Remember that the desktop metaphor (pioneered commercially by Apple with the original Macintosh) was considered a joke. The mouse was considered silly and a fully-rendered multi-window desktop simulation was regarded as a tremendous waste of computer resources, not to mention infantile compared to the power computer users at the time could wield with the command prompt.

The desktop metaphor is now some twenty years old, and due for an overhaul. There are far better solutions for file organization and retrieval than the folder hierarchy, and when app switching is lightning fast and push notifications can be delivered from non-active services the need for multitasking largely evaporates in favor of giving the active app all the available resources.

We’ll see how it goes!

And yes, I have a few old tomes as well, for no other reason than that they’re old. I once *found* a little German canvas-bound hardback edition of a Greek story from 18xx, printed in nigh-illegible Gothic type

I’m doing my best to reserve judgment on the iPad, but I think it’ll be in joke territory for a least a few years until we see if the tablet can stand its ground against the netbook. I’m a PC user myself, mostly for economic reasons but I agree that Apple perfected the aesthetics that made their products as much of a cultural artifact as a tool. Most of what I do is screenwriting, so there was no functional reason to invest in a Mac rather than a less expensive PC laptop.

But really what I’m here to agree with is your thoughts on books. There’s something about a slightly worn book that has its own character to it, even if the words within aren’t so spectacular. My cousin got me hooked on antique books, specifically children’s books from the 1800’s. Not only are they old, worn, leathery tomes of nostalgia that bring an air of sophistication to the room, but if you actually crack them open and read some of what they were teaching kids back in the day you’ll see why there’s a sick irony in that sophistication.

My personal favorite is one on American history, which has a section dedicated to various theories on who built the pyramids in Mexico: “Who built these mounds in the Mississippi Valley and these pyramids in Mexico? Not the Indians who were found in America when the country was discovered. They are the productions of greater skill and culture than these tribes possessed. They are doubtless the monuments of a vanished people whose coming and going and splendid history must ever remain to a great extent a mystery.”

Ah, anthropology. How far we’ve come…

Thanks for the kind words! The use of a Yellow Folder is actually quite a good idea. Color-coding is a principle that can be used on your computer, on the web and in real life — very effective. I’ll certainly steal that idea at some point and forget that it wasn’t mine, so let me apologize to you in advance for that.

Also, thank you kindly for spreading the word! Once I wrap up the posts on Google Wave I’ve got some more writing-related material coming up to coincide with NaNoWriMo.

Stay tuned

I too have amassed a gaggle of garbage in my 15-some-odd years of writing, and I have what I call my “yellow folder.” While it was once literally a yellow folder, it has become more of a state of being for my ideas, stories and other written nonsense that shall grow no more. Since my writing comes in many forms and places, I don’t have one yellow folder anymore, but at least a yellow folder status or label on my computer, journals, and in my filing cabinet. No matter where I’m writing, the yellow folder is always nearby between the back burner and the shredder.

Not everything I file away in the yellow folder is bad, or even ideas that just didn’t pan out. Some of the things in there are downright embarrassing! Between the flagrant Marty Stu stories to a number of adult furry fanfics, there are things in there that would not only scar my reputation as a writer, but possibly compromise my standing with local and state laws!

But no matter how cheesy, vapid, or masturbatory they might be, I always keep them around. Like you said, there are still usable elements in there, and every word I write hones my skills and keeps me out of “not writer” territory.

I’m going to keep an eye on your blog and works, if you don’t mind. I’ve also taken the liberty of recommending your blog to the many Writers and Not Writer’s I know.

Peace,
– K -

My own motto has always been, “If it works, it stays.” When I was young I felt as you did, that every word I keyed was a masterpiece of creative thought and that no idea was so bad that it merited discarding. Unfortunately, this was during the Stone Age, when my work was stored on 5″ floppy disks and space was more or less at a premium. I didn’t develop this motto until hard drive space had become too cheap to meter.

However, around the time I started buying hard drives with more space than I could overwrite in ten lifetimes, I also started to realize that not everything I’d written since 1983 was of such magnificent quality that it merited calculated storage in a hermetic environment.

We all write our share of shit. The best writing advice I ever got was “First, write a million words. Then throw them away.”

Ideas that are worth saving will stick. That’s how you know they’re worth saving. Ideas that you forget about are only worth the trash folder. If an idea can’t keep its own writer entertained, the writer has no hope of ever engaging the reader with it. One might say the whole act of writing is the writer going, “Hey, I had a great idea, let me share it with you and see if I can make you as excited as I am about it.” Ideas worth saving have nothing to fear from the bin; even if they’re discarded, let’s say by accident, they’re not going to abandon you.

–Ben

This may well exemplify your point on having a mobile Hut.

That’s why I urge people to not just post their works on a single site. Don’t post it “just on FA” or “just on Yiffstar”. Post it everywhere!

I find it interesting to see that the Roland Fantom keyboard workstation employs the notion of “phrases” to keep your collected sparks of creativity available for later. Everything you play is a phrase, and even if you end up NOT using it in a song, you can always call it up later and re-use it. A simple concept, yet so brilliant.

I used to have a habit that I’m going back to — I used to compose the ideas in this journal as if they were book-flap blurbs, cover art, fake movie posters and taglines. That is, the first thing I would create upon having a new idea was the marketing materials. I really had no idea the value of what I was doing at the time — it just seemed like an excellent way to marshal my thoughts. I didn’t realize at the time that what I was doing was capturing the hook, describing the characters, even providing illustrations. For me, I was clarifying the idea, as well as giving myself a visual of the finished product, which was great encouragement when it came time to actually put the story to paper.

So now that we know when we get an idea we need to write it out, do you know any trick that helps with organizing the ideas and working out with the right structure that present the ideas best?

–Ben

All I need is a good story and a good cast of characters, and I’m good to go. I’ve been told many times that I have a knack for character and story development, so even if description is my weakest link, I still take pride in that. B3

Thanks for making me realize that, man. I’ll take your words to heart and do my best. B3

I’ve got my own little tricks to keep the creative wheels greased, some of which would probably have you staggering backwards clutching your chest if you knew what they were. Erasing huge swaths of existing story, rerouting plots, sitting down and telling entire chapters from the point of view of obscure secondary characters, these are my sprocket spanner set, though they all delay the final product immeasurably. MAKE the story interesting. Look at it from this angle. Doesn’t set your heart afire? Well, how about this angle? Or this one? Don’t like that plot? Throw it out and try this one on. Or this one. Never, ever be bored by your own work. Be exhausted, yes, but never be bored.

–Ben

Please?