Words on a page

Information. It’s the stock and trade of the professional writer. Notes. Facts. Quotes. Sundry bits and pieces that help us when it comes time to write.

One problem that writers face is keeping all the information that we collect in one easy-to-access location. That can be hard because we’re often never in one place at all times. Take me, for example. My main computer is the laptop on my desk at home. When I’m running around, I often carry a netbook. Often, but not always. Sometimes I only have my BlackBerry with me. Sometimes not even that.

So, how can you easily organize that information? Read on for a few suggestions.

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That’s something I’m not always keen on. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against sharing. It’s just that things can go badly.

I prefer to use a wiki or Google Docs to collaborate. But not everyone I work with thinks like me, or is comfortable with the range of tools that I’m comfortable with.

And to be honest, email doesn’t really work. Too many bad things can happen to attachments:

• They can get stripped from messages
• They can get corrupted
• It’s easy to get confused about the current version of a file if multiple revisions are floating around

Whenever possible, I try to get editors and clients to work with an online file sharing service. These services are cheap, efficient, and easy to use.

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Last week, I had a short but interesting chat with someone at the corporate gig I’m currently working on. He was telling me about a commentator he heard on the radio who stated that ebook readers in their current form were doomed. Why? Because 1) the screens are grayscale, and 2) the content on the devices is static.

The commentator contended that text isn’t enough, and that you can incorporate dynamic content — say, Flash movies — in an ebook. That way, what’s being read becomes more compelling to the reader, and brings the content to life.

Interesting ideas, and ones that I’d heard several times in the past. I wasn’t convinced. I’m still not. Here’s why.

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In part one of this post, I talked about using the bulk download and upload features in Google Docs to move files between two accounts. I find that’s the easiest and most convenient way to do the deed.

But what happens if you’re not at your own computer, and can’t download, or don’t want to risk downloading, files to the PC you’re working on? Read on for details.

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Like many writers (and others), I use Google Docs for drafting articles and even putting together the finished product. Google Docs makes it easy for me write, no matter where I am and not have to worry about transferring files between my computers.

Until recently, one problem with Google Docs was that if you wanted to backup your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations you had to do it one document or spredsheet at a time. Or, you could use a third-party backup tool.

Google Docs now has a built-in bulk export feature, which lets you download any number of files at the same time, that’s easy to use and quite fast. Here’s how you can take advantage of it.

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