It hasn’t taken very long for my life to get extremely busy once again! Not complaining, mind you, just mentioning that everything seems to begin to happen all at the same time, and it’s not always easy to get going again, to get “back in the flow.”
Not so long ago, I was writing about how things had slowed down to a crawl, especially with my regular writing routine. But these past couple of days, that aspect of my life has gotten a good jump-start, for a couple of reasons: First, I went computer shopping at the Apple Store in Naperville yesterday and bought a 15-inch MacBook Pro with an AirPort Time Capsule (which I’m anxious to figure out). I was going to go with the 13-inch screen, but the kind wife that I have insisted that I should have the larger screen (old eyes, you know!) and that the money would be there for it. Hard to argue with that line of thinking!
Second, Gwen Hernandez’s Scrivener for Mac-Intermediate class began this morning, and I’m mentally “back” into all things Scrivener after completing lesson 1. I can tell just from the first lesson, that it’s going to be another worthwhile and valuable class for the next few weeks.
But there were a few obstacles I had to work around in order to be ready for the onset of this morning’s first lesson. The major concern was my being without my ancient MacBook (late 2007), having left it at the Apple Store yesterday to have all of the data, Apps, programs, files, etc., transferred to my new MacBook Pro. This presented a problem at first, since I would be without my laptop at least until Thursday and would put me behind in Gwen’s
class.
Then it hit me! I could use my wife’s MacBook to access the class forum site and be able to download the lessons without missing anything. Of course, my wife doesn’t have or use Scrivener at the moment, so that was another concern. But one of the beauties of Literature and Latte’s Scrivener is that they offer a 30-day free trial.
With that in mind, I downloaded it to the wife’s computer and am able to move ahead with Gwen’s class and resume work on my novel–waking it from hibernation–without missing any time. And as it will probably turn out when things are back to “normal” around here and I’m back on my own laptop with my own registered Scrivener, the trial version will expire. But the wife just might be interested in using it for her genealogy and ancestry stuff and will probably purchase it as well.
And so my week has begun with a flurry of activity in things computer and Scrivener related. Then there was the “gathering” on Sunday we had to prepare for last week. As it turned out, we had a wonderful dinner party here on Sunday with nearly thirty folks from the wife’s place of business in attendance. It was a wonderful time, great food, and many laughs and bits of conversation, but there’s that thing called “clean up” and getting chairs, tables, coolers, dishes, etc., back in their proper places. Though we’ve made a pretty good dent in getting that all taken care of, there’s still more awaiting–as soon as I can find the “spirit” to pull away from my writing!
Now, I am eager to hear from the good folks at the Apple Store that my new computer is all set up and ready for me to pick it up on Thursday morning when I’m taking one of their One-to-One “lessons” to go over the new operating system and other things on how the MacBook Pro works. In the meantime, I’d best see what I can do to move my novel along, further out of hibernation!…CortlandWriter
Down Many Roads... 
Where there is a will, there’s a way–you have proved that! Gwen’s classes are great. I get so much more out of Scrivener now than I did before. It’s easy to forget things though, but I saved all of Gwen’s documents so I can have a quick reference if I need.
Yep, Carrie, it’s fun to write using Scrivener when I understand how the features work! 😄
Congratulations on your new toy, Mark! One of these days I plan to take one of Gwen’s intro courses, I just need to find/make the time. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about her. By the way, I love the photo! There’s just something about a country road.
Thanks, Jill! I encourage you to find that time to take one of Gwen’s classes! They’re fun and informative and very helpful. Yeah, that photo of the country road is the way it looks out here this time of year. 😊
You’re blessed to have that view, Mark. 🙂
I downloaded Scrivener a few years back (maybe two) and gave up on it almost immediately (couldn’t figure out what made it so brilliant). So will check out Gwen’s classes. Congrats on the Mac and full speed ahead Mark! (I think it has something to do with Fall – I find I am always much busier this time of the year).
Yolanda, thanks for stopping by! I would highly recommend taking Gwen’s classes if you really want to get to know Scrivener. I’m eager to get going on the new Mac tomorrow. Just received a call that it’s ready for pickup! 😄
I took Gwen’s Scrivener course, too – the intro one. It’s very well structured.
Hi, Gwen. Yes, the classes are definitely well organized.