This article pulls no punches in telling you exactly what you need and what you do not need in order to start writing on a regular occasion. This is advice coming from the horse’s mouth given the fact that a professional writer wrote this article (like getting dieting advice from a thin person). So, here is a quick rundown of the right writing tools for the job and the things you do not need.
A Person with a Lot of Patience and a Love of Being Alone All Day
The right tool is the person (him or herself). It takes a lot of patience and a fair amount of discipline in order to be a writer. You need to be incredibly self motivated and must able to stand very long periods completely on your own. If you have these qualities, then the best tool you have is yourself.
A PC is the Only Tool You Need
In essence, if you are going to be a writer, then a PC is what you need. You can buy fancy headphones or sit in full view at Starbucks and write with a pair of shades on. But, the fact is that all you need is a PC in order to be a writer. It is the only tool you are going to need, as all other tools are technically labor saving devices or are superfluous.
Not a Laptop Because…
You have to sit too close to the screen. If you are going to be a writer and you want to save your eyes, you need to be able to sit at different distances away from your screen every day. A laptop screen can only be as far away as the length of your arms. Added to this, a laptop makes you look down, whereas ideally you need to look straight forwards if you do not want to risk repetitive stress injuries.
Not a Tablet Because…
It is just not suitable. The apps and the accessories that come with tablets are just for people who are not going to spend extended periods writing. They are for people who need to do a little bit of writing but not too much and certainly not very often.
Certainly Not a Smartphone Because…
The screen is far too small to be of use to a writer. Unless you are thinking about writing SMS text messages or tweet, you should give the Smartphone a miss. There is no point in trying the struggle along with a Smartphone if you want to do some serious writing because it is not going to serve you well.
You Can Try Speech-to-Text Technology
This is not a bad idea if you are better at proofreading than you are at typing. It already comes pre-installed with Windows 7 and 8. So, start up your speech recognition program, teach it how to understand your voice, and you can get started. It is going to make a lot of mistakes, especially at first, but the more consistent you become when talking to it, and the more it learns how you talk then the better it will become.
Consider Dictating for Someone Else to Write
This is actually more of an option than you think. You may even be able to pay someone remotely to do it. Upload your recording onto your computer as an audio track, and then send it to another person. You can do this with a Dictaphone, or better still you can get a microphone for your computer.
Learn How to Touch Type with Dedicated Learning Software
You really must learn how to touch type if you want to be a real writer. You may think that you are fast the way you are doing it now, but you will never be as fast as an experienced touch typist, so start learning right away. Even if you think you are set in your ways, you will be surprised at how quickly you pick it up.
An Ergonomic Keyboard
If you do a lot of writing then this is going to be a great little tool for you. The trouble is finding a good one, as most of them have their share of problems, such as putting the keys at awkward angles, or having sticky space bars.
A Writing Program that Corrects Simple Errors Such as Capitalization Mistakes
Microsoft Word and Microsoft Works do this for you. If you forget to type a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence, then it will do it for you. This is going to save you from having to correct a lot of typos. A Microsoft writing program will also have a spellchecker that underlines words. There are quite a few word processors that do this. Even the most recent IE browser does this. It is very handy for helping you spot your little mistakes whilst they are still fresh in your mind and are in context.
