Sunday, February 5, 2012

Writing Tech and the Unintentional Hint

New toys can be a lot of fun.

At Christmas 2010, my big new toy was my iPad.  My husband has this wonderful habit of listening to me and coming up with gift ideas that are not only fabulous, but something I honestly wasn't hinting at or expecting.  The iPad was such a gift. 

"Maybe someday," I would tell him, dreaming of buying one, but only when I had some sort of work reason to justify it.  Then it showed up under the tree.

"You didn't," I said, just like a surprised wife on a Christmas commercial.  What a great guy.

In addition to the various other great things about owning an iPad, I discovered something I could edit my manuscript on it.  I bought the Pages app for about ten dollars.  I transferred my manuscript via email, and then all of a sudden my editing was even more mobile than it had been when I was working on my netbook computer.

This last year, as Christmas approached, I found myself trying to look back over my conversations with my husband to see if I had accidentally "hinted" at something I hadn't realized.  I could think of anything.  I thought this year I hadn’t done any hinting like I had in the past.

And then there it was.  Among the video games, perfume, and Rey Mysterio action figure (look him up), was the gift I hadn't realized I had asked for:  The Bluetooth keyboard.  As soon as saw it I remembered. 

 I had been hovering around them at stores for almost a year.  A Bluetooth keyboard connects wirelessly to an iPad, making it possible to type with a real keyboard rather than the virtual one on the screen.  I liked them, thought they were cool, and then thought no, they were too expensive. I repeated this over and over again.  It was my same unintentional M.O. as before.  I liked an item, but in my mind it was too much money so I wouldn’t go for it.  Then my husband (who is wonderful for so many more reasons that just his gift-giving skills) gave one to me as a Christmas gift.


How about you?  Do you have any cool gadgets that help you get your writing done? 

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