You made it back! Are you as excited for today’s posts as I am? The Literary Lodge is fairly buzzing about these great tools of the trade! I wonder how many of them are already being used by some of you writers. If you use one already, leave me a comment and tell me. I’d love to know.
The hardest part today is going to be choosing which of these tools you think will be the most helpful to you right now. And then getting it. I can’t wait to see what everyone is sharing about. But let me tell you about mine first before you run off.
When I first started writing, I wrote with pencil and paper. I had a big, fat notebook that I used and I was rapidly filling up. But there was a problem. This meant that I had to type it all up onto the computer and that took more time. I tried composing directly onto the computer, but my creativity vanished at the intimidating white screen with its blinking cursor. Ugh! What I needed was an electric typewriter. Something that I could type my stories on away from the computer, but not have to type it into the computer later. Not long after I first mentioned that idea. I discovered NEO. Two days later I had mine ordered and I’ve never gone back to paper and pencil.
This lightweight devise runs on 3 AA batteries for . . . 700 hours! It never gets hot like a laptop does, it automatically saves everything you type so you don’t have to save it. It has 8 different files so you can have 8 different stories going on at once. There is a spell check, a find and replace, cut, copy, paste, delete, and when you have typed your story up, you simply plug it into your computer, hit send, and go off to do something else while it transfers your story to your word document. This little friend has been my writing companion for many years now and I don’t know what I’d do without it. Read my 10 reasons I love NEO here.
Unfortunately, the last time I checked, they don’t make them anymore, but you can still get them on ebay. It’s worth every penny. In fact, I think I need to go and order a back up one just in the sad chance that my NEO ends up dying down the road.
Now go find out what tools the other authors are recommending. And yes, I’m coming too. And don’t forget your Free download!
Game Time!
Rules: Follow the blog trail by clicking on the blog button below and then on button featured on the next blog and so on. Each blog will have a few bold, colorful words. (They probably will stick out Writing and not fit in with the post. See what I mean?) Collect all these words from each blog. (And yes, that is your first word.) Together they will form a quote about writing. Once you have completed the quote, type it into the giveaway space and get your extra entries. Have fun!
Giveaway!
What’s a party without a giveaway? We have an exciting Grand Prize for you writers out there, so be sure you enter. And we have 2nd and 3rd place prizes too.
You must actually complete the entries you mark as completed. Any winning entry will be verified and any entries that weren’t actually completed will be disqualified.
Grand Prize:
Paper copy of The Emotion Thesaurus- $5.00 Amazon Gift Card
- Free Cover Design by Victoria Lynn
- $30 Blog Tour Orchestration by Faith Blum
- Free Edit of up to 5000 words by Erika Mathews
2nd Place:
- $10.00 Amazon Gift Card
3rd Place:
- $5.00 Amazon Gift Card
Hi Rebekah,
I’ve heard about those NEOs before. What documents can it send and transfer your stories to? I have Microsoft works word processor and word pad and rich text document. Would it be able to send my writings to one of those? And how do you tell it which one to send it to?
Thank you for sharing!
Love
Ashley
Hi Ashley,
Somehow your comment slipped through I didn’t see it until just now. So it did work. 🙂
NEO will transfer to any document. I’ve done emails as well as stories. Just open the one you want to sent it to, and then transfer from NEO.
Hi Rebeka. I tried handwriting once too, mostly just to keep writing when I got tired of being on the computer, but it took so long, hurt my hand (I also knit and crochet, so my hand was like, “You want me to handwrite large portions of story too? Haha, nope!”) and then there was that problem of having to type it all up later. Since giving up on that, I’ve decided I’m fine writing almost exclusively on my trusty ol’ laptop, but Neo does sound like a good alternative if you need one. I bet it doesn’t strain your eyes as much either since it looks like there isn’t a backlit screen involved. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Yes, NEO saves my eyes. There is no light on NEO at all so it’s very nice. And I can take it anywhere without having to plug it in or anything. It is a wonderful thing for serious writers. 🙂
Wow, I’d never heard of NEO–it sounds great! I write on the computer currently, which is okay, but not conducive to long periods of time writing, or of going anywhere I want. Hmm. I shall look into this! Thanks, Rebekah!
NEO is my best writing friend ever! 🙂
I’m having trouble finding one on Ebay. Do they come up often?
I was actually just finding some. I was thinking about getting a lot of them if others were interested (that would save you and anyone else the trouble of trying to find the right thing). It would probably cost about $12.00 + whatever the shipping to you would be. If you are interested, let me know ASAP as I’d like to order before Friday. 🙂
Ooh, I remember seeing someone using one of these at a NaNoWriMo write-in! 🙂 Very cool. I think the tiny screen would drive me nuts, so I will probably stick to my laptop, but it’s very neat and I love when people use not-so-current devices that are still better than a lot of the modern things. XD
I didn’t know if I’d like the small screen either, but I can’t make the font small enough so I can see 6 lines at once and it doesn’t bother me. I think it actually helps me focus because I don’t get distracted by rereading other parts. 🙂
I very nearly decided to share about my Dana Alphasmart since I love using it so much! I’m glad you covered it though, since it’s definitely not to be missed!
🙂 I’m actually going to be ordering more NEOs (I’ve never tried the Danas) tomorrow or Friday, so if you know of anyone who wants one, I’ll probably order a larger assortment of them (cheaper that way) so the price would only be $12.00 + shipping.
Oh, that’s a good thought! You should post a status on Goodreads about it!
I will. After I finish commenting on your post. 😉
Ha, ha! Great!!
I’ve heard about the Neo from several different places, but for some reason the way you wrote it up made me realize it might actually work for me. I’ll add that to my “get sometime soon” list. =) Thanks! And great idea having a link directly to the next blog on the tour–it made it very easy to follow. =)
~ Liberty Bluebelle
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
I love NEO! I’m actually going to be getting a backup one and since it is cheaper to get more than one at once I’m offering to get some for others. One other writers already wants one. It would be about $12.00 + shipping and comes with the USB cord to plug it into your computer to transfer the stories. If you are interested, let me know. And if you have questions, just ask. 🙂 I’m planning on ordering tomorrow or Friday.
Oh, and glad the buttons made it easier for you to follow the trail. 🙂
A bulk order? I’m definitely interested! I’d love one of these.
Then I’ll make sure I have one for you. 🙂
Hi, Rebekah!
Guess what I got! I’m enjoying it quite well already. How do you check word count?
Thanks so much for writing about it!
In Joy,
Liberty
“Rejoice evermore.” =)
Really?! How fun!!!!!! 😀 Yay! I’m so glad you are enjoying it. To check your word count, press ctrl-W and that will pull up the word count, character count, paragraphs and pages count. 🙂 Have fun writing! And let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂
Oh, yes it is fun! I had no idea how much it would improve my writing output! Thanks again, and I’ll be sure to let you know if I have questions. =) Liberty
🙂 Anything that helps improve your word count is a plus. 😉
Ooh! This is interesting! I have always written by hand because of portability and never trying to have much screen time. I can write pretty fast, though, still not as fast as I type. I might be interested in giving one of these a try, though I still prefer hand writing for the most part. Thanks for the post Rebekah!
I liked writing by hand and couldn’t type very fast until I got NEO. I love it! (I think I’ve said that.) I love being able to take it anywhere and still write. I’ve written in the car, to the polls, outside, standing up, sitting down, . . . Anyplace, any time. NEO is always ready to work. 🙂
Sounds awesome. . . I want one. 😀
Will do. 😀
That’s a very neat device, Rebekah. I’m glad that it works so well for you. Thankfully using my laptop for writing hasn’t put a damper on my creativity. I’m thankful for that, but should that ever change, I’ll have to remember NEO. 🙂 😉
Thanks for sharing. Now, off to the other conference rooms!
-Bekah
You’re welcome, Bekah. Yes, I’m thankful for a way to write without the stress of a blank screen. 😉
Enjoy the other rooms!
Hilarious! That was the second choice I was going to pick to write about it I didn’t pick the WriteMind Planner. I love my Alfie (the name I picked for mine).
Oh, that’s funny! Kate was going to do her Alphasmart, but decided to go with the WriteMind Planner instead. 😀 So three of use use and love our NEOs. 😉 That’s great! I decided I’m going to order a backup for mine just in case I need it down the road. (And my Z key came loose and I’m not sure how to fix it.)