A Portable Office for the Professional Writer

Most young writers quickly discover that work doesn't come looking for them. The lucky few make millions on an incredible first novel and have publishers beating down their door. But more often writers spend a tremendous amount of time not only creating their work but getting it published. They are the sole proprietor of their own small business, in charge of production, marketing, and everything in between. The ones who survive learn not only to construct and carry out a story with realistic characters, but to market their novels and themselves, and to sell the next project while finishing the last. If they don't, the royalty checks can be few and far between, and that isn't good for business. For these writers, time management and the quality of tools used in the job become the most important aspects of their career. When you're in business for yourself time is your principle asset. You can't borrow it or replace it, so you're always looking for tools that will help you maximize it.

Although I'm still looking for my own million-dollar novel, I've been successful enough to have made writing my primary vocation for the last seventeen years. I also teach writing to bring in a little extra income, and it was at one of my classes two years ago that Dan Hanttula (Pocket PC magazine contributing editor) introduced me to the HP iPAQ Pocket PC. Where most of my students used note pads, tape recorders, or notebook computers, Dan jotted his notes down on a small handheld device. That caught my attention and I asked Dan about the device during a class break.

I'd been looking at handhelds for a while, but was not impressed with the simple address and appointment book combos I'd seen. However, Dan positively glowed about his device. He told me the iPAQ had changed his life and had changed the way he did his work, enabling him to do more and to do it faster. He insisted that getting one would do the same for me. I resisted.

After 17 years in this business, putting plots and characters together and managing my hectic schedule, I'd developed a pretty good system. For stories, I'd free-associate on yellow legal pads to get my creative juices going. Then I'd switch to my PC at home to do the actual writing, or occasionally work on my laptop at the library or a favorite restaurant. I'd already invested a lot of time developing a system that worked, and I didn't want to fiddle with it without a good reason.

Well, after months of Dan's haranguing and mini-lessons on how user-friendly the iPAQ was (Dan never gives up), I relented and purchased an HP iPAQ h5555 Pocket PC.

My favorite program-Notes

The first thing I did was load ActiveSync onto my desktop PC and synced its Outlook data with my iPAQ. Quickly, all my contacts and appointments were loaded into this slim device that fits in the palm of my hand and slips easily into my jeans pocket-even in its protective case. I felt empowered and for a while I wore the iPAQ on my belt for all to see, whipping it out at the slightest excuse to show how organized I was. .

Then I discovered the Notes program and started using it to jot down ideas about projects I was working on or wanted to develop. Whenever I was trapped at the doctors' office, in checkout lines, or even deadlocked in traffic, I'd pull out the iPAQ and start entering plot points, character traits, story settings, backgrounds, and more. I'd tried this before with a notebook PC, but it always attracted the wrong kind of attention and inevitably led to comments like "I've always wanted to be a writer!" or "I've got this great idea and we can split the money." I also tried using a legal pad (can't always find a flat surface) and a micro-cassette recorder (it looks strange and you have to transcribe what you record).