CommentsOMG, This is fanastic. I’m not a techno person. What I’ve learned I learned from watching others and playing around. I can’t wait until the weekend when I have more than twenty minutes to look at these sites. I can’t wait until you post part two. Thanks for sharing. Hi, Joan. I’m so sorry about the loss of your belongings and your manuscripts! I use a program called Scrivener (for Macs)–it sounds a lot like Liquid Story Binder. Very useful if you don’t write in a linear fashion. My mobile phone has a handwriting option. I can write “notes to self” using a stylus or my fingernail if an awesome idea pops into my head while I’m on the train. I wanted to try Scrivner. In fact, a mention of that software from another writer started this whole process which lead me to LSB. But I’m strictly PC and Scrivner doesn’t have a PC version yet. That’s a cool phone. iPhone? Man, that’s a bummer, Joan. I’d freak if I lost so many of my babies. My deepest condolences. The Liquid Story Binder sounds interesting. Although, I have a feeling I’d spend way to much time playing rather than writing. Laurie, I did spend a few days reading tutorials and getting the basics of LSB down, no doubt. But in the end, the flexibility and the software offers me in the way of inspiration has made up for the lost writing time and shot me ahead of where I’d be if I’d stayed on Word. Joan–what a great post, especially with such wonderful links! I just did a backup this weekend, but it was manual, so anything with a tiny brain in it is worth a second look. Also, I’m like Vanessa in that I use Scrivener, but I know I’m not using it to its full potential. I don’t even know if it allows for mp3 imports, because seeing that extra on Liquid Paper Binder makes me drool an embarassing amount–I’m like you in that the auditory is so important! Hi Pamela, My CP was the one who turned me on to the power of music. At first, I thought she was crazy–burning CDs of songs related to her ms. Then I started choosing theme songs for my mss, which was cool. And that developed into choosing a few songs that represent different elements in the ms. Now, I’m into the whole burning a soundtrack for my book. It really helps get the creativity flowing! Before I figured out how to use the LSB audio element, I used to run iTunes in the background, construct a playlist for the ms and just play that. Er…I mean Liquid Story Binder. I think I’ve been sniffing the Liquid Paper too much. I bet losing your work was like losing a pet. Okay — not so much with the heart-wrenched sobbing, I hope, but still, that same breathless blow to the gut, the knowledge that it’s gone, baby gone, and the eternal regret that you didn’t do more to save it. I just thought of a super low-tech way to back up files. Print them out, in full, and put them someplace safe, preferably several copies in multiple safe places, all separate from each other. Worse case scenario: scan them in, page by page, using OCR. Also, I’m SO JEALOUS of Mac users who get to use LSB. I’ve looked into Scrivener, but it just doesn’t seem as perfect as LSB. Hubs recently whispered something about buying a Mac laptop, though, to which I responded, “That’s ridiculous,” but maybe it’s not. Maybe…it could be MINE! Jamie, You don’t have to be jealous! LSB is for PC!! Scrivner is for MAC! You can get a 30 day trial any time you want! I love my Mac. Wouldn’t use anything else … except maybe a bright, shiny new MacBook Pro. Those sound interesting. And I live in fear of losing everything. I have a flash drive with everything that’s most current in my purse at all times, and a couple of others that don’t get backed up quite as often in various locations. Think I’d better go back them up again now!  Elisa Beatty says: I e-mail my updated manuscript to myself every single day…. even if my computer explodes, my house burns down, and my car is stolen, it’s safely out there in cyberspace!  Elise Hayes says: I’ve only ever lost a few days worth of work, Joan, and it left me weeping (I was working on a tight deadline and lost about 10 hours worth of insanely difficult writing). I can’t imagine losing FIVE FULL MANUSCRIPTS. I think I’d have a heart attack. Really enjoyed reading about the techy gadgets for writers. Can’t wait for the next installment! Elise, Yes, it was painful to say the least. Even now just thinking about it weighs like a rock in my gut. Even more than the past fulls I lost (because they weren’t saleable, although, as I said, they had great kernels I could have pulled) was what I lost related to the ms I’m currently writing. It is the second book in a series. I started to write it before I had revised book one, which completely changed the look of the series. I was in chapter 10. Good story. Really liked it. But it wouldn’t have worked for book two. So, I set it aside and started again. I was in chapter 6 of my current ms when the laptop was stolen. I lost 16 chapters of really good stuff. And while you think, I wrote it once I can write it again, I’m here to tell you, it’s not the same. Rewriting those 6 chapters was one of the toughest things I’ve done. And no matter what I did to try and keep the flavor the same, I couldn’t. It changed. Now, I’m good with it. Some parts are even better. But I hope and pray I will never have to do that again and I hope my story keeps others from having to experience it. Joan, huge hugs on the lost manuscripts. I can’t even begin to imagine… I have Liquid Story Binder, and really like the character dossiers and being able to have a bunch of images at my fingertips for inspiration. I don’t use it much for the actual writing, I still find that easier to do in Word, but I like it for the planning stages of writing. Of course, I haven’t played with it as much as I should, so I’m sure there’s some features I’m missing out on! I think however it works for you is how you should use it. Bells and whistles are all well and good, but why complicate things if simplicity works? The additional features in LSB work for me…but not all of them. It’s a pick and choose what suits you best. Thanks, Joan. I’ve never heard of any of these. You speak so calmly of losing three manuscripts. Ack!! That’s horrible. Just the thought of it makes me sick.  rita says: Thanks for the info. I nearly died when I lost a few thousand words. You are right, you get it back but the flavor isn’t the same. heavy sigh.
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Wow… I’d heard someone mention Liquid Story Binder, and just the name sounded cool, but I had no idea what it was.
Is it compatible with Word? Can you keep copies of the manuscript in Word and jump in and out of the Liquid Story Binder program??
I’m in the midst of revisions right now, and wishing I had a six-foot bulletin board and about a billion 3X5 cards…. This software may be just what I need. Anybody else use it?
Yes, Elisa, you can switch documents between applications. You just have to save them as .rtf files and they transport easily.