a tab.
• They offer a place to capture live links for one-click returns.
• Docs pages are printable from the app, so I can edit manually whenever I feel like it.
• Docs offers a spreadsheet application and that’s a big plus for me.
• Notebook offers tabs capability which offers an alternative way to filter notes.

What I don’t like about them:

• One thing that gets in my way is that it gets in my way. Sometimes I have to actually close the Notebook, or put it in another window, to get it out of the way of my content.
• The Docs page is always on a separate tab, which means no side-by-side viewing.
• Notebook pages are only printable in full tab view.

They’ve served me well for a few months now. I kept an eye out for different applications to research.

I’ve Discovered Scribefire

For a while now, I’d been noticing a new application. I am skeptical about adding techno gadgets, but it kept nagging me that this might be the add-on to eclipse the others. Finally, just before my vacation ended, I decided to try one more thing. I went to Scribefire from ProBlogger.net because I kept seeing it there. The application is quite stunning! I haven’t used all of its capabilities. I didn’t even integrate it with any of my blogs, yet, and its usefulness is undeniable. I’m not dismissing my Google additions, for now, but I’m definitely making use of Scribefire.

What I liked right off:

• The download was really easy.
• When it’s closed it’s quite unobtrusive.
• It’s fully integrated with the browser window.
• I didn’t need an email account.
• You don’t need a blog to use it.

What I’m hoping for in future versions:

• Live link capture – it’s a help especially for double-checking information on the fly
• Portability – so I can work from whatever computer I’m near, if I choose

My brother was looking for an application to collect information while he surfed. I told him of the different applications I was using. After the first couple of days I used Scribefire, I shot him an email to let him know about it. And I thought I’d share it here. I’m glad I finally tried Scribefire. Now, I think I have all bases covered. Really there’s no way I’ll miss an idea unless I just don’t make the effort to capture it. It happens, but I try to keep that to a minimum.

Tell me what you use to capture your thoughts. If you’ve found something that you really love, that you think does everything, let me know.