Back in the land of the living – As far as writing is concerned
During the summertime when I only have one day off per week. I really don’t get a lot of writing done. You can just imagine how happy I get on the 1st of October when I’m suddenly free and able to get into the swing of putting words onto pages once more. It does take a couple of days to adjust to having the freedom and being able to get organised. As a full-time writer during the winter I have to set out what I want to do during the day from Monday to Friday. If I don’t have any sort of plan then it’s very easy to just waste time and get very little done. There are some things in life you just can’t get out of. Like the time you need to shave, walk the dog and do that eating thing. The time in between has to be worked to death and used efficiently. I can forget about getting much done during the weekend when my wife is at home. Besides, it is a good idea to have some time off to let the ideas percolate in the skull before letting them loose again on Monday morning.
Blogging – Is it worth it?
I enjoy blogging and I spent quite a bit of time doing it. I think I’d find it hard to give it up completely. There are times though when I think I should cut back on the number of blogs I maintain and write for. I have a blog for my Mac activities Mac20Q, another blog in which I write about mobile computing NoStylus. Then there is the Spondicious photography blog as well as this blog for Good and Geeky books. I’m starting to wonder if I should consolidate some of these domains and blogs together and give myself less work to do with blogging. It is necessary to have some sort of web presence, but my problem is that I’m interested in too many things. It’s too easy to spread yourself out too thinly.
Technology writing or fiction
I have a desire to write fiction and I have written a 50,000 word novel for Nanowrimo. That was a couple of years ago and I have thought about doing it again. A couple of ideas I have about stories for novels have got to the point where I’ve written several thousand words. Scenes and chapters have been written, characters have been created, but nothing has been finished. It seems like maybe this year’s Nano is beckoning me.
Good and Geeky Books
One of the first books in the series of Good and Geeky books was about photography and is in dire need of updating. I’m considering writing a completely new version of this to take into account the new software and new hardware we have available for creating photographic art. We have the excellent camera now available on the iPhone 7. There is the Photos application by Apple. Photos keeps getting better internally and also for working with third-party applications like Aurora HDR 2017 and Affinity Photo. On top of that there are the excellent photo manipulation tools available to us on iOS and my favourite of these is iColorama. The application goes way beyond the notion of just slapping a filter across the top of a good photo and making it a moody looking. It’s possible to create marvellous innovative artwork on the iPad or even on the iPhone.
What about this for an idea for a book?
It’s come to my notice that there are many older citizens who don’t want to get left behind by the technology boat. They no longer are content to pass the TV remote to some younger person to set up and use on their behalf. My mum for instance has bought herself an iPhone and iPad and delights in finding out how to do new things. I’m toying with an idea of having a book specifically aimed at the older generation. The book could be a how-to guide and show in a chatty and friendly way various technological activities. We could have a chapter of how to send encrypted emails. Another chapter on how to create a meme style image with an interesting picture and with text over the top. There could be a chapter about how to get the best out of the messages applications. How to use stickers and effects as well as using emoji icons to make messages more interesting. I could show how easy it is to set up a blog and to write about something you’re interested in. Considering the explosion now of AI type of devices such as the Amazon Echo and the Google Home products we could have chapters on how to interact verbally with our computers. How to ask questions and get sensible answers from Siri or Alexa. There’s lots of ways that life can be enhanced by using the abilities of our technological personal assistants. Older folks often complain about having worse memories than youngsters. It would be good to show how make the best use of applications to give reminders. How to set a reminder that will pop up when you arrive at a place or when you leave the house. How to use map applications to find your way to a place.
Tell me what you think
If you’re one of these older folks who would like to learn how to do something with your computers or mobile devices, then let me know. Maybe you know somebody who is struggling with technology and would benefit from such a book. Let me know what things they are finding difficult. I am a TecnoGrandad and I love using tech to make things better for me. I’m hoping Apple come up with a product to rival the Amazon Echo and Google Home. An updated Apple TV would be fantastic. Add some microphones and speakers to the device we already have in the living room.
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