THE RULES

So there have to be rules.

Here's the goal and whatnot:

I will write a book on my iPod touch using the NOTES application...no less than 45,000 words. I hope to have this done by the time school starts...let's say September 5 is my deadline.

1. I cannot write on the computer, just on the iPod. Editing spacing on the computer will eventually be acceptable, but I will not do so until the entire book has been completed.

2. I will save a "raw" copy on my harddrive untainted, and all the emails to myself from my iPod just in case anyone eventually wants to test the validity of the experiment.

3. Major editing must also be done on the iPod. Major editing is anything other than spacing or changing incorrect autocorrect words. The Notes app in the iPod touch will sometimes incorrectly autocorrect words ("on" instead of "in"...etc). I can see no harm in allowing myself to correct these kinds of errors on the computer.

4. I will periodically email myself the notes to keep track of the word count, keep all the words together in chronological order, and for backup in case something happens to my iPod. When I do this, I will copy and paste the unedited data into a Microsoft Word document. I will continue doing this and I will keep the emails to myself just as extra proof (just in case someone wants to question whether or not I really copied and pasted straight from the email).


The point is to have fun, type less so my wrists stop hurting, and use time on the subway and on the road more constructively. Goodbye to dragging around a laptop or a spiral notebook - all I need is my iPod touch!

Any suggestions? Any other rules I should include??? Feedback more than welcome!!!

Writing on the Subway.

Writing with pen and paper on the subway is all sorts of ridiculous. For one, it's outside of the cultural norm of the subway system. You read, you listen to your mp3 or play games with your phone, you flip through magazines. Pen and paper are just pompous things of the past. People look at you funny, and secretly think shit like, "I hope they don't slip up and get pen on me." It's a really pompous environment. Handling a pen is almost as bad as putting a wet umbrella on a seat (OK, not really. That's like a sin of the highest degree).

Let me tell you people who don't ride the subway - it can be an intimidating thing. Other subway people judge you if you look at the subway map or talk to loud or look around a lot. There's this code of quiet, and this code of how much room it's acceptable to take. An open spiral, during a crowded train ride, will violate that code.

But doodling on the iPod is alright. It's on the list of socially acceptable things. So my anxiety is quelled.

It's not just me, man, it's like...scientific fact or something.