Writer's Corner

The Emperor's Lounge
#41

Great article! Added.

Cheers!

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#42

Scrivener with simple Dictation (Siri) works fine on the iPhone indoors.

Jumping between languages (tested english, german, french) is not a problem. (Pretty good! Dragon e. g. is often set for one language and trains mostly in one.)

Only thing missing is a mic solution that can handle windy noises.

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#43

“On Being a Dictator”.

I have to revise my first impression. The two authors mostly write about why they like dictating (often sharing an opinion). Which is kinda pointless, as most readers want to (learn to) write while walking anyway. No need to convince them.

The actual writing advice is rather superficial (pantsers vs. plotters etc.)

Most complicated set-up questions (“Which building blocks of the story do you dictate in which order?” Keeping an outline on paper with you to structure your recording etc.) are obsolete with Notes or Scrivener. The tech notes are out of date.

The two key takeaways for me are these:

  • If you want to write, build a proper, robust setup and do it anywhere, anytime. Every walk or car drive can be a writer`s hour.

  • Once gotten into the flow dictating is a more natural way of writing.

I do not recommend this booklet.

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#44

A wonderful recommendation. I loved reading it.

And do any of you use the ultimate writer sub? If so, what are your experiences?

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#45

Haven’t tried that yet but it is definitely one of the subs I plan to run in future.

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#46

Yes! I got it in a custom with A Stark Black Reality. It is one big, dense sub, very comprehensive. No matter how or what you want to write about, RM:UWX got you covered.

For me it needed a bit of time to get rolling.

Probably best to start using Ultimate Writer X, when you are actually writing something.

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#47

First impression - Writing While Walking set-up:

  • iPhone 13
  • Scrivener
  • Lightning to 3,5mm adapter cable
  • Joby Wavo Lav Pro mic
  • Tiny dead cat

Setup is incredibly easy.
Put everything together, worked instantly.
Voice recognition is good, language hopping not so much, but it isn’t really necessary.

Next up:

  • Testing voice rec in windy condition.
  • Scrivener regarding taking notes in a lot different folders w/ dictating.

Using it without sim card to minimize distractions.

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#48

That’s kinda what I imagined

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Until I learned what a dead cat ist

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#49

It is a much smaller cat!

Really not much of an Apple fan, but damn the user-friendliness is delightful.

#50

In case you are stuck in writing and concerned about originality, read this great article:
If You Want to Be a Great Writer, Steal Like Great Writers

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#51

Sadly I can’t edit the first entry anymore.

I’ll open a second thread just for collecting writer’s ressouces.

#52

You could make a collection post from time to time and ask RV to add it to the first post in the new thread.

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#53

True. All new items would’ve to be sorted into the categories tough. Mh.

With an external thread I can just delete the post and repost it updated if it’s older than 30 days.

#54

Or you could copy the original post in a new one, update it and then ask RV to simply exchange it.
And then you can delete the new post.

1 Like
#55

Fair point.

#56

Short update:

Voice rec in windy situation is fine as far as I can tell. (Kinda hard to measure right now, either we have very light wind (vr is no problem) or we get brutal wind and torrential rain which is not part of the experiment’s set-up.

The very open and simple ui of Scrivener is great. I linked Scrivener mobile with Scrivener on PC via Dropbox, perfect setup for me.

Will use the iPhone in bed for the brain dump before going to sleep.

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#57

Good to see others using Scrivener. I’ve used it for various purposes since 2018. It had some problems with its earlier days around the license server and verifying the status of someones license, but they ended up fixing that early in version 3.

I originally paid 71.40 AUD for it, but only because they added GST to the total. It’s since gone up to $95 and a minimum of Windows 10.

I’m curious how others use Scrivener, as I’ve felt maybe my method of using things is too simplistic or not utilizing all its power. There are some definite issues with it for storing certain types of research (like maps or web linked documents) that might be better farmed out to other programs. Also some issues with certain functionality like manually creating links without first copying the link to the clipboard and then using a unwieldy 3-key hotkey. But I’ve learned over the years to deal with its apparent limitations.

If anyone shares their techniques for leveraging all of Scriveners features, or your personal writing methodology, that would be brilliant.

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#58

I am still working with two writing programs. Patchwork is kinda cute and great for writing prose (great structure for storylines, characters, notes), used it for years, bit quirky, but sadly the sole developer died a couple of months back and it’s unknown what will happen to the software.

You are absolutely right that Scrivener has a couple of pitfalls. The linking of several devices with Dropbox e. g. is only advisable when you are working on the texts alone, as it is not real time collaboration (like google docs) but copying new versions into the Dropbox. (you have to wait for sync to finish, no two devices at the same time etc.)

I am still very new to Scrivener, but I enjoy the simplicity very much. Would love to share experiences, tips, hints in the future.

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#59

Adding my 50 cents for an excellent writing program (now it is also available for English writing (originally it was German centered, so it is not very well known in the english-sphere :slight_smile: ):

I use it since 2011, and I’m happy with it. It is very powerful. I found it while searching for a replacement to scrivener. That programm didn’t pleased me then (2011).

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