The following things have been preventing me from writing. I figure that identifying them is the first step to either removing them or finding a way around them.
The fact that my laptop has become nigh useless. It had a battery that would not hold a charge, so I bought a new battery three weeks ago. The new battery no longer holds a charge. Apparently this laptop eats batteries. Additionally, the power plug only provides power to the laptop if it is positioned exactly correctly. If I jiggle the power cord even slightly, the laptop dies instantly causing me to lose whatever I am working on. I really can’t complain about the laptop. It is an ancient Thinkpad which was given to me for free. It worked well for me for almost 6 months. It even had wireless internet access. Before the laptop, I often wrote stories longhand and transcribed them later. Having it was so wonderful that I’m loath to do without a laptop, but I may be back to longhand for awhile.
My remaining computer is the one in my windowless basement office. It is the one I use for all the accounting, shipping, layout, and other business tasks. That psychological space is filled with business. I have a hard time writing there. Also the space is not ergonomic. I’m likely to have to fix that for business reasons. My right hand has begun to ache from improper positioning while mousing for extended periods of time. I’m going to have to spend a lot of time working in that space for the next couple of months. I need to fix this problem.
There hasn’t been space in my head for stories to form.
There hasn’t been time in my schedule where I can sit down and create a good mindset for writing.
Is it the external power adapter going flaky? Or is it something internal to the laptop?
If you do decide to get a new laptop, I suggest http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=7317 – here’s a review http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/asus-new-eee-pc-701-joins-the-laptop-lite-fray-with-a-bang/
Cheap, portable, and user-friendly.
I’m sorry to hear about your laptop! I understand how important something like that is.
After one bad year of struggling constantly to write, I looked back on my progress. Whenever I have a working laptop I write a lot. When I don’t, I don’t. I don’t know the reason, but there it is.
Finally just commited to spending what it took to stay in a reliable laptop (yay Apple!) and it does make a huge difference. I hope you get something worked out soon.
I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Alphasmart line, but they are inexpensive and they work great, and they’re only good for writing.
Internal to the laptop, unfortunately.
I know several people who use alphasmarts. I tried to look them up at amazon.com, but I couldn’t find them.
http://search.ebay.com:80/alphasmart_W0QQfnuZ1QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ34QQfsprZ1QQssPageNameZWD8BQQxpufuZx
easy notes/writing
I will not recommend any brands, but look into a PDA, esp ones with easy to change batteries. Thus, esp with an external keyboard, and a wireless adapter, can make writing out in the sun or at a con, any time you have a free second, much easier. I use the (now discontinued) life drive. 4 gig internal HD, color screen, wireless networking, expansion slot, long life rechargeable battery, blue tooth keyboard. some folks like windows CE based, others Palm based, try several in store, see what fits you. I used a palm m130 for years, then went to a tungsten e(1st gen) the tungsten E 2nd gen is even better, mp3 playback, tons of battery life.
The earlier model palm devices even have wired clip on keyboards so you don’t have to run blue tooth to use the keyboard. I know its a small screen for most folks, but i love being able to reach into a pocket,pull out a wallet sized device, add a fold out keyboard, and surf the net or game or type.
I use an external battery adapter that uses 4XAA batteries or 1X9 volt, similar in design to the ‘battery booster’ devices sold for cell phones. It lets me go from dead battery in airport to 12-20 hours of runtime on easy to find worldwide batteries, while charging the internal one.