NOTE: There was no post last week due to deceased internet.
Also, instead of posting all different days of the week, in the future I’m going to try to always post on Mondays or Tuesdays.
On to the regularly scheduled post.
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I lurk in my cave, hunched over an object that I move my fingers across, muttering to myself, completely absorbed in it for hours at a time, all alone in the half-darkness. The object is shiny, has amazing power, and I call it “my preciousssss.”
Who am I? You get three guesses.
*whispering* (“One…”)
(“Two…”)
(“Three…”)
If you guessed 1: Gollum, 2: Smeagol, or 3: that-creepy/adorable-creature-in-the-Lord-of-the-Rings-movies-with-the-big-eyes, you are absolutely–!
. . . wrong.
What! How can this be?
…Sorry. You were close, though. (Probably closer than I’d care to admit . . .)
I am a writer, the cave is my writer-cave (also known as my room), and the shiny object I am so often hunched over is my laptop. To be more specific, my lovely Toshiba laptop that I obtained exactly 2 years ago today. This post is to commemorate my laptop’s anniversary/birthday, look back over its the faithful service thus far, and hope for many long years of happy writing together in the future.
It begins . . . Well, it begins how any other story begins.
“Once upon a time . . .”
‘Twas a historic day, October 21st, 2011. I had been planning on buying a laptop for some time, and with my second Nanowrimo looming not far distant on the horizon, I was determined not to spend the entire month of November snatching frantic moments of writing on the family computer. So I was on a quest for a personal writer’s-best-friend, and off I traveled with my life-savings to Best Buy to shop about. A shockingly brief amount of time later, I had found the perfect precious, and with my laptop snugly in its box in my arms (and with my life-savings sitting very tidily in somebody else’s cash-register), I walked out of the store’s door . . . and into history.
(. . . Okay, maybe not that last part.)
On my laptop so far I’ve written the entirety of 2 novels and 6 short stories, and portions of: 10 other novels, a couple novellas, and a few other short stories. How much of that writing would I have gotten done if I did not have my very own laptop in my very own room? Probably not nearly as much.
It has been the most useful tool for my craft of writing that I’ve ever obtained–and really, much more than a tool. To use a term my sister made up, it is my “goochy”; to all you LotR-fans, it is my “precious”; to those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, it is my dearest electronic friend. (And if that conjured up disturbing images of talkative and eccentric robots, I do apologize.)
It is my preciousssssss . . .
How about you? Grouchy computer? Sleek laptop? Gliding pen or stalwart pencil? Tasty crayons? Charcoal from your campfire? Telepathic brain signals that automatically translate into words in a wordprocesser? (If you’ve found this ability, please tell me how it is done–it would be most helpful.)
What is your writing tool of choice, and why?
Deborah O'Carroll (Road of a Writer) 
Haha, loved this post. 😉 Made me laugh sooo hard. “That-creepy/adorable-creature-in-the-Lord-of-the-Rings-movies-with-the-big-eyes…” So true. 😀 Tell your Toshiba I said hi. Does s/he have a name?
I have a clunky old laptop named Alfred. Alfred is obese (both physically and in regards to how much stuff is crammed into him) and really inconvenient to lug around, so he stays perched eternally on my desk and devours it all–I have no room for anything else, like if I want to write in a notebook. But who wants a notebook when you’ve got Alfred?!
His vents are really loud, but when I’m playing music on him, on shuffle, HE CAN READ MY MIND. It’s the coolest thing when you’re writing and passively think, “I’m feeling like Bach’s Cello Suite” and presto! The next song shuffle plays is the Cello Suite. He rocks.
He is also extremely obtuse and breaks down quite frequently. I inherited him from an (much) older sister, and he is as old as I am!! He has to be always plugged into the outlet and under constant supervision, or else he’ll groan and die. (I suppose it’s good that I’M under constant supervision as well, or I might groan and die too.)
Alfred has his quirks and his qualms, but overall I’d never be able to do anything without him. 😀
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Thank you so much! I’m glad you thought it was funny! ^_^ (still working on my humor skills, heh.) And no, he doesn’t have a name… I remember contemplating what to name him but never came up with anything. I’m rather new to the world of naming electronics. XD
Haha, that’s so cool about Alfred! He sounds rather like my sister’s laptop (who is named Grouchy for obvious reasons), always needing to be plugged in and watched over. I can’t use my desk either, but I agree — who cares when we have our awesome laptops! 🙂
Oh and yes, I love it when mine plays the right music for the mood! They seriously must read our minds!
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Hahahahaha! Loooved this! You’re so hilarious! But, ah, how this does describe us writers. I fear you just explained my entire life in this one post. Hehe.
It’s so nice to meet your laptop. *smiles and waves at it*
You of course know “my precious” is my laptop Larry. Poor 6 1/2 year old Larry and still kicking. Surprisingly well. I’d basically have no writing done if I didn’t have him so…yeah. Also, I got him from Best Buy as well! 😀 There’s nothing more exciting than stepping out of the store with a shiny new laptop in hand. But yeah…Larry. He’s basically a permanent part of my lap. The one annoying thing though is his battery only works for about half an hour now so I have to always keep him plugged in. But that’s okay, he’s always had a horrible battery life anyways so even when he was new I’d usually keep him plugged in. He also gets really warm. And he’s really, really bulky and heavy… Otherwise though it’s been a shocker to us all how well he performs, and still so! Laptops don’t usually last this long, especially one used as much as Larry! He’s been a blessing to me. Which sounds ridiculous to say about a laptop but it’s true! Writing is my passion and I have so many internet buddies, it’s been so good for me to have my own personal laptop.
Oh, and if someone tells you how to use telepathic powers to type, inform me how it’s done. That’d be great. 😉
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Reblogged this on Adithya Entertainment.
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Thanks!
Ah, good ol’ Larry! 😉 I didn’t know he was that old though — glad he’s still kicking! XD And he makes it possible for you to write your awesome stories and write emails to me so I can hear from my Lauri, so there’s a lot of awesome due to Larry! Give him a hug for me, ‘kay? 😀
My battery lasts an amazingly long time (like 3 or 4 hours), but I’m afraid I don’t take very good advantage of that… It doesn’t often occur to me that I could just take it outside or to a different room and not have to worry about plugging it in for awhile.
Haha, I’ll be sure to if I find out! 😛
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Ah, laptops. I value my mine so much. She (yes, it’s a she) is light and sleek and can move about, but her home is my desk, and I do my best writing there, so there she stays for the most part.
It’s so fun to read about everyone else’s! So I’m not the only one who doesn’t know what she’d do without her laptop. 🙂
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And here I was beginning to think there were no female laptops! XD (like Dwarves…? *obscure Gimli reference*) Desks are definitely the best place for laptops, but it’s handy to be able to move them when necessary! And yes. Laptops are a writer must-have! 🙂
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