ILYS.com???

MysteriousFemme · Aug 23, 2014

Hello everyone!!! I hope all is well. It's been a while since I've actually logged in.

I wanted to share something that was shared with me. My sister sent me a link to this site (www.ilys.com) to help with me with my writing. I did a site search and nothing came up about this site. It seems that it is fairly new. The premise, however, is interesting. I'm not sure if there are already sites like this around but I wanted to share it for those of you who have trouble focusing and getting words on the screen.

If there are similar sites , please share them along with your experiences.

-Oh yeah. basic overview of the site.
You open it up. Put in the number of words you want to type then start typing. You aren't able to see what you've written and you can't edit anything until you hit your word count goal. This forces you to keep writing without going back and rereading the text and editing as many of you know can be a huge derailment to the writing process. That's just the basic overview but there is a video that explains how it helps your writing more in depth.

sn: Sorry in advance if I've posted this in the wrong section and please feel free to move it accordingly (like you need my permission but hey :e2shrug:

.

DaisyH · Aug 23, 2014

I've been using ilys for a few weeks now and I love it! I'm a person who gets easily distracted when I write something that doesn't sound 100% right so this has helped me write a lot.

I don't know any similar sites, but I'm hoping that ilys will be made into an program too.

Reziac · Aug 23, 2014

For the same effect in a word processing program, you could set your text to be the same color as your "paper" (blank page). Then when you're done, Select All and change the text color to something more readable.

NRoach · Aug 24, 2014

I do something very similar with Word, by zooming right in and typing away. The benefit to that, rather that changing text colour or using that website is that I can still see the stuff I just wrote if I decide to change phrasing or something, that being something I do quite a lot.

It does seem pretty similar to write or die, actually.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 24, 2014

MysteriousFemme said:
Hello everyone!!! I hope all is well. It's been a while since I've actually logged in.

I wanted to share something that was shared with me. My sister sent me a link to this site (www.ilys.com) to help with me with my writing. I did a site search and nothing came up about this site. It seems that it is fairly new. The premise, however, is interesting. I'm not sure if there are already sites like this around but I wanted to share it for those of you who have trouble focusing and getting words on the screen.

If there are similar sites , please share them along with your experiences.

-Oh yeah. basic overview of the site.
You open it up. Put in the number of words you want to type then start typing. You aren't able to see what you've written and you can't edit anything until you hit your word count goal. This forces you to keep writing without going back and rereading the text and editing as many of you know can be a huge derailment to the writing process. That's just the basic overview but there is a video that explains how it helps your writing more in depth.

sn: Sorry in advance if I've posted this in the wrong section and please feel free to move it accordingly (like you need my permission but hey .

I couldn't work this way because I do edit and rewrite each page as I go, but it's an interesting experiment.

WriterDude · Aug 24, 2014

I am fat fingered, and not as good a typist as I like to tell myself. I need to see if what I typed corresponds with what keys I was aiming for. I would dread to think what mass of mangled typos I would be left editing if I tried this technique.

WeaselFire · Aug 24, 2014

Wow! Writers are a strange lot...

Jeff

Brightdreamer · Aug 24, 2014

WeaselFire said:
Wow! Writers are a strange lot...

Jeff

1800+ posts on this site, and you're just now figuring this out?

Reziac · Aug 24, 2014

Also I suppose you could just turn off your monitor for the duration.

Once while I was an editor on a zine at a SF con, our work monitor died. So I had to type in all the roving reporters' stories blind. What's amazing is that they turned out halfway coherent.... main cleanup was of duplication where I couldn't remember if I'd already typed something.

BookmarkUnicorn · Aug 24, 2014

My trouble with this idea is that my dyslexia really does a number on me if I can't see the words as I'm typing them. It's not a matter of editing for me as it is having something to anchor my thoughts to. Without even a last full word to look at I would get lost and scrambled, work wise.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 24, 2014

Reziac said:
Also I suppose you could just turn off your monitor for the duration.

Once while I was an editor on a zine at a SF con, our work monitor died. So I had to type in all the roving reporters' stories blind. What's amazing is that they turned out halfway coherent.... main cleanup was of duplication where I couldn't remember if I'd already typed something.

I know writers who have tried this. They all cheated and turned it back on.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 24, 2014

WeaselFire said:
Wow! Writers are a strange lot...

Jeff

What's strange about it? It wouldn't work for me, but version of this were done back in typewriter days. The theory makes good sense, even if the practice may be lack for some.

Reziac · Aug 24, 2014

Jamesaritchie said:
I know writers who have tried this. They all cheated and turned it back on.

I don't blame 'em. Typing blind is a royal PITA. Mind you this was back in ancient times, with WordPerfect for DOS. Fortunately my fingers knew all the keystrokes, even if my brain didn't.

I can see the usefulness if someone gets stuck on making the current sentence perfect at the expense of writing the next one at all, but I work literally from one word to the next, so it would probably bring me to a creative halt.

Originally Posted by WeaselFire
Wow! Writers are a strange lot...

Why, thank you!

MerryR · Aug 24, 2014

It's definitely an interesting way of doing things. I can see how it would be beneficial to some people.

Unfortunately, I'd probably go back to see what I'd written and discover my fingers wandered off home row on occasion, leaving a garbled mess that no one could decipher.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 25, 2014

Reziac said:
I don't blame 'em. Typing blind is a royal PITA. Mind you this was back in ancient times, with WordPerfect for DOS. Fortunately my fingers knew all the keystrokes, even if my brain didn't.

I can see the usefulness if someone gets stuck on making the current sentence perfect at the expense of writing the next one at all, but I work literally from one word to the next, so it would probably bring me to a creative halt.

Why, thank you!

I know it wouldn't work for me. I simply couldn't write this way, and there's noting in the video on the website that really makes any sense to me. Maybe if I tried it for two or three weeks, something good would happen, but I'm not going to try it because I don't need it. Rewriting/revising/editing each page as I go works very well for me, so changing wouldn't be wise.

But I am interested in hearing if this method actually works well for other writers.

alexaherself · Aug 25, 2014

I must say, it's far from easy to see how, why, or to whom this could be more helpful than simply covering your monitor, or turning it off, isn't it?

But clearly it must be, to attract so much interest?

What am I missing, here? :Shrug:

spikeman4444 · Aug 25, 2014

I don't get it. Like the screen is blank? Or words just disappear after you type them? I would really be bothered by that. I would spend the whole time wondering if I made a typo while typing that I would never be able to focus on what I'm trying to say.

E.F.B. · Aug 25, 2014

spikeman4444 said:
I don't get it. Like the screen is blank? Or words just disappear after you type them? I would really be bothered by that. I would spend the whole time wondering if I made a typo while typing that I would never be able to focus on what I'm trying to say.

I just tried it out for giggles and basically, you type into a big black box that only lets you see one letter of what you're typing at a time.

For example, if you start to type the word "frustrated" it will only let you see the individual letters in the box as you type them. So, as you type the word you'll see the "f" all by itself, then you'll see the "r" by itself, then the "u" etc, etc and whatever letter you typed before that just disappears. Same thing for punctuation marks and spaces.

You keep writing like that, only seeing one letter at a time until you reach the word count that you set at the beginning, at which point an arrow appears and you can click it to go to a different page and see the entirety of what you just wrote and edit it if you want.

That explanation was probably as clear as mud, but there you go.

I don't think I could work like that for very long.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 25, 2014

alexaherself said:
I must say, it's far from easy to see how, why, or to whom this could be more helpful than simply covering your monitor, or turning it off, isn't it?

But clearly it must be, to attract so much interest?

What am I missing, here?

I think it's because you can't uncover or turn the monitor back on with this. Enter 1,000 words into the box, and you have to wiat until you've typed 1,000 words before you look.

jaksen · Aug 25, 2014

Jamesaritchie said:
What's strange about it? It wouldn't work for me, but version of this were done back in typewriter days. The theory makes good sense, even if the practice may be lack for some.

I typed back in the typewriter days and could always see what I was writing as it would appear on the sheet of paper in the typewriter.

I used to go through boxes and boxes of those little sheets of paper with the talcum powder-like stuff on them - to correct my mistakes.

WriteMinded · Aug 26, 2014

Uh. Why?

Jamesaritchie · Aug 26, 2014

jaksen said:
I typed back in the typewriter days and could always see what I was writing as it would appear on the sheet of paper in the typewriter.

I used to go through boxes and boxes of those little sheets of paper with the talcum powder-like stuff on them - to correct my mistakes.

Yeah, me too. I used typewriters for fifteen years before I bought a standalone word processor. With a typewriter, you can see what you immediately type, but a few writers used to write on double rolls of paper, rather than sheets. You could still see the last couple of sentences you wrote, but that was it. The rolls would only turn in one direction, so you couldn't just pull paper back out to see what you had just written.

Many others just typed away as fast as they could, left the page prop down, allowed the pages to fall out of the back of the typewriter, and refused to look at them until they typed The End.

Neither method was nearly as effective as this newfangled software, but the idea was the same. Write fast, and never look back at what you've already written.

I can see the allure of it, and where it might work for short stories, but there's no way I could write anything very long this way.

DaisyH · Sep 1, 2014

I go in small bursts when I use this site. I'll set the wordcount somewhere between 250-500 words and write away. After I pass that set wordcount, I'll edit out all the mistakes I've made and copy/paste it into my word document. I usually turn off my monitor while I write too.

It's a really useful tool for someone like me who gets distracted a lot, and struggles a lot with simply finishing first drafts but I can see why it doesn't appeal to others.

calieber · Sep 2, 2014

WriterDude said:
I am fat fingered, and not as good a typist as I like to tell myself. I need to see if what I typed corresponds with what keys I was aiming for. I would dread to think what mass of mangled typos I would be left editing if I tried this technique.

You can fix typos, though. I'm fat-fingered myself, but that really wouldn't bother me. I may try this in November.

JamesBaldwin · Sep 3, 2014

It looks interesting: I can see how it would be useful for word jams and writing exercises, because it is a way of engaging your mind in a different way. Having worked in brain health, I've read research about how doing one thing one way for a long isn't really good for your brainmeats. This is definitely a way to change things up.

ILYS.com???

MysteriousFemme

DaisyH

Reziac

Resident Alien

NRoach

Jamesaritchie

WriterDude

Writer?

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

Brightdreamer

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist

Reziac

Resident Alien

BookmarkUnicorn

does believe in fairies

Jamesaritchie

Jamesaritchie

Reziac

Resident Alien

MerryR

Jamesaritchie

alexaherself

Wordsmith and shoechick

spikeman4444

The snozberrys taste lke snozberrys

E.F.B.

Stories, stories everywhere

Jamesaritchie

jaksen

Caped Codder

WriteMinded

Derailed

Jamesaritchie

DaisyH

calieber

Couth barbarian

JamesBaldwin

Fancy Dandy Man