Google Drive for Writers

Hello everyone! Today I'm going to share how Google Drive can be a great (and free) resource for writers. I hope to elaborate more on each section in separate blog posts but for today I will give brief information on them.

Google Drive

The Google Drive consists of 4 aspects:

1.  You can upload any files including pictures into your storage area (15 GB free).
2. Google Docs allows you write and saves your progress online.
3. Google Sheets is similar to Excel (which can also be useful for writers!).
4. Google Slides has another benefit that I recently realized.

I love being able to store additional things in my Google Drive. I'm also lucky that I get an extra 100 GB's for I believe 2 years since I have a Chromebook. But, even without the extra storage, it's still a lot of space for writing documents. 

Google Docs

The benefit of this one is pretty clear. It's a basic writing program that works similarly to Word but has less features. Honestly, it has everything I could possibly need, and I love that I can share it between my writing account and my personal email. That way, I don't need to only sign into this account. Plus, if you want someone to beta read, this is a great way to share the file and allows for them to comment along their reading experience. 

Google Sheets

Now, I know what you're thinking, sheets are for those people who work with numbers. I have been using it to track what I need to do as well as some basic character information. That way, I can easily filter my information to find what I need quicker. I will be doing a separate blog post with pictures of how I use the sheets.

Google Slides

I honestly haven't touched Slides since college. But I was looking at it the other day and it dawned on me. I could use them similarly to note cards. Now, I love note cards, and I have way too many in my house stashed away. I plan on using it to write scene ideas so I can easily shift things around until I'm happy with an outline. I may also write character information on the sheets and, if you have the font big enough, you can print out the information so you have a backup. Again, I plan on doing a separate post so you can see the overarching idea I have for it.


There are also additional programs that you can download and use for the drive. I personally do not use them but if there is one you like, feel free to tell me in the comments, because I have not tried any of them. If you want to read other writers perspectives on using Google Drive for writing there are others who have posted in the last few years (you can Google it!) that were interesting to read as well.

Thanks for reading and if you have additional ways you use Google Drive please comment below! Until next time. :)

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Exploration

Hello everyone! I finally was able to get away from the company I worked at for almost a year. They wanted me to move to Nebraska and a 5+ hour distance away from my family was not in the cards at this time. So, I was able to leave nicely, they're even paying me for my last 2 weeks even though I didn't need to go in. So, I'm going to share some things I've been debating, been doing, and want to do! :)

Getting my Masters has been something I have wanted to do. After much debate I decided to be practical and find something that will give me a broad choice of options. The best fit that I've found so far would be a Masters in Public Administration.The nice thing is that if I find a broad program I could potentially do government, nonprofit, or even HR. While nonprofit is something I've wanted to do I don't want to limit myself only to it.

As for wanting to expand as a writer, I figured that I could maybe do some online classes. I also have been reading The Breakout Novelist and have found it quite interesting so far. I was doing well on treating my reading like a class (taking notes, etc) but I'm slowly getting back in the habit. Plus I have several more writing books (hey, they were on sale!) that I need to read as well.

I still want to pursue writing. I've come to a point where I can't picture not writing but at the same time need a bit of space from the main series I've been working on. There are a lot of changes that need to be done so I'm letting it sit so I can look at it with a fresh perspective. For now I'm focusing on another series and will really dive into it once I'm done with the first few sections of the book I'm reading.

Soon I hope to add some more blog posts related to writing. I've had some ideas written down that (with work) I just hadn't been able to get around to. Now hopefully I'll be able to. I am looking for jobs in my area since I'm not certain how quickly I'll get into an MPA program. Part of me would like to start in January while I know I could spend more time looking if I wait until next fall. I'll probably talk about it more in the future. ;) Until next time!

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Generating Plot Ideas

Hello everyone! I hope your Labor Day weekend is going well. I got a 4 day weekend so I'm pretty stoked. Tomorrow I get to go see our local baseball team so I'm keeping busy. I thought it would be a great time to have a blog post on how I come up with plot ideas. I have several different ways of coming up with story ideas that work for me. It takes time to find what works best for you

Brainstorming

When I brainstorm it's usually ideas that just come to me. I find I'm usually inspired by what I'm watching and thinking what I would do differently.  For me, I believe that the plots that I come up with should be flexible and shouldn't be set in stone until the first draft is done. Once I'm happy with it, I would prefer to keep the plot solid and move forward.

For example, my main writing project plot has changed quite a bit. At first I had planned up that my FMC's father would be the one to first meet the dragon. Then after brainstorming, writing, and working with the characters more I didn't like my initial plot. But, it helped me move forward and get to where I am now with the story. I still have a good amount of rewriting but I can't foresee any major changes to my plot for this story.

Online Assistance

Usually when I don't need a new plot is when I'm drawn to websites that have plot generators or simply plots that need a new home. My favorite place to look is on NaNoWriMo- Adoption Society because users can add different threads for plots, characters, items, and more. I've tried several times to take a plot and make it my own but it just doesn't work for me. However, I do love adopting characters and items, since those are much easier to incorporate. There are usually good names for titles and characters there as well. But, these threads do get deleted, so it's best if you like an idea to copy it and put it somewhere safe. My personal favorite way is on Google because I can share it with other accounts and access it anywhere.

Those are the two main things I do while generating plot ideas. Of course, you can go many different directions when it comes to making up a plot, but it just takes time and patience to figure out what will work. And a lot of writing and rewriting. I hope you found this useful and feel free to follow my blog or me on Twitter (I usually follow back within a week). Thanks again for checking out my blog!

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