I'm going to use a Palm with a keyboard as if it were a laptop, since that's what I have. I'm also using Brian Eno's "Oblique Strategies" cards to get past creative block. That's the short version, now I'll get verbose...
Well, here's some of the technology I plan to use for writing parts of my novel. I don't have a laptop, and my family despaired at the notion of me spending hours of the day vanishing away from the living room. It could get pretty lonely for them out there! This October, it hit me that although I don't have a laptop, I did have a Palm computer, and I have a keyboard that I can attach to it. I spent last month making sure that the Palm was in working order, since it's been a long time since I'd used it. It has a decent word-processing program, and I can move my documents between it and the PC.
I'm still doing most of my writing on the PC, though... the PC has to be my primary machine, because I'm still uneasy about the idea that my Palm might crash in some unforeseen way and wipe out a whole day's worth of writing, or that the dainty little fold-up keyboard might just plain snap in half under the weight of 50000 words. I probably shouldn't worry... I spent last month making sure that it's safe. I documented what I found in troubleshooting and everything.
Just... well, I should probably share what I found in my troubleshooting, because it is important information to anybody else who wants to use a Palm for NaNo. The advice is this: make sure that you never upload a corrupted document file to your Palm. Check to make sure that all of your documents open okay... if they do, they're probably not corrupted, and you'll be fine. If one doesn't open, delete it, it's corrupted, and it'll otherwise work mischief for you. Having a corrupted document on your Palm can make your Palm's word processing application crash when you try to save or close any other document.
I've also got a neat little application for Palm, and I want everybody to know that it is PERFECT for NaNoWriMo: Brian Eno's "Oblique Strategies." The Oblique Strategies normally take the form of a pack of cards. They're designed for people working on any kind creative project (especially projects where you're trying to meet a deadline) and for when you're having creative block and need muse help. You pull out a random card and it has a little advice on a way to get yourself un-stuck and proceed on the project. I've already started using them, and they've been very helpful! I really wish that I'd used them the last time that I tried NaNoWriMo... if I'd had 'em, maybe I would have finished my novel that time.
This website lists all the Oblique Strategies, so you can write them down on index cards for your own self to use:
http://www.rtqe.net/ObliqueStrategies/
You don't need a Palm, just some index cards. I guess you could plop them onto a spreadsheet and print them out of a computer, too.
That site doesn't have a link to the place where I downloaded my Oblique Strategies for Palm, though. That's out here: http://www.freewarepalm.com/misc/obliquestrategies.shtml
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