0:00:03.760,0:00:08.080 there's nothing wrong 0:00:05.040,0:00:09.200 with your mobile device or computer just 0:00:08.080,0:00:12.480 that my world 0:00:09.200,0:00:15.040 was upside down when my son was born 11 0:00:12.480,0:00:18.320 years ago 0:00:15.040,0:00:21.039 hi i'm bala ramazaray author professor 0:00:18.320,0:00:22.160 and consultant i'm going to tell you my 0:00:21.039,0:00:27.039 story about 0:00:22.160,0:00:29.920 how i ended up using emacs for writing 0:00:27.039,0:00:30.640 11 years ago in bangalore my son was 0:00:29.920,0:00:33.040 born 0:00:30.640,0:00:34.640 my wife and i had hardly slept through 0:00:33.040,0:00:37.840 those days 0:00:34.640,0:00:41.120 that's when my grandma decided 0:00:37.840,0:00:43.760 according to such a famous search engine 0:00:41.120,0:00:45.039 visited us to take a look at her great 0:00:43.760,0:00:47.920 grandson 0:00:45.039,0:00:48.559 as joyous as it sounded it came with a 0:00:47.920,0:00:51.840 peril 0:00:48.559,0:00:54.160 my grandma is a scrabble addict 0:00:51.840,0:00:55.840 she hardly spent any time at all with 0:00:54.160,0:00:58.160 her great grandson 0:00:55.840,0:00:59.359 but she spent most of her time playing 0:00:58.160,0:01:01.840 scrabble 0:00:59.359,0:01:02.719 she insisted that my wife and i joined 0:01:01.840,0:01:04.479 her 0:01:02.719,0:01:07.040 that's when an idea dawned on me to 0:01:04.479,0:01:09.600 write about my scrabble obsessed grandma 0:01:07.040,0:01:10.640 what if i could make it into a novel not 0:01:09.600,0:01:13.760 many people have 0:01:10.640,0:01:16.000 scrabble obsessed grandmothers after all 0:01:13.760,0:01:17.200 i wanted to expand this to a novel but 0:01:16.000,0:01:20.000 did not know how 0:01:17.200,0:01:22.560 i bumped into dan wells's video on seven 0:01:20.000,0:01:25.119 point story structure which is based on 0:01:22.560,0:01:27.040 a construct called hero's journey i was 0:01:25.119,0:01:30.400 now convinced that a seed idea 0:01:27.040,0:01:32.000 would indeed be converted into a novel 0:01:30.400,0:01:34.479 i tried out many tools at the time 0:01:32.000,0:01:38.000 million dollar tools like ms word 0:01:34.479,0:01:38.799 excel scrivener but none of them really 0:01:38.000,0:01:41.520 worked 0:01:38.799,0:01:43.840 so when i remembered about this old 0:01:41.520,0:01:46.159 editor called emacs 0:01:43.840,0:01:48.000 thanks to the emacs community and 0:01:46.159,0:01:50.960 particularly the augment community 0:01:48.000,0:01:52.320 i had what i wanted i combined 0:01:50.960,0:01:55.200 danville's method 0:01:52.320,0:01:55.680 with another method called snowflake and 0:01:55.200,0:01:58.880 also 0:01:55.680,0:02:01.200 tony valentine's emacs writing template 0:01:58.880,0:02:02.159 some of the key features of arg mode 0:02:01.200,0:02:05.360 that i used 0:02:02.159,0:02:08.399 were fold on unfold outline 0:02:05.360,0:02:09.599 column view tags distraction free 0:02:08.399,0:02:12.800 writing experience 0:02:09.599,0:02:13.840 using many packages clocking project 0:02:12.800,0:02:16.640 tracking 0:02:13.840,0:02:17.920 and export which is what you will see in 0:02:16.640,0:02:21.360 my demo 0:02:17.920,0:02:24.560 now to get into some action okay 0:02:21.360,0:02:26.640 so here we are the superstructure of the 0:02:24.560,0:02:28.879 novel itself how do we build it 0:02:26.640,0:02:30.400 first is the plot this comes from the 0:02:28.879,0:02:32.959 snowflake method 0:02:30.400,0:02:34.160 you write a one line summary of your 0:02:32.959,0:02:37.280 plot 0:02:34.160,0:02:40.640 character design you can write the 0:02:37.280,0:02:42.640 entire description of the characters the 0:02:40.640,0:02:44.319 physical descriptors motivators the 0:02:42.640,0:02:45.040 whole thing you can write all the 0:02:44.319,0:02:48.400 characters 0:02:45.040,0:02:50.560 in the novel including the antagonists 0:02:48.400,0:02:52.400 i researched about the places that i'm 0:02:50.560,0:02:54.400 going to be using in the novel 0:02:52.400,0:02:56.239 this is the most important part the 0:02:54.400,0:03:00.239 story arcs 0:02:56.239,0:03:03.599 for this i used the very convenient 0:03:00.239,0:03:06.080 notion of using a column view 0:03:03.599,0:03:06.959 where when i open it you can see how 0:03:06.080,0:03:10.000 i've used 0:03:06.959,0:03:13.120 column view each plot point 0:03:10.000,0:03:16.959 and who the character is what is their 0:03:13.120,0:03:17.599 plot point itself so okay and you can do 0:03:16.959,0:03:20.879 this for 0:03:17.599,0:03:22.800 each and every uh story arc romance 0:03:20.879,0:03:24.480 uh each and every character sub 0:03:22.800,0:03:27.360 character okay i haven't 0:03:24.480,0:03:29.040 uh labeled them so next is the story 0:03:27.360,0:03:30.879 design so now we have the character 0:03:29.040,0:03:34.000 independent character arcs 0:03:30.879,0:03:36.799 uh here again column view comes in handy 0:03:34.000,0:03:38.400 this is a different set of columns now 0:03:36.799,0:03:40.560 you can use 0:03:38.400,0:03:41.840 not only the main the main character arc 0:03:40.560,0:03:44.959 is the 0:03:41.840,0:03:48.560 backbone but in the middle of it 0:03:44.959,0:03:51.840 supporting characters augment the 0:03:48.560,0:03:53.040 main character and their own plot points 0:03:51.840,0:03:55.680 are also 0:03:53.040,0:03:57.519 can be filled up using the column view 0:03:55.680,0:03:58.720 and you can find out where which act we 0:03:57.519,0:04:00.720 are talking about 0:03:58.720,0:04:01.840 and for the main character what what is 0:04:00.720,0:04:04.640 it that we're doing 0:04:01.840,0:04:05.840 okay next is the specifics which is the 0:04:04.640,0:04:08.560 scene design 0:04:05.840,0:04:08.879 uh this is going to be look like a mess 0:04:08.560,0:04:11.200 but 0:04:08.879,0:04:14.400 it's actually very very convenient can 0:04:11.200,0:04:16.000 be as exhaustive as you can you can do 0:04:14.400,0:04:18.320 the title of the scene 0:04:16.000,0:04:19.280 the act the point of view as it's called 0:04:18.320,0:04:21.280 point of views 0:04:19.280,0:04:23.199 which characters point of view are we 0:04:21.280,0:04:25.919 looking at in this scene 0:04:23.199,0:04:26.800 is it outdoor indoor we can mix it up 0:04:25.919,0:04:28.639 match 0:04:26.800,0:04:30.240 and then where is the location and 0:04:28.639,0:04:33.600 finally the city in which 0:04:30.240,0:04:37.440 this scene is taking place now let's uh 0:04:33.600,0:04:40.000 look at the novel itself i use this 0:04:37.440,0:04:43.120 novel the distraction free experience 0:04:40.000,0:04:44.320 for writing the novel 60 000 word novel 0:04:43.120,0:04:46.160 this 0:04:44.320,0:04:47.360 first manuscript you can even write 0:04:46.160,0:04:50.320 comments based on 0:04:47.360,0:04:51.120 i read this out to a writer's community 0:04:50.320,0:04:54.000 locally 0:04:51.120,0:04:55.600 and they give me feedback on what could 0:04:54.000,0:04:56.720 be improved what could be something that 0:04:55.600,0:04:58.400 they should be looking at 0:04:56.720,0:05:00.639 you can write it as comments so it 0:04:58.400,0:05:03.360 doesn't go into your final export 0:05:00.639,0:05:03.919 as well i'm using pandora to export it 0:05:03.360,0:05:06.960 to 0:05:03.919,0:05:08.639 epub or pdf or word or whatever format 0:05:06.960,0:05:11.280 you want to 0:05:08.639,0:05:12.639 use it with the cover image that's how i 0:05:11.280,0:05:15.919 wrote my novel 0:05:12.639,0:05:17.120 i used a similar structure for my 0:05:15.919,0:05:19.199 non-fiction book 0:05:17.120,0:05:20.800 using emacs and arc mode which i 0:05:19.199,0:05:25.520 published recently 0:05:20.800,0:05:28.320 all written and edited in emacs or mod 0:05:25.520,0:05:29.759 thank you guys at the community and now 0:05:28.320,0:05:31.680 a published author 0:05:29.759,0:05:34.080 and i plan to publish and help other 0:05:31.680,0:05:38.560 authors publish using this wonderful 0:05:34.080,0:05:38.560 tool called emacs or more thank you