Hi Edelweiss! Glad you are joining the discussion.

Actually, 9 is late for me! I am in bed usually by 8. But, going to bed earlier is a small sacrifice to make in exchange for being able to get up before dawn and get my writing done for the day.

Kelly

Hi Kelly. You're doing a wonderful job and have already answered some of my questions. I'm so happy you're here. Glad my new password worked.

Thanks, Dotsie. Brilliant choice of guest.

Hi Saundra! Glad you checked in! How is your writing going?

Kelly

Kelly, I'm at the opposite end of the time spectrum as you. When I need quiet writing time, I'll stay up till 2 or 3 a.m. In the mornings (anything before 10am) I'm grumpy and brain-dead. By the evening, my head is cleared of the have-to-do's so I can sit down and concentrate.

Hi Meredith,

You are an After Hours Writer then. Lots of bestselling authors got started that way!

Kelly

Kelly, thanks for asking. Today I received a gift. My 20-year old next door neighbor (computer whiz) stopped in to fix my computer and my mouse.

I'm back. Technology got in my way for way too long. Lousy excuse. Shakespeare wrote with a quill and a bottle of ink and nothing stopped him. That was my lesson today.

Hi Saundra, glad you are back online. I recently got a laptop so that I could write while I am out of town since I travel a lot with my new job. Some of the authors I interviewed for TIME TO WRITE also use an Alpha Smart. Sometimes I write long hand, too, if the process calls for it.

One thing I am glad about though, is the word processor! Can you imagine revisions in Shakespeare's day, having to go back and re-write the whole thing even if you just wanted to change one word! Good grief! That would definitely call for persistence!

Kelly

Kelly, I read a review on the Alpha Smart and it said it will only hold 8 files. That seems low, but then again, I suppose it is for short trips and travels, where you wouldn't have that many files, reports, or stories...right?

Are there other products out there on the market for writers that you have found useful and might recommend?

Hi JJ

Yeah, writing on an Alpha Smart would be for if you want to sit outside one morning, or write in a cafe, or at the beach, and so forth. You would have to download your day's work into your computer each time. But some of the writers I interviewed did that as a way to get going if they got blocked or wanted a change of scenery for writing.

I don't know of any products necessarily that I could recommend. I tend not to use things like that. I once bought this very expensive software program that was to help with plotting in a novel, and while I'm sure it was useful for some, what I discovered is that I spent so much time trying to learn how to use it, and then plugging in my information that it took away from my writing time, which is quite limited to begin with. I think the risk here is that you can feel like you're writing when you're really not. Products can become a distraction from the actual work.

The only "product" I tend to find useful to my writing process is a chair-- with my rear end in it.

It would be helpful to hear from others though who may have had a different experience with writing-related products.

Best, Kelly

Ladies,

Here's a sample of my Time to Write newsletter that I put out about every month (or so). If you'd like to sign up, send me an email at kelly@kellylstone.com. And if you send in a time to write "dilemma" by May 12th that I can use in a future issue of my newsletter, you'll be entered into a drawing to win a complimentary copy of Cup of Comfort for Mothers and Daughters, featuring my favorite essay "Heart Choices." It makes a great mother's day gift!

Sample newsletter:
http://kellylstone.com/docs/TIME%20TO%20WRITE%20NL%20April%2008_3.pdf

Kelly