Post by ProfGremlin on Sept 10, 2011 20:09:49 GMT -5
Ok, folks, I have a long term project that I've alluded to elsewhere. I've recently had a few new ideas and a major cross-link of two, what I had originally thought of as, independent concepts. So, I'm revisiting the idea of project management. Up until now, I've been using Wikidpad as my wiki of choice - it's free (a must), it's portable (I can carry it with me on a jump drive), and it's not that hard to figure out, especially with the built-in help wiki. Backups are pretty easy with a simple copy/paste of the directory, wiki words (or even the whole wiki) are easily exportable in html or multi-page text format, and there's a ton of plugins that can be installed. The downside is that I need access to a computer in order to edit/update the wiki. Not typically a problem as I'm rarely more than ten minutes from a usable machine.
It's also been suggested to me by a good friend that perhaps I'm missing something by using software as my creative sandbox. I remember being told there's a connection between creativity and actual handwriting. I can't explain it any better than that. I'd love to go old school and use a fountain pen and parchment, or at least the modern day equivalent - spiral bound notebook and pen/pencil. I love the whole 'old time journal' trope and would enjoy replicating it. The idea of getting my hands on the Winchester's journal or perhaps reading Gile's journal from when he mentored Buffy would be a trip. Heck, let's get real and just grab one of daVinci's workbooks. Dear gods in heaven, could you imagine that? Reading one of the journals actually held and created by one of the greatest minds of the western world? /geekgasm
Ok, back on track - the downside is that I've never been a successful journaler. For whatever reason, the idea of actually putting pen to paper has never lasted for me. I can handle maybe a week and then I just lose interest.
Another thought - Back in March of '97 I took a job as computer tech support for a major ISP. That job would last me over six years (yes, my sanity has been questioned) and in that time I created two major websites for the tech teams that I worked with. The sites were natural outgrowths of my penchant for documentation. Even though I'm no longer in the same field I still keep the vast majority of my notes in electronic format.
That all said, I guess I have two divergent questions: 1) What software do you use, if any, for creative project management and why? and 2) Do you feel there is any truth to the idea that to be successfully creative that one needs to use a paper/pencil for the flow of ideas?
It's also been suggested to me by a good friend that perhaps I'm missing something by using software as my creative sandbox. I remember being told there's a connection between creativity and actual handwriting. I can't explain it any better than that. I'd love to go old school and use a fountain pen and parchment, or at least the modern day equivalent - spiral bound notebook and pen/pencil. I love the whole 'old time journal' trope and would enjoy replicating it. The idea of getting my hands on the Winchester's journal or perhaps reading Gile's journal from when he mentored Buffy would be a trip. Heck, let's get real and just grab one of daVinci's workbooks. Dear gods in heaven, could you imagine that? Reading one of the journals actually held and created by one of the greatest minds of the western world? /geekgasm
Ok, back on track - the downside is that I've never been a successful journaler. For whatever reason, the idea of actually putting pen to paper has never lasted for me. I can handle maybe a week and then I just lose interest.
Another thought - Back in March of '97 I took a job as computer tech support for a major ISP. That job would last me over six years (yes, my sanity has been questioned) and in that time I created two major websites for the tech teams that I worked with. The sites were natural outgrowths of my penchant for documentation. Even though I'm no longer in the same field I still keep the vast majority of my notes in electronic format.
That all said, I guess I have two divergent questions: 1) What software do you use, if any, for creative project management and why? and 2) Do you feel there is any truth to the idea that to be successfully creative that one needs to use a paper/pencil for the flow of ideas?