I think the timing on LTUE is great, because it really helped to kick me out of that post NaNo slump and get writing again; I managed to get 630 words written on my phone last night (thanks to a nice Android app called My Writing Spot), which is important less because of the number and more because with the last sentence I finally stopped dithering and thrust my protag into the big climactic scene. She, and the rest of her group, have been stuck in limbo since the end of November, with the bits of writing I did manage in December and January focusing on pushing them closer by inches to the climax that I've become quite adept at avoiding. Now, without a flashback, there's no way for her to avoid facing the bad guy. Although, I do have time travel in this novel . . . hmm. . . (I shouldn't give myself ideas like that!).
The rest of my writing this month has been focused on FAWM (February Album Writing Month). I'm at nine songs now, so just one behind where I 'should be', but I'm pretty sure that--like NaNo--the momentum created by the rest of the month will make this last week a time of crazy writing. My page on FAWM is here, using what is basically becoming my filk/online name, along with my pseudonym Gwendydd ar Adain. I would consider most of what I've written to be poetry set to music (which has yet to be recorded, since I don't really play an instrument) because I'm primarily a poet: for 2008 and 2009, I wrote 196 poems each year, with only about 50 written last year, making my allpoetry total around 760 (with the assorted other crap I wrote in high school).
So writing songs isn't new to me, but the entire process of songwriting is. Most of the 'songs' I've written in the past have been to-the-tune-of filks, like my eighth song, which is about my Cousin Melissa and her duct tape creations, to the tune of "Waltzing with Bears". Anyway, I think I need to find a music-making program that could help me to put some of these tunes in my head on the page, without my needing to be able to play an instrument. It'll probably be a much slower process than just playing it, but faster than trying to learn in the next week!
Speaking of Android apps, I've been doing most of my songwriting on my phone too: smart phones rock for writers, if you can get used to swype or a different character input that works for you. Anyway, the app I've been using for that is Songwriter's Pad, which works very well for me mainly for four reasons: 1- It autosaves as you type, so if you accidentally exit out your work is safe (I had problems with that when trying to write using the memo pad that came with my Samsung Vibrant); 2- It comes with a rhyming dictionary (which I use a lot) and a idea generator; 3- You can create separate boxes for different things, like the verse, the chorus, the outro, etc. (the similar version for poets has breaks by stanza); and 4- If you have the dropbox app installed as well, you can export your songs straight to it! Or you can export via email, but I adore just saving things in my dropbox to pull up later on my computer. The My Writing Spot app does a similar thing, where if you log in via your google account, you can sync what you've written. Plus, you can save unlimited files, categorize them by color, and best of all, it shows your wordcount for each file! Great for NaNo and daily word goals!
Anyway, enough plugging of those apps, but I really do enjoy them. The Songwriter's Pad is 3.99, which was worth it for how much I use it, and the My Writing Spot has either a free version with ads, or a 1.99 version without, which is the one I got after trying it out. That, and a row counter app for knitting and crocheting, which I love, are the only apps I've bought for my phone. I'm such a dork! :)
Speaking of Android apps, I've been doing most of my songwriting on my phone too: smart phones rock for writers, if you can get used to swype or a different character input that works for you. Anyway, the app I've been using for that is Songwriter's Pad, which works very well for me mainly for four reasons: 1- It autosaves as you type, so if you accidentally exit out your work is safe (I had problems with that when trying to write using the memo pad that came with my Samsung Vibrant); 2- It comes with a rhyming dictionary (which I use a lot) and a idea generator; 3- You can create separate boxes for different things, like the verse, the chorus, the outro, etc. (the similar version for poets has breaks by stanza); and 4- If you have the dropbox app installed as well, you can export your songs straight to it! Or you can export via email, but I adore just saving things in my dropbox to pull up later on my computer. The My Writing Spot app does a similar thing, where if you log in via your google account, you can sync what you've written. Plus, you can save unlimited files, categorize them by color, and best of all, it shows your wordcount for each file! Great for NaNo and daily word goals!
Anyway, enough plugging of those apps, but I really do enjoy them. The Songwriter's Pad is 3.99, which was worth it for how much I use it, and the My Writing Spot has either a free version with ads, or a 1.99 version without, which is the one I got after trying it out. That, and a row counter app for knitting and crocheting, which I love, are the only apps I've bought for my phone. I'm such a dork! :)
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Listening to: Night Minds by Missy Higgins. I'm really identifying with this song right now. I adore all of her music; there's just something about it that really grabs me.
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