My Writing Buddies - Scrivener and Freedom

Writing a book takes a lot of time and focus. Ask any author and they'll tell you that the daily sit down and write is not the easiest thing in the world. It involves plenty of frustration and procrassination that none of us are very proud of.

Yesterday, I got mad at myself as I had a full day that I planned to dedicate to my new book, but for some reason at the end of the day I looked back and had not written a single word for it. Sure, I got other things done, but still I wasn't happy.

This morning I was reading the latest from Julien Smith and it kicked me right between the eyes. I'm happy to say that as I write this I've already written another 2,000 words for the book.

How did I do it? With the amazing combo of Scrivener and Freedom.

Any author not using Scrivener is missing out. I wish I had this when writing Content Rules because it would have made life MUCH easier all around. It allows me to outline my thoughts and attack the book one idea at a time rather than being stuck scared of whole chapters. It is worth every penny and is an authors secret weapon I believe. Buy a copy of Scrivener for either Windows or for Mac. (affiliate links)

Freedom, is a tiny app that I need that does one thing and does it well. It gives you freedom from the Internet.

I'm easily distracted by checking Twitter, my inbox and that dreaded little red box from Google+

We are all guilty of finding ourselves clicking around aimlessly and suddenly an hour has gone by. In worse case scenarios, this can turn into a day worth of not getting much done.

Freedom asks you one question, "How much time do you want free from the Internet?" and when you put in a number it locks off the web from you for that time. There is no countdown clock or panic button. It is a direct intervention against your internet addiction.

From now on I'm going to start every day with a minimum of an hour of Scrivener and Freedom. They are my dynamic duo and best friends right now.

Thank you Julien for the kick in the ass and the reminder to focus. I needed it today.