A Compliment
A reader writes: "I recently picked up your book on the Fieldstone method of writing, and I realized that it exactly fits my style. I've been collecting fieldstones for years but didn't realize it and therefore haven't used them or collected as effectively as I could. Several years ago I even threw away a good-sized notebook full of what I now realize were fieldstones, just because I didn't really know what to do with them or how to use them and they seemed to be just sitting around and taking up space [sigh]. I'm still working my way through your book, taking on the exercises as you describe them and working to internalize the process. Always having pen/paper available is again something that I've sort of done, but now I'm being adamant about that with myself. So, as always, thank you for a thought- and action-provoking read!"
A Complaint
I blushed to read this, but this kind of feedback is the food that energizes a writer. It also sets them up to listen when the reader continues with a complaint:
"One question: you mentioned in Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method that you eventually transcribe your stones to the computer. I've often deliberated about how best to do that, even going so far as to look at unstructured database-type tools (such as Ask Sam, for example). I found the reference to EndNote (that was worth a stickie. I'm one of those 'can't yet highlight books' folks.) , but I didn't see any reference to the tools that you use for actually collecting and searching your stones. Did I miss it, or am I just trying to complicate something simple? I've always wanted a marginally structured way to capture the basic information, then add date, tags (and possibly links to websites, images, etc.) and later organize/search for what I want. I'm now experimenting with a simple web application to allow me to do that. Anyway, I was wondering what tools you used for your basic stonepile."
A Response
After that complimentary feedback, how could I refuse this request?
Well, you didn't miss it. I guess I didn't say exactly what tools I use because
1. there are so many available
2. I have changed over the years, as new and better tools became available
3. I use a combination.
So, because of 3, my first criterion is that the tools don't use esoteric/private formats that can't be ported to new tools that come along.
Right now, my primary tool is a Mac app called Mori (an upgrade from a previous tool called Hog Bay Notebook). Mori doesn't seem to be available on PCs, but its makers recommend a similar PC app called NoteLens. It's like an internal wiki and more, so I can organize in various ways at the same time, with links, outlines, and easy shuffling and sorting.
Mori seems able to store anything, but sometimes I keep large files (drawings, pictures) as regular Mac files (though sometimes these same things go into Mori later). It also offers many customizable views of the data, though I haven't played much with those. It's such a rich system that it would be easy to lose oneself playing around with it, but for me it's just a tool, not a plaything. I do use a different view for novels than I do for non-fiction works. I also use a Mori notebook to store all my contact information, like publishers and agents and plumbers.
I keep a separate Mori notebook for each different project, but, as you know, lots of stones don't immediately suggest what pile (past or future) they might go in. I have one Mori notebook for misc. unclassified stones, but these tend to wind up in ordinary Mac files and folders, which I peruse every so often to see if some of those stones now fit some project. (I have maybe twenty projects going at the same time that are sufficiently well-conceived to have their own Mori notebook.)
Now that storage is so cheap, I save all notebooks (and, of course, back them up regularly in several ways), even for completed or abandoned projects. I'm almost to the point where I'll create a separate Mori meta-notebook cataloging all my Mori notebooks. I could keep them all in one huge Mori notebook, but that somehow doesn't seem prudent or efficient. I may change my mind on that, but as an old-timer, I still fear losing every stone if somehow Mori should choke on too large a database.
In any case, I'm always looking for ways to improve my handling of fieldstones, and I would be pleased to hear readers' comments on what they use and how they use it.
8 comments:
I just thought of an interesting tool to have -- an "associative memory tickler".
As I write something (document, field-stone, blog entry, email) an always-running local search engine would discreetly list related documents, field-stones, blog entries, emails somewhere off the to the side.
Sort of like google-ads that appear to the side of google search results and gmail -- but for my own stuff.
The problem this solves is that I never read my field-stones after I write them.
Keith, this is a great idea. I don't know of such a tool yet, but one could very well exist because all the components exist. There is a web tool that automatically creates links for words in a text, and there are search engines (like Spotlight on my Mac) that show you every place on my machine where a word or phrase exists. I just used that today to look up where I'd used the word "bebugging," but of course I had to make the request manually. Connecting two such apps could give you the associative memory tickler you're seeking.
Thanks for the specifics. I too use Mori to collect Fieldstones. Once, however, I start a project like a new book, I move the notes to something else.
What something else? Well...
I don't know yet. I guess I put all the notes into a document and slowly expand.
One thing I have heard that people use is a wiki tool locally. I downloaded MAMP (Macintosh Apache MySQL PHP) and MediaWiki. I can easly put expanded notes on a page and link the pages together.
Sometimes I wonder if I am playing with tools too much and writing too little.
The MAMP MediWiki experiment taught me a few things about Internet technology and other things. The learning was worth the time.
Dwayne wrote: "I guess I put all the notes into a document and slowly expand."
I forgot to tell that part. I do something similar, but don't put ALL the notes into a document. I tend to do this one chapter at a time, and about two-thirds of the fieldstones are little things that I sprinkle into the ms. when I need something—perhaps a quotation for non-fiction or a setting for fiction.
I also move notes into the notebook as, say, a novel develops. For instance, if I have a character drinking IBC Root Beer in one scene, I move that fact onto the notes for that character. That way, I try to make sure their tastes don't change and they keep their eyes the same color throughout.
When I'm done, I probably have twice as many notes as I started with, and only about half of the original notes have found themselves directly in the ms. Then, for a novel, there are about a quarter of the notes that are background that don't appear directly in the novel.
When the project is out the door, I go back and salvage those fieldstones I didn't use at all, throwing them back in my general stone pile, or sifting them into other projects if I can see a plausible place for them.
I just realized there's another thing I've been doing for the past couple of years which fits into this model and which has worked very well for me.
I read quite a lot and want to make notes, so I keep a small sheet or two of paper inside each book I'm reading and collect any quotes, ideas, comments about the book on those sheets. Once I'm done, I've got all my notes and they're all in one place, so I have a great reference about the book itself.
At the moment I'm pretty happy with MoinMoin (a wiki implementation) for a fieldstone pile. That was one of my bigger reactions to Jerry's writing book - I wanted that file system.
I have two experiments pending,
- Using a flat-file local installation of MoinMoin, Beagle ought to be able to do keyword indexing. Haven't tried that yet.
- In the opposite direction, since it is a web app after all, I ought to be able to set things up so I can get at my stone pile remotely from any browser.
Neither is urgent. Of course, I've already decided on the reward-myself purchase for my next big client. I'm getting a Mac, which may make all this moot.
None of this is stopping me from gathering or actually arranging and trimming fieldstones. It is a great way of working that eliminates what has been my biggest impediment to writing for publication. I've always been stuck remembering that I said or thought it better some other time, but not what I said or thought.
Onward . . .
I heartily recommend a Mac app called "Notebook" by Circus Ponies. Automatic indexing; easy linking, drag and drop sorting, Web clipping service, handles graphics well. Integrated with iCal for any date-based entries. Cost: $50.
I often use the auto-index to look at what I've been writing and watch the patterns emerge (the word "coffee" occurs most often). There's also a great highlighting system by which I categorize stuff by color...and can then show myself only pink entries, only yellow entries, etc.
I don't know the tools discussed here but tiddlywiki seems promising. Just starting out so can't speak from successful publishing.
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