Save On 10 Or Less

(Yeah, I made a Dungeons and Dragons reference in the title...so? :P )

Regardless of what anyone will tell you, serious writing is not only work, but it's a lot of work. A lot of hard work. And, like with anything else worth doing, you want to do it right as well as protect your investment of not only time, but mental energy.

I don't have a lot of things worth saving at the moment but ,when I do though, I want to make sure that my work is safe in terms of me not losing it to some computer glitch.

I guess, probably, the most safe method would be to write everything out, longhand, and have hard copies lying around. No thanks...my handwriting is wonky enough as it is...especially being left handed. I'm not knocking this method, mind you, I know of quite a few people who still do this and there's nothing wrong with it....it's just not for me. Of course, hard copies could also get destroyed, eaten by a dog, accidentally thrown away, etc., so even that's not a foolproof solution.

At this point, I mainly have two backup methods for my ideas, stories, characters, and the like.

My main being Google Drive, though I know a lot of people use/used Dropbox just the same. Storing things "in the cloud" lets you access it from any computer or device so you don't have to worry about a hard drive crash or any other sort of hardware incident. I really like this method....it syncs between my two laptops and Android and my stuff is always there and waiting. I think it gives you four or five gigabytes for free and you can upgrade to more if you want to pay for the service. When I need my work, I just click on the desktop link and there it is....simple.

My other preferred method is the "jump (or flash) drive, which I really like as well. They're easy to use and you can take them with you. The downside is, as with any other physical item, they can be lost, stolen, destroyed. You can also run into the data being corrupted as well as needing a USB port to plug it into. All in all, though, I find the jump drive to be pretty reliable...the advantage of it being that you don't need an Internet connection, as you do with "the cloud".

Two of my favorite jump (or should that be flight?) drives.

What about you?

What do you like to use as far as saving your work goes? 

Do you use one of the two methods I described or something even simpler?

Tumblin' Dice

"I must consult the bones..."

No, this post has nothing to do with the Rolling Stones song , but everything to do with a neat little bit of coolness that I picked up at the store today.

It's called Rory's Story Cubes and comes with nine, six sided, dice with various pictures on each side, a small 'rules' (though they're more like guidelines) sheet, and an orange drawstring bag.

Described as a "pocket sized creative story generator"  the instructions guidelines suggest the following uses:

• Party game or ice breaker
• Problem solving
• Creative inspiration
• Speaking and listening skills
• Mental workout
• Literacy development

The flip-side of the sheet describes three styles of play, whether solo or with friends, and those are only scratching the surface. I thought they'd be neat for doing some flash fiction or even giving the old creative juices a jump start when stuck for a scene in an even longer story.

I always like coming across these nifty little surprises in helping foster creativity. For about $8.00, I didn't think I could go wrong.

If you're interested in finding out more about the Story Cubes check out their site, here.

The above picture is a roll I did prior to typing this up and, since this is a 'writing' blog and all, I figured I'd try a little flash fiction for an inaugural run


Once upon a time there was a very unsuccessful actor [twin masks] who wasn't sure what his life would be like if he wasn't able to do the thing he loved most....acting. Time and time again, he was told "Look kid, you're just no good." Laying in bed one night, he made a decision. Not wanting to give up his dream, yet knowing he had to make money, he decided to try his hand at being a private investigator [magnifying glass]. There he could make his own hours and still try to land acting jobs.

Getting his license was easy enough, getting paying clients....well, that was another story. He printed up business cards and began spreading the word that he was available for work. The main problem being that people in town all knew him as 'that bad actor fellow'. A break came his way when a young woman, from the nearby Dakota Indian reservation [wigwam] arrived wanting to hire him for a mysterious case. You see, the reservation was remote enough that, while word had gotten out about a new investigator in town, the fact that he had also been a failed actor had not. She told the tale of how she was the guardian of the last bit of the "Tree of Life" [tree]. This mystical tree had been under her tribe's protection for centuries, each protector being a member of her bloodline. The tree had many amazing qualities. It could cure the sick, make the old young, extend one's life, and even raise the dead. Thieves, war, and the ravages of time itself had taken it's toll on the tree, reducing the once proud object to a mere leaf. When the detective expressed his skepticism, the woman implored him to help her. The police were of no use and every other investigator had laughed her out of their offices.

He was her last hope.

Knowing a little bit what it was like to have your hopes and dreams dashed he, reluctantly, took the case. Though he wasn't the best actor out there, he had determination and decided that if it was the last thing he'd do, he'd find that Leaf of Life.

The case started off easy, at first, then things began to get tougher. Trails cooled and the weeks began turning into months. The months into years....many moons, as the Indians would say [moon]. The case took him all over the world [planet] and it affected his health. His determination never wavered, though, and he finally did find the Leaf....but, the toll it took on his body was evident [cane]as he came back to the Dakota woman battered and broken, but with a new found gleam in his eye.

She smiled and thanked the detective as he handed over the leaf, noting his new demeanor, while feeling bad for his sorry physical condition.

"Aww...don't feel bad, sweetheart", he told her with a wry grin, "this was the best thing that ever happened to me. It gave me something I had been missing all those years while I was trying to become an actor. It gave me new insight into life....it gave me character. One could say it gave me a more magnetic personality." [magnet]

"My tribe is grateful to you." she said.

"Not for returning the leaf, anyone could have done that, but for doing what no one else was willing to do for us."

"Believing."

The detective smiled as she took his hand and placed the leaf in it.

"Take this", she said, "eat it and it will cure you. As the Tree's protector it is not only my right.....but my honor to give this to you. Take this and follow your dream. You are ready now."

Not knowing what to say, he simply ate the leaf. The change was almost immediate as his broken body began healing itself. Old wounds were healed as old skin was made young again. The gleam in his eye became even brighter and he stood proud and tall. He now knew he could do anything he set his mind to...his confidence and resolve seemed to be made from the finest tempered steel. There was absolutely nothing he couldn't accomplish.

Then, he woke up. He had, it seemed, dreamed the whole thing.

Still in his old bed, in his old apartment, still a failed actor.

Or was he?

He shook his head and smiled. No, he wasn't a failure....he was only untapped potential. He somehow knew that life was his oyster. All he had to do was find the right knife to pry open the shell.

The years he dreamed, the experiences, the things he had learned....they couldn't be real could they?

In the end, it didn't matter. He knew what he should do. He gave up his pursuit of acting and dedicated his life to helping others find their dreams. While the man never became famous, he did become fulfilled. He married, had a family....children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren [house].

To some, he had been a failed actor but, in their eyes, he was the biggest star in the world.

The End

(Trivia Question: Which movie is the picture caption from?) 

Secret (Geeky) Origins!

My wife and I were talking, as we do often, about what things were like when we were young. Mainly about things like television, movies, and music. It was definitely a different time back then and, of course, reminiscing about bygone days usually makes them seem better then they were. This is especially true when thinking about old t.v. shows that I used to watch as a kid. Two of my favorites were Ultra-Man and Speed Racer. Looking back on them now, I always get a chuckle and wonder just how I thought they were so great. Of course, in my defense, I was just a kid.

All that said, though, it did get me to thinking about just when, exactly, I realized that I was different from other kids. The term different referring to my love of science fiction and fantasy or, 'geeky', as they say these days.

Now, as the legend goes....told by an old bard  (my mother)....I learned to read before I was in kindergarten. She's always told the tale of how, at a parent/teacher conference, my teacher asked her what they were doing at home that had taught me how to read so well. My mother's answer was....absolutely nothing. Not that she said that proudly, it's just how it was. They never read to me or encouraged me to read in any other manner besides giving me Golden Books and comic books. Mom later observed that I had taught myself to read by watching Mister Roger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street. Again, this is her tale, so I can't really validate it 100%. I do remember, though, being able to recognize words in kindergarten and knowing what they meant when I saw them on paper.

Anyway, the gist of the legend is that I started reading comic books at a very early age. Everything from Archie, Sad Sack, Richie Rich, and Batman. As I got older the list grew and branched out into actual novels...The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, etc. Whether it was because I liked to spend my time reading and drawing, things that made me use my imagination, I ever got into such things as watching sports (though I always played them, oddly enough) or more (at the time) 'socially acceptable' things. Back then, if you told someone you read comic books it would garner, at the very least, odd looks....especially if you were older.

So, it was back in 1978 when I realized that I wasn't, exactly, like everyone else. I remember seeing a preview for a t.v. show called The Return of Captain Nemo and counting down the days until it was on. While I don't remember how great of a show it really was, I remember my ten year old self thought it was pretty darn cool. The next day at school we were going somewhere for a field trip and I was asking people on the bus how they liked that Captain Nemo show. Not a kid on that bus had watched it.

I was stunned. So stunned, as a matter of fact, that I still remember it, to this day, just how stunned I was. I mean, really?? I had thought everyone would be as excited about watching it as I had been and they'd all be chomping at the bit to talk about it. Nope. Nothing. I remember going home and telling my mom just how flabbergasted I was that no one had even watched Captain Nemo. She just smiled and told me that it was o.k., and that we all liked different things.

It was on that bus, during a school field trip, that I realized that I was a little (arguably) different from the rest. While I was watching things like The Return of Captain Nemo, they were watching baseball and football. While I was reading and drawing, they were collecting baseball cards and jumping their bikes over makeshift ramps. It wasn't that I ever 'felt' different, but I knew I wasn't considered 'the norm'.

It's funny how things turn and enjoying comic books, science fiction, and fantasy doesn't carry quite the social stigma it did back when I was young.

So, if you're of the 'geeky' persuasion, when did YOU realize that you weren't quite like everyone else?

What's your "Geeky Origin"?