Tools of the Trade

Over the years writers have developed a number of tools to help them in their daily lives. Not surprizingly, most of these are in book form. However, there are a number of useful dictionaries, encyclopedias, glossaries, translators and other tools available over the WWW. There are also a huge variety of tools now available to writers, artists and designers to help them to produce computer-mediated texts on the world wide web.

The sample discussed on this page are the tools that I use or have used (which is some kind of recommendation). However, before diving in the deep-end it is worth noting that it is possible to produce web pages without a huge of amount of expensive software.

I created my first web pages by hand using a simple notepad program. If you have never created a web page then have a go by following the simple instructions on my first web page. Back in 1996 I created the whole of this little world using hand-crafted html! This early example of my web work was loaded up onto a some free web space provided by my Internet Service Provider (the original URL was http://www.users.waitrose.com/~stewartga/ - Can you guess which supermarket chain was my ISP at that time?). I uploaded them to the ISP server using a modem, a telephone line and a free file transfer programme provided by terrapin.

Since then things have got a bit more sophisticated.

Website Design Tools

I use Macromedia Dreamweaver as my main website design tool. I like this tool because it allows me:-

• to create libraries and templates to speed-up my design process;
• to collaborate with other designers over the Internet; and
• to ftp to my server using just one package.

There is a one-month free trail available from the Macromedia Website.

I also use Microsoft Word as a word processor, spell-checker and webpage design tool. Both of these packages are stuffed full of options. I found the Friends of Ed series very useful when I first started to navigate my way around Dreamweaver - see for example Foundation Dreamweaver MX.

Sound & Vision

Writing on the World Wide Web involves an awful lots more than manipulating text. There are a number of websites that feature poetic performances. One of the best examples I have come across is Hammer and Tongue. I have also found that my work has required me to produce and manipulate sound and image and animation files as well.

It is possible to record sound on your home PC or Mac by plugging a microphone into the back of your machine. It is also possible to record better quality sound files in a local studio and then to import these recordings for further manipulation. I use Sonic Foundry Sound Forge to edit my sound files and to add FX such as echo and flanging.

There are also number of sound FXs libraries that can be accessed over the www. Some of these are run by volunteers and are free, others are royalty-free and require a one-off payment for the sounds and others are royalty-based (always read the small print).

• http://soundfx.com/
• http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/
• http://www.sound-ideas.com/
• http://www.sounddogs.com/

I also manipulate stock-images and my own image files using Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Fireworks. There are trial versions of both these pieces of software from their manufacturers.

There are a huge number of image libraries available over the www. The Google search engine can also search for images (however, it is important to remember that the images that Google retrieves will be subject to copyright).

Multimedia and Animation

My recent work has involved me in animating using Macromedia Flash. Flash is useful for controlling all the different types of files that make up a multimedia work like choice/cuts (which involves programming, sound, image and interface effects such as click and drag in its design). One of the most exciting aspects of this kind of approach is it allows one to make playful 'poetry' games; for example, I recently worked with Heathwood Lower School to make a project called Mystery Museum (It is amazing what a group of Year 3 group can acheive in one day!). A number of the same effects can be achieved using a multimedia authoring tool such as Macromedia Director.

Collaborators

Although it is rewarding to learn new skills it can also be daunting. Learning new software and hardware can take up a lot of valuable 'creative' time. Sometimes, therefore, it does not make sense to do everything yourself. A number of writers have turned to blogging as a writer-friendly way of engaging computer-mediated text. Others have turned to collaborations. It can be fun and an educational experience to work with artists from other disciplines. Over the years I have collaborated with a variety of skilled individuals who have taught me a lot about their discipline (and mine). For example I have collaborated with:

• poets (slippage);
• voice artists (poeima, ontology, landfill);
• musicians (serendipity);
• sound engineers (slippage, serendipity,the making of p and g);
• photographers (serendipity)
• font artists (slippage)
• visual artists (the making of p and g, ps, ; and
• school children (habitatiad).

Domain Name & Web-hosting

It soon became obvious to me that my waitrose URL was not very memorable (and not very professional sounding either). I registered the gavinstewart.net bit of the uniform Resource Locator (or URL) as my domain name. This process is handled by an organization called Nominet. Nominet is a not-for-profit company, responsible for managing the authoritative database of .uk domain name registrations. When I last looked it cost about £80 plus VAT for register one domain name for 2 years.

It also became obvious to me that I needed more web space and more facilities than a free ISP could provide. I moved my site to a web hosting service that provide me with web space on their server, SQL database facilities, PHP or Coldfusion scripting, e-commerce facilities and e-mail services. I have used various hosting companies over the years such as 1&1 ,hostway and webfusion (prices vary with the service provided but start from as little as £8.00 per month). All of these companies have their quirks, irritations and plus points!

A good website is an investment. Freelance Writer, Robert McGarvey, writing in Freelance Success notes how his website brought him several thousand dollars worth of business from just one editor (click here to read this article).




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