Editing workflow: hardware edition

Yes, of course I'm still editing Xmas Carol. I will until the day I publish the book. But this post is about hardware.

Much to my surprise, I find that using my iPod Touch and Macbook Air, I'm able to edit very efficiently. What I do is send the book to the iPod Touch, where I read it in iBooks. The shocking thing is that I can grasp the text much better on the Touch screen, compared to seeing it in Scrivener, my writing program. It's just easier to grok. I'm not sure why.

In any case, I read the book on the Touch and when I find something I want to change, I do it on the Air in Scrivener. Now and then, I turn the Scrivener file into a fresh file for iBooks and check the changes to see if they read well. As a result of this seemingly simple process, I'm doing the best editing I've ever done. The book sounds much, much better.

Any other writers out there? What tricks do you use when editing?

The Touch sent me to heaven!

No, not the touch of sky gods -- I mean my iPod Touch. It's the best thing ever. I know I'm probably the last person in America to get on board with mobile apps, but now that I've been playing with them for a few days I'm a wild-eyed convert. Who knew life could be this simple? (That's it at left in the exceptionally cute green case I got for it. Don't you want to hug it? Back away! Don't you dare touch my Touch!)

Pandora is indeed god. It's just as they said. It came unto me and all was well. In case you're out of the loop, like I was a mere three days ago, Pandora lets you listen to "radio" based on songs and artists you like. It's wonderful. I can't believe all the new music I've heard -- and it's stuff I like! It won't be a chore to find a Sunday music video anymore.

Best of all, I know how I'll get through the baseball off-season now. I'll just listen to Pandora until Spring arrives. That and the Tommy John surgery (and the visit from Jason Varitek) will see me through. Woot! I'm saved!

Sucked into the paywall

I give up. For months I've been reading the NY Times by using a software workaround to navigate the paywall. Worked great, by the way.

But I'm spending my nights now with a sick friend. This, in its way, led to me to subscribe to the Times. I need something to do over there while my friend sleeps, and TV is not my cup of tea (unless there's a baseball game on). There's Wi-Fi over there and of course I could use my friend's computer -- but I always hate to do that. It's like trading underwear with someone: too intimate.