Why I have two office work areas

Every writer has a place to call their own, where they get away to focus on writing without distraction.  Many of us have two or three work places.  And with continued improvements in technology, it is possible to create some pretty special places.

I have a primary work area.  It is a bedroom converted to an office shared by my wife and myself.  It is typical of many writers and other professionals.  I have a desk and office chair, with several book cases nearby.  My desk holds a Windows laptop, 23" monitor and speaker system.  The phone, scanner and printer and NAS are located nearby, but I am connected to them via wifi.  The rest of my desk can be used to write notes, set up my Mac when I need to do something with it, or be a spot to accumulate receipts, brochures and other things until I put them away.  My primary book and blog writing occurs here.

Primary work area

I also have a secondary, portable work area.  It is a comfortable IKEA chair and footstool, with a lap desk, and side table.  I work on my iPad with keyboard and my Mac, and also use it for reading physical books.  These items are easy to move inside and outside as the weather permits.  I attached a small box to my lap desk to hold things such as a pen, yellow marker, Post-it stickies, earphones, small notepad, iPad stylus and glass cleaner.

Portable chair and lap desk on balcony

This is a very relaxed position.  I am more prone, leaning backwards, but perfectly situated for comfortably using the iPad, Mac and reading.  By moving between the two locations, I can work for extended periods of time without cramping.   Changing positions helps to relieve pressure on one set of muscles and joints.  By switching between the two locations, I recover and rest one set of muscles while continuing to use the other.

Yesterday I put in 14 - 15 hours at my main desk, sitting straight up and continuously typing.  The only time away from my desk was to go shopping, carrying heavy things and then putting them away.  Today, I have spent 8 hours at my desk editing.  I took a break to make breakfast, and then another one do some heavy lifting errands and prepare dinner.  I spent a lot of time in the kitchen slicing and dicing food in a similar position to sitting at my desk, putting additional stress on my back.

I now want to work again and write a couple blogs, but was not physically willing to sit at my desk.  This is where my secondary work area comes in.  From my portable chair and lap desk, I usually read, mind map, do social media, research, and read physical books.  I use my primary work area for writing, using Adobe applications, taking training (with exercise files which reside and are used by apps on my laptop), social media and coding.  Initially my primary work area was for writing and data input, while my secondary work area was for reading and research.  But I am currently physically challenged to use my primary work area, yet want to blog.  So I have decided to write my first blog from my iPad and you are reading it now!

With the iPad keyboard, I can type significantly more quickly than when using its touch keyboard. Also via wifi and using cloud-based applications, I am less dependent on my laptop (and main desk) for access to critical apps and data..  I am doing far more writing, editing, note-taking and other things on my iPad and portable lap desk.  I also do substantially more social media from my lap desk. After a few hours at my portable work area, I can go back to my desk and work with the Adobe apps again.

Over the last few months, I have been optimizing my writing workflows, and have significantly increased my productivity.  I have also moved more and more to cloud-based systems which can be suitably utilized across many different platforms.

I started this on my iPad, but have now had to move back to my laptop to finish it off.  I encountered an error with positioning the cursor at the bottom of my blog.  Every time I try that on my iPad, I am positioned at the beginning of my blog post.  Using Blogger on my iPad will not let me get to the bottom of a longer post.  This is unfortunate as I was hoping to have a real success here.  I use Evernote, Dropbox, Acrobat, Safari and Firefox across platforms relatively seamlessly, but there are still some differences and problems.  However, they are reducing as all browsers, operating systems and most apps evolve.  This is the first time I have used Blogger on the iPad for writing a post, so not sure if it is an issue with Blogger, IOS or Safari.  (I am still on IOS 6 and the iPad 2.)

I am certain that I will be able to do more and more across any platform.  But for now, I have favorite things to do based on if I am at my desk using my laptop or at my portable lap desk using my iPad.  My desk is really now defined as what is inside my laptop and iPad, not by what is on my physical desk.

My next few blogs will continue to expand on how I work, what technology I use and how my productivity continues to soar.  Just being able to have a secondary work place I can retreat to allows my to keep working while relaxing one set of muscles and joints!  And the 30 minutes I spent there has recharged me for working at my primary work area again.

Steve Shipley
SAZ in the Cellar Facebook page
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog SAZ in the Cellar
Still Stupid at Sixty (published under my writing pseudonym Blake Stevens)
Steve Shipley Pinterest Boards

My journey to the Adobe Creative Cloud for design and publishing

I have become fascinated by the technology to support writing and publishing.  My first book Still Stupid at Sixty (published under the pseudonym Blake Stevens) was written in Microsoft Word and converted into Amazon Kindle format using Calibre.  That is how easy it is to self-publish these days.  Anyone who can type claims they are an author these days, including me!

But my current book Wine Sense is a different matter.  It will be published electronically and as a physically printed book.  It is almost twice the size at 125,000 words or the equivalent of roughly 350 pages based on format.  It will contain almost forty photographs, multicolored tables, and a couple of QR Codes to link to videos.  I researched over twenty other wine books and multiple research papers, therefore requiring numerous citations for the original source.  The total effort involved is estimated to be ten times what was required for my first book.

I started to use a cloud-based approach in order to work more appropriately across multiple platforms.  The apps used included Dropbox and Evernote on my laptop, iPad, and iPhone, along with some ongoing collaboration with my wife's desktop computer.  It also included converting from using a word processor to using a real writing management system called Scrivener which tripled my productivity for addressing a more complex project such as Wine Sense.  And I learned some basic HTML and CSS to have more direct control over the final formatting of the book in electronic format so it would work properly across multiple devices and eReaders..

It is still my intent to still involve a support team, especially a graphic designer.  While I am somewhat innovative and creative when it comes to systems and technical problem solving, I lack creative visual design skills.  However, the more and more I worked to develop and optimize an integrated writing and publishing workflow, the more I fell in love with computers and technology again.  I wanted the ability to work collaboratively with my graphic designer and editor in an interactive and back-and-forth manner without having to pay designer for multiple changes in final layout.  Nor did I want to pay heavily for small tweaks to a basic layout design when I could do that myself.

Therefore I started to study and become more intrigued with some of the freeware tools to manipulate photos and other images.  My initial reaction is that the Adobe products were too high-end and too expensive.  I felt I had neither the budget nor the capabilities or experience to utilize these products.  But then I found out about Adobe Creative Cloud which includes Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver and about twenty other products for publishing and it was all for $49 per month if I signed up for one year.  I took two months reviewing strategies, continuing to optimize my writing workflows, and thinking about the commitment of time required.  Ultimately, I felt the $600 or so I would spend per year was well worth it in terms of what I would save by reducing the charges from graphic designers  and much more in the time it was taking fiddling around with integrating and trying to get precisely what I wanted from the freeware apps available.

So I have committed to the Adobe Creative Cloud.  Be aware that these products are extremely high end and have a very steep learning curve.  The products have matured over 25 years and they have thousands of features and thousands of different ways for doing things.  Some of the keyboard shortcuts require the use of three different keys and a mouse click!  These apps require some serious investment in time to become proficient.  I have read books, viewed online videos by Adobe, and tried to play around with the apps myself.  What is really getting me up to speed though is the tutorials I am taking with Lynda.com.  This is a great training site to provide training in many different areas including outstanding training courses and videos for the Adobe Creative Cloud product suite.

While the tools take some getting used to, they provide amazing capabilities to do exactly what you want.  It takes years to become a professional in just one of them and I am trying to come up to speed on four of them quickly.  But I am certain the savings in time and money for my current book and many books in the future is worth it.  While this approach works for me, I understand it may not work for everyone.  But if you need to have high-end design and want control over what you are doing, then the Adobe Creative Cloud is worth considering.  And if you want to learn the Adobe apps as quickly as possible, I would recommend signing up for Lynda.com.


Steve Shipley
SAZ in the Cellar Facebook page
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog SAZ in the Cellar
Steve Shipley Pinterest Boards

Tripling my writing productivity with Scrivener

First of all, I would not have believe it had you told me prior to using Scrivener that it would be possible to triple my productivity as a writer.  But I am certain that my productivity has increased that much or more.  In addition to Scrivener, I have been using several other tools such as Evernote and Dropbox which have helped also.  But Scrivener on its own is the heart of my writing management workflow now and is the primary reason my productivity has increased so much.

I describe my previous writing process in a blog I wrote recently.  To summarize, I was using Microsoft Word for writing and had a few different to-do lists of activities to finalize the efforts and get ready for publishing.  But my current WIP is much more complex and it is was clear that using Word and a few to-do lists was going to be extremely onerous in terms of bringing this effort to readiness for publication, yet alone to do so with high quality.  Read my previous blog to understand the research I did and why I choose Scrivener.

But where did the productivity from Scrivener emanate from?  How is it possible to see a three- or four-fold improvement?  The productivity gains came from the following areas:

• Scrivener is not just an editor and word processing system, but also a project management system and publishing system
• Scrivener has 'binders' which the manuscript comprises (divided into Parts, Chapters, and Sections as you see fit), but the binders can also be used for non-manuscript tasks (under a section called 'Notes' which means they are not to be included in final publication), for use such as research, to-do folders, links to editing and grammar tools, etc.  This greatly integrated into one file all aspects of the writing process, including content, tasks, links, etc.
• I have multiple Notes binders to keep status of and links to research folders, URLs, etc. so within one window, I can work and swap between all the elements of the writing process
• Each binder has a separate window for notes, comments, thoughts, etc. and there is an overall one at the writing project level (you can toggle between the project and the individual binder [usually a Chapter] sections)
• I can annotate comments, endnotes, footnotes, etc. as I am writing to later build a Bibliography and respective citations which is integrated into my writing and not an onerous task to do later 
• The same is true for my use of photos and 'Fun Fact' insets.  These would be major undertakings later in the process, but now they are integrated into the writing process and a by-product of my writing
• Scrivener provides multiple split windows to keep two different parts of the manuscript on the screen for cross-referencing and being able to cross-check linked sections.  This has saved me a tremendous amount of scrolling back and forth in Word when comparing related sections and ensuring I have placed the content in the appropriate section
• Each binder maintains meta-data used for status, binder type, etc. which helps you understand where you are and to manage the writing process
• I use Evernote and my iPad to take notes, regardless if I am highlighting research in a Kindle book or using post-it notes with a printed book to capture the citation when it is first identified.  These notes then are synched (I do a manual cut and paste) from Evernote into a general binder into Scrivener and then into the individual chapters and section of the book to help me complete my writing or re-writing
• I use Dropbox and Evernote to provide PDF files and other research to study on my iPad and then create notes into Evernote to be loaded back into Scrivener
• Scrivener has sophisticated 'Compile' options to many different formats including ePub, Kindle, RTF, PDF, etc. which can then be tested immediately (using Kindle Previewer) for formatting issues and your final publication can be debugged early on in terms of technical formatting issues

The previous individual tasks and lengthy processes of writing, re-writing, photography, citation, editing, and publishing are integrated into a single workflow which saves a great deal of time.  I have also integrated mind mapping with Scrivener which has worked great, but that is a topic for another blog.  Scrivener supported by Evernote has been a 'close to perfect' set of tools for a significantly improved writing workflow.  It matches perfectly the way I like to work, fits my sense of order and integrates writing with project management to ensure you get the job of writing completed expeditiously.

Without Scrivener, I would probably have to spend another eight to ten months to finish off my current effort for my book, Wine Sense.  As it is now though, I have hopes to finish it by the end of this year.  And if you want to follow the progress on the book and also win a bottle of wine, please follow me on SAZ in the Cellar, either on Facebook or at my wine blog and website!

© 2013 Steve Shipley.

Steve Shipley
SAZ in the Cellar Facebook page
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog SAZ in the Cellar
Steve Shipley Pinterest Boards

Living in the cloud

As children, most of dreamed of living in the clouds and being able to look down at others to see what they were doing.  Well, that has taken on quite a different meaning today with cloud computing.  I am assuming that anyone who is reading this has a basic definition of what cloud computing is.  In simplest terms, it is computing power to be consumed without really knowing or caring where it comes from.  I am writing this blog on the Google cloud or 'blogosphere.'  I do not have a copy of this blog on my laptop anywhere nor do I care where the contents resides.

That does not sound safe, does it?  What happens if the cloud goes away?  Or if the cloud owners deny me access?  How do I know that someone who works for the cloud company is not viewing or even stealing my ideas or data?  After all, didn't that just happen with that Snowden fellow in a big way?

But more and more I am using the cloud and using the cloud much more effectively.  For my day job, I work for one of the largest and most successful cloud companies there is - EMC.  Our livelihood is dependent on your data being safe and secure.  We also know there are tremendous benefits in cloud computing for large corporations and for individuals.

I am an individual who likes to be in control.  I want to manage my own fate and have control over how things function.  On a personal level, I have been a late arriving user of cloud computing, but that is changing rapidly.  I was getting tired of carrying around a laptop everywhere I go to have my data on hand with me.  Even then, not all of my data is with me as I have a lot stored on our NAS.  While much of the NAS is backed-up copies or archived information, but I occasionally require access to it and I never know when or how often that occurs.  But it has several times in the last few years, and I have had to do without.

But cloud computing removes my data from any given device such as my laptop and makes it accessible wherever I can tap into a computing device, be it my smart phone or my tablet, or another laptop or desktop computer somewhere.  Therefore, the first big benefit of cloud computing is that I can get access to my data, anywhere and at any time as long as I have mobile access.  (I am never without mobile access!)  I can then share my data across a multitude of platforms and with other individuals.

I have over 1,000 electronic books and can share them across my phone, my tablet and my eBook reader as required, and the point I left off and any highlighting or marginalia is synchronized when I leave one device and go to another.  I also started using Evernote to clip websites, email, pictures and other useful things for which I wanted a record.  I used to use Notepad to write to-dos, ideas, and record other information, but have now found Evernote to be so much better.  I can brainstorm and mind map one of my writing projects on my tablet and then send it to myself (to be loaded into my authoring management system) or another person.  I also use it to collaborate and share information on writing projects with other people.

More and more of my applications are used 'in the cloud.'  By choosing the right applications and establishing the proper workflow, I have increased my writing productivity by 300% - 400%.  That is a significant improvement!  By using cloud computing, I have achieved the following benefits:

• 300% - 400% increase in productivity in many areas
• Much better end-to-end workflows without losing train of thought
• Virtually no capital outlay or expenditure
• Significantly reduced need to carry data and computing power around with me, and be able to use the simplest of devices to get most things accomplished
• Ability to collaborate and share workloads with others in controlled manner
• Ability to retrieve things even if I forgot to bring them along
• Significant reduction on physical notepads, post-it notes, and hand-scratched to-do lists

And what about the issue of backing things up and making sure I have access to them?  For really critical things like my 150 wine blog posts, I regularly export them and store a copy on my local NAS (or even a USB stick now that they store so much!)  Or I back up and synchronize between clouds.  I have free access to 120 GBs of Cloud data across four cloud environments, which is far, far more than I require.  Therefore, if I truly was concerned about the risk of not having access to my one of my clouds, I could retrieve the information from another one.  And things are so easy now that I set up my own self-hosted website and built the website in several hours, having moved 150 wine blog posts from Blogger to Wordpress.  

More and more I am living in the clouds!  And really enjoying it and benefiting from it.  You should consider the same if you have not already.  And if that Snowden guy really wants to see what my wife and I have on our joint shopping list, accessible by all of our devices, then he can have at it!


Steve Shipley
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My wine blog:  SAZ in the Cellar
My Blake Stevens blog: From Blake's Bookshelf
Still Stupid at Sixty in Amazon Kindle Store