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Airstory - Appsumo deal
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Posted by Franz Grieser
Jun 26, 2017 at 10:02 AM
Hi there.
Appsumo has a special deal for Airstory - which seems to be some sort of Scrivener on the web (plus templates, plus multiuser capabilities, plus…): http://www.appsumo.com/airstory/
Has anyone here used Airstory? Looks intriguing but I haven’t had the time to play with it.
Franz
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Jun 26, 2017 at 10:04 PM
It looks like it is especially designed for team writing projects. Having just completed one of those, I have to say, “Never again!” (Sorry, this wasn’t helpful, I know.)
Steve Z.
Posted by Franz Grieser
Jun 27, 2017 at 07:03 AM
Steve, I just started such a writing project (with my wife). And I think we’ll stick with what she is comfortable with, which is Word (plus Scrivener on my machine for structuring the project).
Posted by Hugh
Jun 27, 2017 at 02:59 PM
I spent several years engaged in team-writing on various projects, against the clock. My experience, confirmed by others I’ve spoken to who’ve worked in similar ways, is that whatever the technology used, team-writing ain’t easy. Such is the mental challenge inherent in clearly and accurately expressing ideas - concrete, abstract or fictional.
Usually, I worked in teams of two. Obviously that can be handled serially and, with modern technology, at long distance. I tended to work together with someone at the same desk.
A detailed outline, and full discussion of it and its implications before hitting the keys (or picking up the pen or pencil), was very important indeed.
One person drove the pen, pencil, or keyboard, and therefore the narrative or ideas (within the outline framework). Just occasionally the second person dictated, but mostly command of the keyboard was key. (Although occasionally that command could switch from one person to another, possibly from one writing session to another.) The job of the one who wasn’t at the keyboard (or holding the pen or pencil) was to come up with thoughts for, say, the next paragraph or page, and to check the draft as it emerged.
I never saw teams succeed that were larger than two, but I believe that in Hollywood it happens quite frequently.
For both team members, patience was a virtue. Above all, suppression of ego was vital. This not being something that anyone keen on writing is generally good at, I believe that a very high proportion of those who start fail to spend long team-writing.
I hope this is helpful.
Posted by Franz Grieser
Jun 27, 2017 at 03:19 PM
Thanks for your thoughts, Steve and Hug.
It’s not my first team-writing project but the first with my better half. To reduce friction we decided on strict division of responsibilities and plan to work sequentially.
Why I look(ed) into Airstory is the Cards section which would allow me to share research with my co-writer. But I think we’ll go with a simple combination of Word and Evernote or Cintanotes (and duplicate bases of notes).
And I’ll have “Suppression of ego is vital” printed in A4 over my desk ;-)