It’s time once again for a little bit of support among the insecure writers, so I want to start off this post by saying that it’s been a much calmer month that I’ve had in quite a while.
Last month for this post I announced that I was going to be cutting out the overwhelming majority of my blogging because, while I do believe that blogging is important for an author and her brand, I also believe that it’s quite pointless if it’s keeping you from, you know…writing. I’d gotten to a point where I was working, being a mom, being a wife, being a YouTuber, and writing blog posts…but not actually writing anything else because I couldn’t find the damn time. Now cutting out blogging hasn’t given me vast quantities of time with which to work with, but it has definitely helped because it’s just one less thing I have to worry about on a daily basis. Since cutting it out I’ve finished the beta-reader copy of my current manuscript (and got it sent off to my readers), gotten started on book two for that same series, and been working on a side project that I’m very interested in. My overall word count hasn’t spiked a great deal, but mostly that’s because working on the beta-reader manuscript didn’t contribute many new words. All in all, I feel it was a highly productive month compared to many others, and I’m happy with that.
But that’s not all I wanted to talk about today, because I also have a new “toy” that I wanted to share with my fellow writers because I think it’s something many of you would love to have. It’s a special notebook that was created through a Kickstarter that I funded a while back, known as the Rocketbook Wave.
There are two awesome things that I love about this notebook. First, it uses special dot-grid-design paper and a set of icons and a scan code at the bottom of each page to allow you to use your smartphone to quickly and easily scan your documents and send them right where you want them. Using the free app you assign each of the seven icons to wherever you want: your email account, a special folder in your Evernote, somewhere in your Google Docs, etc. Then you just point your phone at the page and it takes a hi-res photo of the document and shoots it off to whichever location you’ve chosen by placing an X over that icon. It’s a super quick and easy way to get your handwritten notes digitized, backed-up, and sent somewhere where you can retrieve them later when you need them. I absolutely LOVE it, because I love writing by hand, but I hate having to transcribe later by trying to type while staring at my notebook (seriously, I know at least some of you agree with me on this one…I’ve gotten so many cricks in my neck by staring sideways and down at the notebook while the rest of my body faces the laptop).
But the second feature might even be more awesome: the entire notebook is erasable. You place it in the microwave with a cup of water, nuke until the symbols on the cover turn white, and boom. Fresh pages. Mind you, you have to use the proper pens (but they’re an erasable brand that’s available at Walmart – Frixion) and the ink residue eventually does build up and thus the notebook wears out, but they say the average user should be able to easily get ten erasures, so I think the price of approximately $30 for an executive-sized notebook is pretty damn reasonable.
I’ve been having a blast with this thing since it arrived. I haven’t erased it yet, since I obviously won’t do that until it’s full, but I’ve scanned tons of documents and it never loses its charm, let me tell you.
So basically, long story short; if you want something that could make your writing life a lot simpler and more streamlined, I think this might be the item for you. I can definitely tell you that I’m in love with it. ^_^
Cheers, fellow writers!
No Page Left Blank 
I’ve seen something similar for drawing, but the microwavable thing… that’s new to me.
It’s pretty frikkin’ neat, in my opinion. I pay about $15 for nice notebooks anyway, so why not pay $30 for one that’s “smart” and also reusable about ten times? Only makes sense. ^_^
That’s a really cool idea. Does it save it as an image? Wouldn’t you still need to type it? It doesn’t convert to text, does it?
It creates a pdf image. There are supposed to be ways to convert it to text, but they don’t always work well and I think you have to print, rather than using cursive like I do. But it’s still so much better for me bc I can import the image into Scrivener and type it up right there next to it. So much less annoying than having to look back and forth between a notebook and the computer screen.
Ahh I see. You could have both of them open on the laptop and just type from side by side windows.
Yeah, exactly. And with the Scrivener program that I use, you can have multiple “files” open on one page, so it will just make life SO much easier from my perspective. 🙂
If you use a speech-to-text program you can just read your writing instead of having to type it 🙂
Yeah, unfortunately I can’t seem to find a program that works well at all, and most of them seem to require you to print clearly, whereas I usually write cursive because it’s much faster for me.
I’ve seen a lot of gimmick note books that saves or converts your writing in some way or another, but the simple idea of taking scans of the written page using them to type up your notes is by itself a great idea, even without the weird-ass option of sticking your book in the microwave. Having an image side-by-side on the screen with your word processing document would be much easier than staring down at a book, as you said.
IWSG Post June
Right? That’s exactly what I said. ^_^ Plus that way, if you for instance travel a lot like I do, you don’t have to worry about carrying the notebook itself around with you. Just make sure you’ve scanned everything before you left and you’re all set. ^_^
I’m sure I would have written stuff down in that notebook just so I could put it in the microwave and see how well it erases. Hmm…. I’d probably spend so much time playing around with the notebook that I’d never get any writing done. 🙂
lol I desperately wanted to try the microwaving bit out right away, but I don’t want to waste my erasures because the books aren’t technically up for sale yet and I’m not sure when they will be. They just shipped out the backer gifts from the Kickstarter, but they’ve still got an IndieGoGo one going, and those won’t be sent out for a few more months I think, so I imagine it won’t be until that’s all done that they’ll officially open up the store.