Portable

[gwyn]

I'm heading over to the east coast next week (gah! they're talking about a hurricane! I can't freaking believe it, I can just see my nonrefundable vacation coming apart at the seams) and assuming I get there, I wanted to leave my laptop at home and just use my iPad (3, I think it is, or possibly 4). The thing is, I have a story I'm in the middle of and I don't think I can finish writing by next Wed., so I kind of wanted to bring the crappy little portable foldable keyboard with me and try to write. I had a tough time with it last year, but I'm willing to persevere just because I'm at 15,500 already on this thing and I'm only halfway there. Even if I finish writing, I'd like to rewrite.

But my iPad doesn't have much space, and I really don't think writing in Evernote's an option for various reasons, but I was thinking I could potentially use Google docs. I don't really know how to use it, though--I guess I log into my Google email account, and poke till I find it (that seemed to be the method when I had to send someone a file recently), but on an iPad, I have no idea. Do I have to access it in Safari? Or is there an app that I have to get (beyond the Gmail app I have, which I've never bothered to configure, though, on my iPad because my phone's easier to get mail on)?

I hate the thought of doing rewrites on an iPad because it's next to impossible to select text and move it, I've found, with the touchpad. But I hate the thought of not working on this stupid story more. So how do you actually use Google docs in a sitch like this?

Ugh, the futility of writing. I don't know why I waste so much blood, sweat, and tears on this.

Comments

[minim_calibre]

Ooo! Ooo! I use Google Docs a lot. On the iPad and on phones, I almost always use the app--just install it from the App store and log in with your Google account, and you'll be able to access it.

[minim_calibre]

It's a pretty simple app--the biggest advantage for me with it is that I can access things on my phone when I need to, which is often. A lot of the site functionality isn't there, which is fine, because I just need to be able to write in it, not run word counts or track comments.

I tend to chunk things up in it by chapter or scene--because I'm on the phone using it, I don't have a lot of screen real estate to play with. It's really useful for me when I'm trying to make something work and don't want to pollute my main document with it.

[gwyn]

Okay, thanks! That's helpful--I didn't actually know if there was an app or not, and what kind of functionality it would have. A long time ago, for reasons that don't need exploring (I'm an idiot), I lost the ability to hook my Evernote up to my account from the iPad. So It makes things difficult when I'm traveling or even just somewhere I can't get to a keyboard and I had IDEAS. But I mean, this thing is almost 16,000 words. Gah.

Have I told you about this? I need to whine at someone, I really do. I was beavering along, thinking that last story might be the final S/B story I was going to write outside of maybe another baseball one, and then this other idea came roaring back from the depths of my "maybe I'll write that someday" archive and I just got consumed.

We should meet for coffee or something before I go.

[montanaharper]

I don't know if you've got cellular with your iPad or just wi-fi, but if the latter, you can set documents in Google Docs to be available offline to work on and then they sync back to the cloud when you're next on wi-fi. That's how I write on my iPad with (or, today, without, because apparently I hadn't recharged it lately) my bluetooth keyboard.

Poke me if you need me to walk you through it and I'll write up a comment for you.

[gwyn]

Yeah, just wi-fi. That's kind of the problem with it, it only has wi-fi and almost no storage left. I've been thinking about getting something new but the new schmancy iPad doesn't release till November, and I'm not sure about iOS anyway--I like to read fic at night, but I can't read long fic since I updated the OS, because it constantly refreshes the pages. I found out if you turn off background app refresh, it'll stop doing that as often, but it still randomly does it sometimes and I lose my place, or when I charge the battery. I love how seamlessly thing work together when they're all Apple, but that's kind of a deal breaker for me these days. OTOH, that new iPad looks FOINE.

Anyway! Thanks for the help--it sounds like docs is what I need. I'll have wi-fi at all the hotels I'm going to, so that's never a problem and if it automatically syncs, that's great.

[gwyn]

Do you use the Kindle fire, or just the regular reader? I feel like I have so many ridiculous devices around here, it's kind of cray. Two desktops, a laptop for work and writing in Strabucks, an iPad, and an iPhone. I considered briefly getting one of the tiny macbooks for the trip and writing in Starbucks, but it's not something I can really use for work and so seems ridiculous. Plus I really can't afford it because of the trip.

I thought tablets were a great thing, but honestly, aside from the tall screen real estate, I don't find them very functional. I like to read online on AO3, preferring to only DL stories when they're really really huge and I know i will probably like them. And of course watch things. But there's just so little space on it, and the more space you get, the more $$$ you have to spend… If only I didn't loathe Windows and Microsoft so much. Things would probably be easier. ;-)

[montanaharper]

I just have a regular Kindle, since I have the iPad for anything more graphics-intensive. I wanted something small and light and portable, that I could read in bright sunlight as well as in bed, and the Kindle Paperwhite was perfect for that. I keep the backlight super low; it's just enough that I can read in the dark in bed without feeling like I'm blinded.

When I tried to read online on AO3, I found myself accumulating tabs in my browser to the point where it was just ridic, so I switched to using Calibre (which I was already using for ebooks) and a plugin geared toward downloading fanfic from various sites. It lets me keep everything organized, sideload fic onto the Kindle, the iPad, or my iPhone, and I don't have to worry about losing tabs, crashing the browser, or just generally being overwhelmed.

I'm one of those weird hybrid people, though. I love my portable devices to be Apple, but I don't want a Mac. I'm perfectly happy with my Windows (7, none of this 8 or 10 for me, thankyouverymuch) computer. And they actually interface pretty smoothly nowadays, so the worst thing I have to endure is that my old-school iPod (2nd gen, I think; it's at least 10 years old) has to be soft rebooted before I connect it to the computer to sync or else iTunes doesn't recognize it.

(Also, *facepalm*. Way to out my RL self. Yeah, the previous comment was me, too. I should probably log out of that account so I don't accidentally post from it in a more embarrassing way. *koff*)

[musesfool]

Others have said how to use google docs, but I have a different suggestion: DW.

I usually write in the DW posting window in situations like that - I have a separate private DW comm (so I don't have to log into a separate account) that I post my wsip into anyway, so I type and then post updates privately. Though I agree, writing on the iPad is not something I enjoy.

[gwyn]

Huh! I never thought about that! I'd be so afraid of accidentally publishing. Do you work in Word when you're home, and then just copy and paste from the DW window?

[musesfool]

I have occasionally posted to the wrong journal/posted publicly, but I think it's been 3 times over the past 7 or 8 years? (I had a private writing journal on LJ prior to DW as well.)

But yeah, I write in Word at home/work and then I post the latest draft in DW to save so I'm not saving anything on a work computer. I started doing it when they turned off our ability to use flash drives when I was at Citi, and it's generally worked well, and sometimes if all I have with me is the iPad (i.e., traveling/on vacation etc.), I can just continue writing in the DW entry. And I only need to be online to do the final save. (My iPad is also wifi only.)

[raine]

I've been using Documents to Go on my iPhone and iPad to write in Word for years. The app is very stable and doesn't require an Office subscription or wifi access unless your documents live in the cloud. It's not cheap but it's a onetime price. Microsoft Word is also available as a separate app but you need to have an Office subscription.

[gwyn]

Yeah, I'm not willing to a) spend money right now and b) as I mentioned, the iPad has almost no space left, so a cloud-based service is important. I refuse to do the subscription Word. I mean, I may have to eventually because of old versions not working and because my clients will force it, but I'll fight it as long as I can.

But if I get a new iPad at some point or even a different tablet, I'll keep Documents to Go in mind.

[sineala]

I literally just discovered that there was a Google Docs app on Monday, and so far it seems pretty good to me.

I don't know what you usually write in, but on the off chance that you're also one of those people who likes to write with minimal formatting in things like text files, there are also a bunch of iOS apps that sync to your Dropbox. I'm using Notesy but there are probably hundreds of other choices. (I cannot wait for there to be an iOS version of Scrivener.)

[mackiemesser.livejournal.com]

The easiest way would be to get the Google Doc app--which is free. I'm not sure exactly how it would work on an iPad but I use Google Sheets on a Galaxy tablet that also has my Gmail configured and I don't have to sign in--just open the app, select the sheet I'm working on and start typing.

There aren't a lot of formatting options, but it's excellent at auto saving. And if I make a change on my phone, it shows up on the tablet and if I sign into my Google account on my laptop.

If you're not on an Android device, I expect you'll have to sign in with your Gmail account the first time you use the app.

[carbonel]

I believe that hurricanes often constitute a "get out of jail free" card for nonrefundable items. In any case, please stay safe and dry, and I hope you have a good time, whatever happens.