Open Source Writing- my $200 workstation
One of the biggest mistakes I see from beginning writers, is thinking the tool changes the quality of your work. When I began to write , it was 9 years ago on the notepad of my phone. The most important part of becoming a writer, is becoming proficient at reading, editing, and exploring your thoughts through the medium of your choice. No matter whether you use a blank sheet of paper and a pencil, or a $1300 Macbook Pro, the quality of your work is dependent on how often you write, and how much effort you put into editing and finalizing your piece.
That being said, it certainly helps to have tools that make it easier to write, and organize your thoughts. The cost of these doesn’t need to break the bank. Nothing I have owned for writing, or office work, in the past few years had cost more than $200. That being said, I’m not knocking anyone who has the income to afford a Montblanc pen, or a Retina display computer.
I love getting cool stuff for cheap, and making it my own, so when it came to my writing, that’s exactly what I did with my, new to me, workstation.
My budding love for Thinkpads
Searching for a new laptop, I realized my budget was too low to afford my first choice. With around $300 I scoured the web for anything, with an i5 processer and above 4gb of ram. Although many new computers offer these options for the price, I found it would be cheaper to build a laptop from the ground up.
When browsing reddit for reccomendations, I came across a community of computer geeks over at reddit.com/r/thinkpad. The Thinkpad brand, first owned by IBM, and now by Lenovo, had powerful computers for a great price, used often selling for less than $100.
Traveling over to eBay, I realized there was no shortage of these computers, and I ended up deciding on a Lenovo Thinkpad T430s. I picked it up for $110 with free shipping. I also paid $30 for an 128gb mSATA drive, again with free shipping. The older Thinkpad models caught my attention, because of the ability to easily modifty the already powerful hardware. The mSATA drive could be easily installed into the PICe slot located in the body of the computer. The extra drive was not necessary, and a similar drive is usually used as a boot drive, or for running programs, but I use the extra space for all of my writing files.
If one decides to use a computer for writing, it helps to have one that can run as many basic programs you need. Although you may not be able to play GPU intensive videogames, I found the specific computer I bought, to be ready right out of the box. This is the first used computer I’ve had, and it came faster than any of my previous, at less than a quarter of the price.
The main article that inspired me to make this purchase, was one of my favorite computer modification articles. The way I felt reading about all the possible modifications, it was like I was a kid again, looking through computer hardware magazines. The article is well written, and certainly convinced me of the truth behind Thinkpad-hype. Specifically helping me choose the T430s. Although I chose the T430s, almost any Thinkpad made in the last decade, is a beast of a machine.
If you’d like to read “The Definitive Thinkpad T430 Modding Guide” by George Kushnir, you can here:
If the Thinkpad route is of interest, or if one decides on a computer with upgradability, make sure to understand what you can do to your particular model, and the difficulty of the tasks you want to complete. That being said, although there are a lot of ways to make a Thinkpad better, the base laptop is a beast as-is.
Operating system and word processing
When I first got my new PC, I wanted to make it my own. Having little experience with Linux, but wanting to take the plunge into the world of customization, and open source software, I decided on the operating system Pop! OS. Similar to Ubuntu, the Debian based system was easy to install, and for someone who had failed trying Linux in their youth, it was quite intuitive, and easy to pick up.
The idea of having a whole catalog, of customizable, free, software really sold the idea to me of ditching Windows 10 for Linux.
Along with aiding my understanding of how operating systems work, it allows me to customize my experience when it comes to getting my own work done.
Not to mention, the OS runs a lot faster than windows 10. I rarely have to wait more than a second for the computer to start, and opening programs is even faster.
Writing is a task I assign specifically to an open source program known as Manuskript.
On Pop! OS, the program can be found in the Pop! shop. On other systems, you can download it from:
https://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/2018/12/05/manuskript-0-8-0/
Allowing one to organize, the plan of the writing, title, summary, characters, and world all in one interface, it’s quite a useful tool for almost any writer. In order to begin writing, fill out all available information on the work in progress, and navigate your way down to the text editor. The text editor can be found at the bottom left of the user interface.
It was a short learning curve from the average word processor, but I just find it easier to organize my thoughts, and it’s helped me extend the length of my stories, and articles.
For a dictionary, I use Stardict. With the option to download dictionaries based on the languages spoken, and the ability to customize the program. The learning curve was much greater with this application, although that isn’t saying much, considering I picked it up in about fifteen minutes.
Image manipulation and illustration
Let’s be honest, paying for the license to use Photoshop for professional work is expensive, and while I love the features that come along with the program, it’s just not something I want to invest in at this point in my career.
When I first started using open source software, I began using GIMP for image manipulation. While this works for photos I’ve taken, if I need an Image I don’t own, I often like to draw over it, or draw it from scratch myself. With a little bit of work, and the right illustration software, a minimalist cover photo or header image can be fun to create on your own.
To achieve this I found a program called Krita. I was able to download a open source driver for a non-compatible drawing tablet, and I began to work away, The program greatly resembles Adobe Illustrator, although with less of the features, still it is enough to create headers, and covers, for projects I’m working on.
Importing images is a breeze, and if your computer is halfway decent, the program runs without hiccup. I’ve been using this for awhile now, and it definitely gets the job done, if you’re just starting out. Quality illustrations won’t make your writing better, but it will help to enhance the overall experience of the reader.
Make sure if you do modify an image, to make it completely your own, or give credit where it is due.
You can find the program here: https://krita.org/en/
Pen and paper
While I definitely recommend finishing, and editing your pieces by word processor, or the program I mentioned earlier, I also often carry with me physical writing utensils to jot down ideas away from my PC.
Outlining what I keep in my notebook idea wise, I try to stay away from finishing pieces within my notebook, and so I often opt for unruled pages.
What I do keep inside of my notebooks, to stay organized:
- Charts to organize my ideas, sources, or general information to follow up on.
- I write down social media accounts, and other creators who inspire me. Writers, artists, etc.
- Poetry and the start of short stories that come to me throughout the day.
- Keeping my journal to just mostly ideas, or rough outlines, of projects I want to pursue, I like to let things sit. Often I tend to feel too excited if i begin working right away, leaving me open to disappointment when I have trouble using my ideas. So I like to approach my work when I’m in a situation to sit and think.
For an all purpose journal, I tend to use a Moleskine Cahier Journal, with dots instead of rulings.
A pack of three is around $10 in the United States, and for infrequent use, these notebooks are nice, and disposable, while also having the quality of Moleskine paper products.
Accompanying the notebook, my favorite pen, the Pilot G2 is something I never leave home without. While I appreciate any gel pen I can get my hands on, the G2 has been my go to since the 6th grade.
Smooth writing, and a good amount of ink, the only issue I have is the ink will never come out of your clothes. Make sure to keep the pen retracted, lest you end up with a ink blotch on the front of brand new slacks.
Closing thoughts
While the writing instrument is not as important as the act of writing itself, it is still important to decide your preference when it comes to any hobby.
As a broke college student, writing is one of my favorite passtimes, and I need to assure myself, that anything I buy, can be replaced.
It helps with my tendency to break every electronic I touch.
Old PC’s, typewriters, or ripped up pieces of paper, can become canvases for someone’s ideas. The important thing is to begin writing, and sort out medium preferences later. It helps to have written a lot with a few different tools to help you decide. If this is one’s passion, the canvas doesn’t matter as much as the thought, and drive, behind the need to write.
