February 3, 2013

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: a review

By Peter Labrow

I’m sure the person who bought me this as a present has no idea that one of my fascinations in life is old photographs. Many’s the time I flick through them in junk shops, wondering, what exactly is the story behind each picture? Those two people, posing – lovers? Friends? Friends having an affair that no one ever found out about? That building – where is it? Does it still exist? Who lived there? Who died there?

Such is the premise behind the at first charming, at times puzzling and frequently dark Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Young Jacob’s fascination for his grandfather’s old, other-worldly photographs leads him into a world he couldn’t suspect existed – as he tries to come to terms with tragedy and with memories he knows must be impossible.

The prose is punctuated by the photographs themselves, giving the book not just something visual as an anchor but creating a deeper, more brooding atmosphere.

It’s a book of many different tones. Its language is efficient, keeping the reader moving. Its ideas sparkle with originality, fun and fear. Like the peat-bog in the story itself, the narrative keeps shifting under the reader’s feet – as you’re led into strange dark places that grow darker still as you read on. It’s also frequently gripping, with a real sense of jeopardy that increases in scale as the book progresses.

Jacob sets out to discover the truth behind his grandfather’s past at an orphanage on a remote Welsh island, but finds only the crumbling ruins of the past – the children long gone, the orphanage a ruin being reclaimed by nature. Yet as Jacob explores, he finds that the past may not be as far away as he thought.

That’s enough spoilers. I’ve had something of a ‘reading dry spell’ and this was exactly the right kind of book to break it. It seems light to begin with, but soon pulls you into its dark world. The children are not the prissy youths of so much fantasy fiction, but streetwise, sassy and conflicted. It’s well-written, with just one passage feeling oh-so-much like a scene from Woman in Black – but the rest shimmered with originality. It’s also a book that’s hard to categorise – young adult? Possibly? Horror? In parts. It dances between genres niftily, stealing from them what it will and deftly avoiding sinking in any of them.

2 Comments | posted in Reading

January 2, 2013

Remembering Gerry Anderson

By Peter Labrow

Over the Christmas break, one of the true heroes of my life sadly passed away: the great Gerry Anderson.

Like most people of my age, my first exposure to Gerry’s work was as a child. The opening bars of each of his shows called us to gather eagerly around the television, captivated in turn by Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Joe 90.

Famously, Gerry was frustrated by being known as ‘the puppet guy’ – he wanted to make serious films with live actors. (Of course, that day came with UFO and Space: 1999 – both blockbuster hits.) Yet I doubt that if he’d gone straight into live action that his legacy would be anywhere near as rich.

Out of financial necessity, Gerry created children’s television shows, using increasingly sophisticated puppets. Though sponsored and trusted by the great Lew Grade, he was squeezed tightly on budget – Grade knew that Anderson could deliver the goods, but he needed to turn a decent profit too.

And, where other filmmakers might be enjoying the luxury of large sound-stages and studio facilities, Anderson had to make do with a cramped unit on a Slough trading estate.

All of these restrictions were fuel to a unique creative fire. Tight budgets meant solving problems in an inventive way. Working for children meant that imaginations could run wild. A small set meant that people worked together closely; new techniques were needed to film what were ostensibly large set pieces.

A lesser person may well have produced what was ‘good enough’. Not Gerry. Gerry absolutely did not accept that any of these restrictions meant his output should be in any way apologetic. Yes, he was out to prove himself and desperately wanted to attract a different kind of commission – but he was also passionate about his product.

As a creator of children’s tales for a more modern age, Gerry was without equal. I say that in the knowledge that other filmmakers – most notably Disney – were around at the same time. But where Disney plundered folk tales for his stories, Anderson’s catalogue was set mostly in the future – original creations.

There is a magic and charm about Gerry’s work that is not only unique but has enabled it to stand the test of time. His shows are full of cheeky humour – but sentimentality is rare. Gerry’s audience were children – but he never, ever patronised them. He created television shows that were shot like blockbuster movies – large-scale action, tightly plotted stories and (despite their puppet-nature) entertaining and likeable characters.

Pushing back the boundaries at a technical level paid off – sure, we can see the strings, but the sheer quality of the model work and special effects still looks great today. It’s said that few filming techniques used by Hollywood in disaster blockbusters weren’t created by Gerry, from his little trading estate in Slough.

In filmmaking, genius isn’t all about self. It’s teamwork. And Gerry was oh so good at selecting, working with and trusting some truly great people. The model designs of Reg Hill and Mike Trim. The special effects of Derek Meddings. The fashion designs of Sylvia Anderson. And of course the unforgettable music of Barry Gray – each theme tune a heraldic introduction that set pulses racing and grabbed you firmly, pushing you down in front of the television. All of these elements – and more – came together under Anderson’s tireless coordination to create 30 to 60 minutes of television magic, week in, week out.

Gerry wasn’t always (indeed, often) the writer, but it’s as a storyteller rather than a filmmaker for which I remember him. His ideas positively sparkled and absolutely connected with his audience – which child wouldn’t want to be a secret agent with adult mind implants, or save people’s lives with the amazing equipment of a secret rescue organisation?

He only gave up work towards the end of his life. It’s true, his career took a dip – but he regained his creative mojo in 2005 with the CGI version of Captain Scarlet (sadly hidden in the schedules and not destined to be a commercial success). He didn’t own the rights to much of his work and would have loved to have remade Thunderbirds in CGI – and was scathing, rightly so, of the embarrassing misstep that was Jonathan Frakes’s Thunderbirds movie.

I doubt that any other person has had as big an influence on my childhood. Gerry Anderson created the things which inspired me to play as a child. Even today, my office contains models of Supercar, Fireball XL5, Eagle transporters, Skydiver and Interceptors. Each is beautiful in its own right; each is a reminder of a time when stories were told with both innocence and gusto; each shows me that – even with a tight budget and limited facilities – true greatness can be created.

Gerry, I can’t thank you enough.

Leave a comment | posted in Reading, Writing

December 7, 2012

Christmas presents from my friends

By Peter Labrow

Large group of Christmas presents

It’s Christmas and we’re in a recession. So it seemed to me that it would be a good idea to promote some of the work of my wonderful creative friends – I’m fortunate enough to know talented writers, musicians and painters.

These are all independent creatives – so buying from them puts money straight into their pockets. They’d really welcome your support. Most of what they sell doesn’t cost much and will provide loads of pleasure. If you don’t buy, why not consider sharing this page on Facebook or Twitter? And you’re looking for something different, let’s face it – you’d like to be giving a surprise; to introduce a loved one to something new and special.

So, here we go, in alphabetical order (so there’s no arguments). I’m using links to UK stores, I’m sure those of you from around the world have the smarts to find this stuff near you. All of these recommendations come with my personal 100-yard guarantee.

I encourage you to share these on Facebook, or on Twitter using #XmasGiftsByMyFriends

Doctor Who art by Andrew Skilleter

Doctor Who art by Andrew Skilleter

Andrew Skilleter

Andrew is a talented artist, well known for his Doctor Who illustrations – many of which have adorned Target novels and the like. I own some of Andrew’s work myself. From his shop, you can buy limited edition prints, original art and remarq print editions (when an original drawing is added to a limited edition print). Visit Andrew Skilleter’s website or Andrew’s Facebook page.

Anthony Cowin

Anthony is a horror writer who’s been turning his hand to short stories. You can find his work in several well-rated horror anthologies which are available on Amazon. He’s currently finishing an anthology of stories, A Magpie’s Tale, which should be released soon. You can follow Anthony on Twitter.

Sheridan Le Fanu - Carmilla

Sheridan Le Fanu – Carmilla

Barnaby Edwards

Lovely man Barnaby is perhaps best known for playing the Daleks on BBC TV’s Doctor Who. He also runs an amazing company – Textbook Stuff –which creates really excellent audio books, based on classic literature. These are superb and a cut above the usual audio books in terms of production (check out my review of Barnaby’s Edgar Allan Poe collection). There’s everything from romance to horror. Visit Textbook Stuff’s website. You can also follow Barnaby on Twitter.

As if that wasn’t enough, Barnaby is also a talented photographer and artist. On Barnaby’s Red Bubble website, you can buy calendars, cards and prints.

Room to Move - Becky Higg

Room to Move – Becky Higg

Becky Higg

Becky Higg is an amazingly talented singer-songwriter from Manchester; her album Room to Move is one of my favourite all-time albums. I was lucky enough for her to play at my birthday party a couple of years ago (well, OK, I really twisted her arm). You can watch her on this video (sorry about the sound quality and people talking). You can buy her album ‘Room to Move’ on iTunes and the rest of her albums on her website.

Cure, by Belinda Frisch

Cure, by Belinda Frisch

Belinda Frisch

Belinda is a horror writer based in New York – she has two novels available on Amazon, and short stories in a few anthologies. Her first novel, Dead Spell, is 4.5-star rated on Amazon UK and Amazon US. Her latest novel, Cure, has been optioned as a movie. You can enjoy a free sample of her work, a short story called Payback, on her website. Belinda’s fiction has appeared in Shroud Magazine, Dabblestone Horror, and Tales of Zombie War. She is an honorable mention winner in the Writer’s Digest 76th Annual Writing Competition and her novel, CURE, is the runner-up in the General Fiction category of the 2012 Halloween Book Festival. You can also follow Belinda on Twitter.

Blaze McRob

Blaze is a writer/publisher whose work is also available on Amazon, in the Satan’s Toybox anthologies of horror stories. In the world of Satan’s Toybox, no toy is ever what it seems, and toy soldiers are no exception. Plastic army men, GI Joe and tin soldiers offer a place to work out your aggressions on an imaginary battlefield. But what if the battlefields are real and the toy soldiers have some aggression of their own? You can also follow Blaze on Twitter.

Colin Steed

Colin Steed is a leading light in the field of business training; he’s the chief executive of the Learning & Performance Institute and learning advisor to top organisations. For those looking for a gift of an educational bent, Colin has a couple of non-fiction books available on Amazon, Introducing the Online Classroom and Facilitating Online Learning. You can also follow Colin on Twitter.

Swamp Box, by Coroner for the Police

Swamp Box, by Coroner for the Police

Coroner for the Police

If you want the dust blown from your eardrums with some cracking indie rock music with a real edge, check out Coroner for the Police. They have two excellent EPs out, Swamp Box and Gentleman’s Relish – both of which you can get your hands on via their website. You can also find free stuff on there, and you can choose what you pay for Gentleman’s Relish. Their music has had a great reception and has been played by Tom Robinson. You can also follow Coroner for the Police on Twitter.

Dodici Corde, Early Romantic Guitar Duo

Dodici Corde, Early Romantic Guitar Duo

Danielle Saxon Reeves

Danielle is an extremely talented musician who specialises in early romantic guitar music. She’s half of the wonderful Dodici Cordi, who perform in full period costume in splendid venues. They perform rarely played works of composers such as Giuliani, Sor, Carulli, Diabelli Mertz and others. Mark (the other half of the duo) plays an 1832 Panormo and Danielle plays a Terz guitar by Lamy and a French guitar made around 1840. You can order their CD, ‘Early Romantic Guitar Duets’, via their website.

Curse of Frankenstein by Daryl Joyce

Curse of Frankenstein by Daryl Joyce

Daryl Joyce

Daryl is a superbly talented illustrator and artist, whose work has featured on Doctor Who products, books, videos, the BBC website and more. For that special person, you might buy one of his already completed paintings – or you could commission a portrait. He’s also a jolly nice man. You can check out his work on his official website – which I have to confess I created. I proudly own several pieces of Daryl’s work.

The Target Book, by David J Howe

The Target Book, by David J Howe

David J Howe

David J Howe has been involved with Doctor Who research and writing for over thirty years. He has been consultant to a large number of publishers and manufacturers for their Doctor Who lines, and is author or co-author of over thirty factual titles associated with the show. He also has one of the largest collections of Doctor Who merchandise in the world. You can pick up loads of books by David on Amazon, including my personal favourite, The Target Book: A History of the Target Doctor Who Books.

Although not a friend, it would be remiss of me to depart from David without mentioning his partner, horror writer Sam Stone. Award-winning author Sam Stone began writing aged 11 after reading her first adult fiction book, The Collector by John Fowles. Her love of horror fiction began soon afterwards when she stayed up late one night with her sister to watch Christopher Lee in the classic Hammer film, Dracula. Since then she’s been a huge fan of vampire movies and novels old and new. Sam has around a dozen books available on Amazon, most of them 4- and 5-star rated.

David Shadbolt

Very much unlike myself, David is a man of God and one of the few writers on here who doesn’t pen horror; he is an author and a speaker, a thinker and a catalyst. He helps people think differently and become more effective in their everyday lives. He also runs Don’t Miss Your Moment, a communications and project management consultancy. You can find his 5-star rated books, God’s Healing for Businesses and Hello David I’m God (and don’t you ever forget it!) on Amazon.

Glen Krisch

Glen Krisch has written three novels: The Nightmare Within, Where Darkness Dwells, and Nothing Lasting. His short fiction has appeared in publications across three continents for the last decade. Dog Horn Publishing (U.K.) will publish his story collection debut in 2012. He is also an editor for Morrigan Books. As a freelance editor, he has worked on books by Tim Lebbon and Lawrence Block, among others. You can find Glen’s books on Amazon – most have 4+ stars. You can also follow Glen on Twitter.

James Garcia Jr

James was born in Hanford, California, in 1969. In the mid 1970’s, his father began a law enforcement career just up the road with the Kingsburg Police Department, taking his family there. It was in junior high school when things began to take shape. James discovered horror novels – books by Stephen King, Clive Barker and Michael Slade, to name a few – as well as hard rock music. These influences began to form a spark of creativity within him. James began to play guitar and pen song lyrics, but soon found himself confined in that tight medium, desiring to do longer works. You can find james 4-star rated horror novel, Flash Point (Dance on Fire), on Amazon. You can also follow James on Twitter.

Jane Mann

Jane plays first violin with the Bolton Symphony Orchestra, so we’ll let her off not creating the music she plays. I’m currently listening to their superb CD of Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, which sadly doesn’t seem to be available on their website yet. Keep an eye out. In the meanwhile, you can get hold of their CD ,A Celebration, from their website. I’m not going to walk on by from Jane without mentioning the work by her late, great husband, Geoff Mann. Search for his work on iTunes, you won’t be disappointed, The Off the End of the Pier Show isn’t indicative of his main body work, but it’s one of my favourites.

Forest of Adventures, by Katie M John

Forest of Adventures, by Katie M John

Katie M John

Katie is a dear friend and the writer of the Amazon best selling YA series, The Knight Trilogy. Katie is married to a handsome giant and mummy to a mud-puddle fairy. She likes to write whilst drinking tea and eating jaffa cakes. Most of the time she lives in a fairytale world but other than that she is completely and utterly normal. Katie’s debut YA fairtytale series, The Knight Trilogy, has become an international best seller in several chart categories, contemporary fantasy, myths and legends, paranormal romance. It has also been an Amazon number one best selling fairytale. Her work is a blend of rich imagery and fast-paced action. Before writing full length novels, Katie wrote poetry, her works being published in several anthology publications. You can check out her 4- and 5-star rated fiction on Amazon. You can also follow Katie on Twitter.

Dominion, by Marissa Farrer

Dominion, by Marissa Farrer

Marissa Farrar

Marissa Farrar is a multi-published fantasy and horror author. She was born in Devon, England, has travelled all over the world, and has lived in both Australia and Spain. She now resides in the Enlish countryside with her husband, two children, a crazy Spanish dog, two rescue cats and six hens and ten goldfish. Despite returning to England, she daydreams of one day being able to split her time between her home country and the balmy, white sandy beaches of Spain. Pick up one of Marissa’s 4- and 5-star rated bargains on Amazon. You can also follow Marissa on Twitter (bit of a tongue twister there).

The Well, by Peter Labrow

The Well, by Peter Labrow

Peter Labrow

So, we’re up to P. That would be me, then. Peter Labrow, horror writer. My first novel, The Well, has nearly 90 reviews on Amazon, an average rating of 4.5 stars. It’s available in print and on Kindle. Here’s the blurb: “Trapped. Missing. Cursed. Fourteen-year-old Becca Richards and her stepbrother have fallen to the bottom of an ancient well. Their parents are away; they won’t be missed for days. The predatory man who had been stalking Becca now switches his attentions to her best friend. Two women who know where Becca is trapped are desperate that she should never escape. Over the course of a week, family, friends and strangers are drawn together by a terrible shared fate – from which not all will escape. ‘The Well’ is a darkly gripping tale about how we respond to the hand fate has dealt us – and the consequences of our choices. The Well deftly intertwines a story of supernatural horror with a tale of one of the greatest fears of modern life. As the book progresses, the two stories become one – driving relentlessly towards a single, thrilling finale. The Well is a fast-paced, riveting story that will grip you – and keep you guessing – until the very end.” I do the Twitter thing too.

Rebecca Treadway

Rebecca isn’t just a writer, she’s also a digital artist responsible for creating many a book cover. You can find books to which Rebecca has contributed on Amazon, and if you’re in the market for a book cover, then why not browse along to her website.

Red Tash

Red Tash is a journalist-turned-novelist of dark fantasy for readers of all ages. Monsters, SciFi, wizards, trolls, fairies, and roller derby lightly sautéed in a Southern/Midwestern sauce hand-canned from her mama’s recipes await you in her pantry of readerly delights. Check out her work on Amazon. You can also follow Red on Twitter.

Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical, by Rober Shearman

Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical, by Rober Shearman

Robert Shearman

Robert’s a great writer famous for bringing back the Daleks in wonderful style in the episode of Doctor Who, Dalek. But Rob’s more than a Dalek man – he really is a wonderful, inventive writer. Find his superb books on Amazon, including my favourite, the poetic, lyrical and beautifully strange 5-star rated Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical. You can also follow Rob on Twitter.

Scott Baker

Another horror-writing friend (you must have spotted a trend by now) Scott Baker is the author of the zombie apocalypse novel Rotter World and The Vampire Hunters trilogy. He is also the author of the short stories, Rednecks Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, Cruise of the Living Dead, and Deck the Malls with Bowels of Holly (think zombie reindeer). Scott’s work is available on Amazon.

Stella Deleuze

I can’t introduce Stella as well as she does herself. “One night, I lit a candle, poured myself a glass of wine and sat at my kitchen table, a writing pad in front of me. Ten pages later, I had finished an old-school love letter, which I handed over the next day. I didn’t get the man, but a massive surprise: ‘You know what? Your style is amazing, you should write books’, was his reaction. When I started with satirical short stories he became my first ever fan.” And so she is, a writer of funny, biting satirical stuff and you know where it can be found. You can also follow Stella on Twitter.

Steve Redfern

Steve heads up Rockhopper Studios – a stylish and sexy mobile recording studio. It comes to you or you go to it, it does a bit of both. If you want to spring for a really special present for those family members or friends of a musical bent, Rockhopper does a great package, where you can record a 4-track EP and get an HD video for £250. Go find the Rockhopper.

Screen Shot 2012-12-07 at 08.44.25

Tiffany King

Tiffany King is the author of the paranormal/romance YA novel Meant to Be and practically a native Floridian. Tiffany wrote her book Meant to Be two years into her degree programme and put it on hold while she finished school. During the process with Meant to Be she discovered just how much she loves to write. 4- and 5-star rated, Tiffany’s fiction is available on Amazon. You can also follow Tiffany on Twitter.

4 Comments | posted in Reading

October 1, 2012

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

By Peter Labrow

I love my iPad. It’s probably the single most useful device I’ve ever owned. But it’s useless for one thing: typing any serious amount of text.

The on-screen keyboard just doesn’t cut it. It’s good enough for editing, responding to e-mails and so on – but trying to write anything of any length is nothing short of torture.

(I’ll deviate a little here. I think this is my generation’s hang-up – and that future novelists will have no problem with an on-screen interface, or dictating via Siri – or even ‘thinking’ a novel direct from their minds. After all, standing behind us are writers who used pictograms, longhand, typewriters and word processors – each probably swearing by their method.)

So, while my iPad might go with me almost everywhere, it seldom gets used for any substantial typing. Until now.

That’s because I’ve just got myself the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover. Which isn’t just a keyboard cover: it’s a keyboard, too.

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

I’ve had a couple of iPad keyboards in the past but not really got on with them. Apple’s own solution was a Frankenstein-like combination of dock and the company’s normal Bluetooth keyboard. It worked (and, since the keyboard is a joy to use, is productive) but it’s hardly portable. Wandering around with an iPad, keyboard and dock is just stupid. And the whole combination wobbles like crazy if you attempt to do anything as audacious as work on a train. The final blow is that you look like an utter berk when you’re using it.

Likewise, other keyboards have been too cumbersome or didn’t integrate that well with the iPad.

Not so, the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover.

It’s exactly the same size as the iPad for a reason – when not in use, it becomes a screen cover. It attaches using the iPad’s internal magnets – the ones used for the official Apple iPad Smart Cover. This makes it easy to attach, detach and carry around. It adds a little bulk to the iPad, but not too much. A neat trick here is that the iPad ‘knows’ when it’s been attached or detached and turns itself on or off accordingly. It works so well that it feels as though it might be a piece of Apple kit.

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

The back of the cover is aluminium, so it’s also a perfect visual match for the iPad. It’s not that scratch-resistant, but that is the nature of the material.

You charge the keyboard via your Mac or PC’s USB port – and a charge (apparently) lasts for months.

To use it as a keyboard, you simply remove it from the iPad and slot the iPad into the groove above the keys – which gives you a decent viewing angle, albeit one which can’t be adjusted. It connects via Bluetooth – and, once slotted in, you’re up and running.

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

The keyboard itself is a touch cramped, being about 10% narrower than a real keyboard. It’s nothing you can’t get used to, though touch-typists will find themselves stumbling at first, especially with the outer keys. Once you get used to it, you can get up a fair lick of speed. The keyboard’s action is nice – not as good as Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard, but positive enough. The keys – like the inside of the cover – are plastic – but they don’t feel cheap.

There are also some iPad-dedicated function keys, so it’s easy to call up spotlight, switch applications, copy, paste, set the volume level or even lock the iPad. The level of integration is lovely.

There’s no software to install – you just pair it as a Bluetooth device and that’s it.

In terms of compatibility, it works with the iPad 2 and the third generation iPad. My guess is that it would function with the original iPad, but the iPad itself would slip out of the groove that’s engineered so well to hold the later iPads in place.

Downsides? It’s not quite the build quality of iPad, but it’s pretty good. It’s expensive – around £70 currently. I’m no expert on what it costs for these things to be made, but I’d say the price point really needs to be below £50 for a peripheral like this.

Overall, I’m sold on it and really liking it. There are going to be plenty of instances where I’d previously have taken my MacBook Pro where I’ll now be more than happy with the combination of iPad and Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover.

The bottom line: I’ve not seen or used a better iPad keyboard.

This review was written using an iPad and the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover.

Leave a comment | posted in Writing

September 24, 2012

Writing with Evernote

By Peter Labrow

I’ve written before about being a big fan of Scrivener. As writing software goes, especially for long projects such as novels, it takes some beating.

Currently, for me, there’s one fly in the Scrivener ointment – the lack of an iPad version. Although I don’t want to write entire projects on my iPad, when I’m out and about without my laptop I do want to write, make notes, add to my research, edit and review. (In an ideal world, this wouldn’t be just on my iPad either – sometimes I only have my iPhone with me.)

This got me thinking about what I really need from writing software – and setting aside the fact that I’ll later need to have the manuscript reviewed, edited and proofed by someone else. If it needs to be exported into Word at some point, so be it. (I’m not allergic to Word; I use it daily for copywriting. This makes sense since it’s what my clients and my proofreader use. But I find that it’s next to hopeless for long documents. Why? It forces you to work and think in a linear way. It has no mechanism to easily reshuffle chapters and scenes. And, the bigger your document, the slower it gets. I could go on…)

I decided that, when it boils down to it, a writer needs surprisingly little of the word processing power. Here’s my personal bottom line:

  • Non-linear document structure – a way to break the project down into manageable chunks which can be easily reorganised.
  • Word count.
  • Basic formatting (bold, italic).
  • Easy and robust synchronisation with other devices – computers, tablets and phones.
  • The ability to incorporate research, including images, video and audio – plus links to Web pages.

That’s about all I need. Sure, there are lots of things I’d really like – but I’m trying to identify my most needed word processing elements.

This led me to an interesting conclusion. Most writing software just doesn’t suit my needs or workflow. Google Docs, Word and Pages may be the most-used writing software, but they’re the first to be struck off my list – since they’re linear and can’t readily incorporate research into the same document.

Good old Scrivener does everything I need (and more) but document replication between different devices relies (currently) on clunky workarounds using Dropbox to transfer files and then using an entirely different editing application on the iPad. It works, but it isn’t pretty.

There is one contender, though. It’s a surprising one: Evernote.

I’ve been using Evernote for ages – for its intended purpose, to take notes. It’s very useful – there are versions for PC, OS X and iOS, Windows Phone 7, Android, BlackBerry and even WebOS. Not enough? Well – perhaps you work on Linux occasionally. In that case, there’s a Web interface to fall back on. Everything you type gets replicated automatically to the cloud and is quickly available on any other device. It’s built for a multi-device world – and one where your data can live anywhere.

This is powerful stuff. You can work on your laptop – and then go review on your iPad. Got ten minutes to kill? Review your manuscript on your phone. Stuck somewhere where there’s no Mac? Fire up a Windows or Linux PC and just login to your Evernote account. You can work online or offline – and replicate when you can connect to the Internet.

Editing the same document on different platforms, with Evernote

Evernote for OS X, Windows, iPad and iPhone – all in sync

So, that’s replication taken care of very neatly. What about non-linear document structure?

Evernote can handle this, but it’s not quite a hit clear out of the ballpark. Evernote breaks things down into shorter documents, true, but it doesn’t give a lot of control over how these are organised. Within Evernote, you create ‘notebooks’ – which then contain individual ‘notes’. So, these could either be the projects and chapters, or chapters and scenes, depending on how you work. It’s adequate – although nowhere near as functional as either Scrivener or Storyist (with their visual corkboards) but way better than Word.

Currently, there isn’t a live word count in all versions of Evernote, but they’re working on it. There isn’t any word count in the iOS version, although there is in the Windows and OS X apps. This isn’t ideal, but it’s workable.

Basic formatting is present and correct – there’s not much, but there’s everything you need: bold, italic, underline, paragraph indents, strikethrough and bullets.

Incorporating research and notes is part of what Evernote ‘just does’. Evernote documents can incorporate video, images and audio. You just fire up the camera or microphone on your iPad or Mac and that’s it – take photos or make audio notes right from within Evernote. You can also drag and drop images or add website URLs.

Again, Scrivener’s ability to incorporate research wins because of its organisational finesse – but there’s more than enough here to get by. And anything you add on one device automatically appears on your others. Evernote even has a widget for your browser – to make it easy to clip Web pages straight into your notebooks without even launching Evernote itself.

Adding rich media does become an issue – once you’re incorporating lots of images, audio and video into your notebooks, you’ll quickly move beyond the space that’s offered by a free Evernote account. But you can upgrade to a premium account for £4 a month, so you’re hardly being stiffed.

There are lots of compromises. Word and Pages run rings around Evernote in terms of layout ability. Scrivener and Storyist are built with the writer in mind and have lots of features to help manage large projects. Evernote is more workmanlike than slick – and at some point you will have to get your creative gem out of Evernote and into a file format your editor or proofreader uses. I’ve found that you do need to check over exported text for formatting errors or special characters that aren’t properly converted.

But it’s the workflow and replication where Evernote shines. It just works. You edit on one device, pick up another and carry on where you left off. It’s liberating. It makes switching between Mac and iPad (or PC and Android tablet) as simple as it gets.

There’s another advantage. Right now, I’m an Apple user – but that might not last forever. So knowing that I can move to another platform – or even just use a different one temporarily – is a bonus.

For novel-writing, I’m pretty tied to Scrivener for a multitude of reasons – and the team behind Scrivener is thankfully working on an iPad version, though that’s some way off. Scrivener for Mac and iPad, with easy file synchronisation – perhaps via iCloud – would be ideal. But for other projects, I’m very tempted by Evernote’s workflow.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Writing, Writing software