WRITE ME: Advice, Projects, Practices, and Motivation for Wattpad Writers

MY FAVORITE THINGS - 3

Nowadays, no one author sees the art of writing the same. They may envision it as a romantic endeavor. As a mundane necessity.  They write with pencil and paper or maybe they buy themselves a new laptop each time they sign a contract. Who knows? Since you're here, you probably use Wattpad. Some of you write directly on your phones while others publish from the computer after editing on different software.

The point is, we all tell our stories in different ways. I've tried all the programs. Scrivener gave me a headache. Until recently, my primary tool for outlining was Excel. And for writing, Microsoft Word. Boring, I know. But it's what I was brought up on and I enjoy having all those little cubby holes to work with on Excel! Because I like keeping thoughts in little secret spaces!

No, I'm not a hobbit. But I may have been were it not for my wife, Grant.

Now that I'm working with my wife (robynwrangler ) on a series of romance novels, I was made aware that I have been living in the Dark Ages, and that if I want to successfully write with a co-author, I need to be using Google Drive. And more specifically Google Docs.

I was reluctant. To say the least. I whined, but in a masculine way. And I'm sure we had an argument in there somewhere. I've been using the same system for over 15 years, okay?! As usual, she was right. Infuriatingly. And here I am listing an online word processor as one of my Favorite Things.

My first resistance factor was that, personally, I need to be locked away from distractions while I write. I have lots and lots and lots of attention issues. Lots. So, for the longest time, I wrote on a laptop that was incapable of internet access in order to guarantee I wouldn't be distracted. Because I cannot trust internet-able Mike to get his work accomplished. But there are significant negatives to writing with the internet at your fingertips and there are other methods and devices I use to write without distraction. I'll get to those in future installments of Favorite Things. Back to Google Docs/Drive.

I feel like I'm channeling a writer in the 1990s telling a class of writing students that we don't need to use a typewriter so much anymore.

"In fact, these days we should all consider writing on what's called a Computer. It's not just for computing! Here are the benefits of using a computer!!"

Now here are the benefits of using Google Docs/Drive.

The first and foremost is... it's free! Free to use, with storage of up to 15 MB. So unless you're looking to save video files to Google Drive, it's gonna take a long time to fill that space up with documents. That said, you can get 100 GB of storage for two bucks a month. In author terms, that's half a drink at Starbucks.

With Docs, your work is accessible offline with a mobile device or a computer. So you can't blame your lack of productivity on connection issues. If you make a mistake and a bunch of your novel is lost, have no fear! You can access something called "Version History" to bring up an earlier version of your document.

And, of course, the main reason Google Docs is so useful is the collaboration tools. With very little effort, your document can be accessed by others. It can be read-only and editable, and all this is managed by you. Changes or suggestions are distinctly visible and can be approved at your discretion. Really, there's no better way to collaborate with another author.

My recommendation is to use Docs in tandem with Drive, so that you can utilize the folders to better organize your documents. I like to split up my book into many documents, first to separate the outline into four acts, then to break that down into beats and scenes. In the end that's 40+ documents. Once those individual Docs are created and organized into the proper folders, I create a Table of Contents document with hyperlinks that connect to those Docs for easy navigation.

Organization and navigation meet collaboration. *chef's kiss*

There are other features available like Tables, Voice Transcription (and auto substitutions so proper nouns aren't misspelled), and outlining capabilities with Text Styles. But I find that multiple Docs sorted in folders and linked to a Table of Contents is the way to go.

Get on there and play around. So many people use Google Docs/Drive these days, you might as well become an expert now. And if you love those Excel cubbies like me, you can use Google Sheets. Just don't tell my wife I still use it. I'm supposed to be weaning myself off...

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee