For most of us, winter time means a time to be prepared for weather problems, power outages, and other seasonal woes. (Maybe you live in a land without winter, but I’ll bet most of you understand snow storms, ice storms, torrential downpours, and other winter weather delights.)
As a writer, are you prepared for weather emergencies, or does your business simply shut down when the power shuts down? You probably are prepared with generators, battery backups, flashlights, emergency lights, and emergency radios. Maybe you just have something as simple as candles and matches around, but you probably could get buy for a little while, anyway, if weather emergencies hit where you live. (We have a crank-powered multi-band radio, some candles and matches, some flashlights and extra batteries.)
But are you prepared to keep writing if weather woes shut you down?
I mention this because I have written in the past of some pretty nice, simple solutions to writing portability and dependability. Specifically, I’ve mentioned the trusty little AlphaSmart Neo I enjoy using regularly. It’s a great little text creating tool, and if you’re accustomed to using a keyboard when you write, it’s a handy option to pen and paper.
And, of course, there is that option, too — getting reacquainted with the writer’s longtime friends, Mr. Pen and Mr. Paper. I’ve probably mentioned a friend of mine who began is novel writing career using pens and steno pads he had around the house. He would come home from work and, while the family all sat around and watched TV of an evening, he would scribble notes and ideas in the steno pads. (Last I knew he had more than 130 genre novels published and is still going strong. Hi, Frank.)
So, whether we’re talking about winter’s ice storms and blizzard white-outs or summer’s AC induced brown-outs, be ready. Don’t let weather emergencies plunge your writing into the dark.
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