Words on a page

While I like Google Docs a lot, there are a few things about it that I’m not really keen on. One is the way in which documents are organized. I should say how they’re organized when you first set up your Google Docs account.

The main portion of the Google Docs window is a list of your documents. They’re displayed in the order in which you last opened or viewed them — newest ones at the top. If you have a lot of documents, this can make finding the one you want a bit of a chore. You can use the Google Docs search engine, but search only eases that chore if you have a pretty good idea of what you’re looking for.

It’s easy, though, to organize your writing in Google Docs. Curious? Read on.

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Right now, I’m tired. Not of blogging (or writing in general) — it’s going to be a long time before that happens! But I’m physically and mentally tired from work, from the renovations I’m doing to my house, and from the wear and tear of everyday life.

So instead of pumping out some inferior posts, I’ve decided that this week I’ll look back at some of my favourite posts from the last few months:

• Four simple, subtle ways to improve your writing
• Using topic-based writing to pull together a project
• Editing: the secret to good writing
• Using stock photos to enhance your work
• A few thoughts about the day job
• Moving files between two Google Docs accounts: part 1 and part 2

Writers are human. Like everyone else, we’re susceptible to laziness and malaise. It makes working take a back seat to … well, just about anything else.

But there are times (many more than we care to admit) when we need to get a job done quickly. Why? We’ve let a deadline slide due to overwork or by succumbing to the dubious joys of procrastination.

Getting back on track isn’t easy. Getting yourself going sometimes takes a carrot, and sometimes takes a stick. If you find that panic and dread of a looming deadline are holding you back, you need to choose the stick. In this case, that stick is timed writing.

The idea behind timed writing is pretty simple: give yourself a limited amount of time, and a specific number of words to write in that time. Say 400 words in 30 minutes or 1,000 words in an hour.

Once you’ve done that, get a timer. Well, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a timer. It can be a stopwatch, a wristwatch with a timer, or even just an hourglass. From there, block out all distractions — music, radio, TV, the Internet, your mobile phone — and start typing.

You might not reach your goal at the end of the period of time you set. But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you’ve gotten words on to the page (or the screen). And that can give you the momentum to keep going.

The great thing about this technique is that it’s not only useful for starting a writing project, but also finishing one. I don’t know about you, but there are times when I’ve got a few hundred words to go and for whatever reason just can’t push myself to write them. By giving myself 20 or 30 minutes to write those words I’ve found that I can get the job done. If nothing else than because I hate the sound of a timer going off …

Update: I just remembered that TextRoom, my favourite distraction-free editor, has a timed writing feature. I’m going to put that feature through its paces in the coming weeks. You can read more about TextRoom here. You might also be interested in a somewhat humorous Web application called Write or Die.

Photo credit: Jake Hellbach from Photoxpress

There are people who have a very simplistic image of the writing process: start at the beginning and then work your way through to the end. Often, the process flows just like that. But not always.

There are times when I find myself able to quickly write the beginning and end of a piece, then work on the parts in between. Or, as I described in a previous post, I assemble a bunch of what seem like disparate paragraphs into a cohesive whole.

There are times, though, when I just can’t get a handle on the introduction and the conclusion to what I’m writing. I have a topic, theme, and angle. But the beginning and end just aren’t coming out in the way that I want them to. I know more than a couple of writers who’d just stop work until they could craft the intro. When you’re facing a deadline that’s not always an option.

Why not start from the middle instead?

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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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