True and Fictional Tales

Whoo hoo! My Alphasmart 3000 arrived in the mail last Saturday. All week I've wondered if I really needed it, would use it, or if it would be another tool that I'd buy and avoid. Online, it's transparent blue design makes it look like a cheap child's toy. I wasn't really sure it was going to be of any use.

Now that I have it, I can say...yes! It's the perfect tool for me. Okay, it still looks like a child's toy to me. I'd love to get my hands on a Neo simply for the design. But otherwise, I'm very happy. Unlike the laptop, it took less than a second to turn on and go straight to the file I wanted. I can take it anywhere without feeling like I have to be careful not to break it. Unlike writing with a pen, I could type fast, delete if I wanted and not waste paper in the process. When I was ready, I plugged the USB cord between laptop and Alphasmart, transferred the document to my OpenOffice program in seconds.

After I finally got it back from my 12 year old -- who wanted to try it and then ended up writing a long story of her own and now wants one too -- I wrote every chance I had over the weekend. Wrote nearly half a chapter while relaxing in bed. Something that has been difficult to do these days. I love that it doesn't have the internet to distract me. I'm forever thinking I need to research something while writing on the laptop.

The only thing I don't like is there is no delete button. Only backspace, but that's good enough. Maybe they have delete on the newer models.

All in all, I'm very happy with my Alphasmart. It's the perfect tool to get out that 1st draft with minor editing. As for a 2nd, 3rd draft and so on, that's for my laptop to handle.

No sign of my Alphasmart yet, but then, it's only 7 A.M. The mail doesn't come until 4 P.M. Plus, it all depends on when the seller shipped it.

In the meantime, I've put myself to work on solving problems for earlier outlines. There is a fantasy story I've tried to write off and on for years that is still begging to be written, but the ending is more like a second book in a trilogy rather than a stand alone book. I'm not sure I want to go the trilogy route just yet. Even if I did, I can think of a good beginning for a prequel, but an ending escapes me.

Working on the character details for this story gave me something else though. A whole other book idea for a minor character, whose story begins before the events of my current work. I even have a title for it as a clue to how it will end. One that I know no one has used yet. That's saying something since I've gone through hundreds of titles for the initial, never ending story.

The stand alone novel can go in two different directions depending on how I write it. Either a Fantasy with a touch of Romance, or a Fantasy Romance. It'll be too big to try sending it for Silhouette Nocturne Bites, but I already have other story ideas they might like for that line. I'm still debating which story to go for, but the more I think about it, the more I think the novel I have a title and a basic outline for is the way to go.

The first time I saw it in an ad in Writer's Digest, I thought, "I need that!".

Two days ago, I won a used AlphaSmart 3000 on eBay for $12.50 (plus $8.50 shipping). Not bad, since most are selling between $45 - $100. I'd been eyeing the Alphasmart Neo for a while now, but with my oldest daughter's senior year coming up - senior photos, prom, graduation stuff to buy - I don't yet have the extra $220+ to buy one. So, I thought I'd try the 3000 to see if it'll be worth the money to upgrade.

For over a year now I've read comments and reviews from other writers about how great the Alphasmart is for their writing. Let's face it. A good majority of writers are easily distracted by the internet. Myself included. Just look at this blog. (It's been a while since I wrote on it, huh?) I love my laptop, especially the new one I received as a Christmas gift from my husband, but, besides being able to distract me by getting online every time I'm stuck and forgetting what I wanted to do in the first place, I don't feel comfortable lugging it around to anywhere other than my couch, or bedroom. I'm always afraid it will fall and shatter. Then I'd have to cry.

And, now that it's almost summer in NY, I've been spending most of my time outside on my hammock, or writing at the table in my new private area complete with a fountain. It would be nice to have something simple to bring outside and write. A pen and paper is nice. I certainly concentrate on the story that way. But I'm much faster at typing than I am at writing. I'd like to use something that can keep up with my ideas as they come. (Plus, it's less paper waste.)

I don't have the 3000 in my hands just yet. The seller has a 100% positive feedback, which is good. Hopefully, I'll have it by the end of the week. Then I can play. I have heard one bad thing about it is that the keys are loud. That shouldn't matter too much to me. I don't plan to use it in quiet, public places. At least, just yet.