Then I had an idea.

If a netbook was too expensive and I wanted to keep typing so I could keep up productivity, then maybe Word itself was the program.

I – like any writer – had heard of plenty of writing programs to ‘get ‘er done’. I didn’t want something I had to buy, first of all, because I like free stuff. Secondly, I wanted something that would be compatible but otherwise not look like Word.

I tried a few programs, but they were either incredibly limited, aesthetically unpleasing or simply way too similar to word.

Then I found yWriter. I couldn’t go past a guy who used his own program to write his books – books that have sold. If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is. Plus, it ticked that all-important ‘free’ box that I wanted, so I had nothing to lose.

Four weeks and over 20k words later, I highly recommend this program.

Because there is so much you can do with this program, I immediately became wary of getting trapped in the world building. But honestly? After taking a few hours to get all my characters, locations and other notes in there, I was off like a gunshot.

While there is a more ‘traditional’ way of using it. I use the ‘chapter’ function as a story function so each ‘chapter’ is a different story I am working on. That might not work for you, but that is just one small way to show how you can make it work in the ways you want.

If you’re interested in learning more about it, check out the website as well as watch this excellent tutorial:

With all of the foodie blogs out there, sometimes I get full just looking at the internet. With deliciousness in mind this week, I thought I’d suggest something a little different. The prompt is: recipe. Do with it what you will!

My favourite recipe! Triple chocolate brownies…

Yes, I am incredibly behind.

You might not think of languages as endangered species, but in this documentary film – The Linguists – two scientists race to document these languages before they disappear forever.

Film Description: “Scientists estimate that of 7,000 languages in the world, half will be gone by the end of this century. On average, one language disappears every two weeks.”

Can you imagine that? Imagine English (or your native language) being completely gone before you die. That is what many of these small pockets are facing in regards to their languages.

I think what these two scientists are doing is amazing. Though they face danger, I just wish I could have been out there doing the research with them.