Write or Die by Dr Wicked

My Apologies

drwicked — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:30:56 +0000

I’ve been horrendous at getting new links to people in a timely fashion. I’ve just implemented a new system for handling link requests.

To all of those who have been waiting, I am deeply sorry. If you sent a request for a new link to me and have not received a response (I just sent out a big batch) please let me know.

Thanks for your patience, I’m going to keep working to make things better around here.

~Dr Wicked

EditMinion updates

drwicked — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 18:16:53 +0000

I’m trying to consolidate more of my various project blogs into one place so look forward to more posts here barring further hammer damage from the anxiety faeries.

I hacked away at EditMinion a bit yesterday, added some features, fleshed out others. Here are some of the updates.

Cliché finding now works
There’s a big list of phrases that it searches for like “it was a dark and stormy night”, and “quick as a bunny”. Most people probably won’t run afoul of this one but it was fun to code.

Commonly misspelled words finder now works.
Over 4000 words compiled by Wikipedia editors. If you’re already using Word or another word processor with spellcheck this won’t likely be needed.

New feature: Tricky Homonyms
I think this is a really useful feature and another way to make EditMinion useful where other spellcheckers fall short. This will find misspellings in the form of homonyms, i.e. weather/whether, it’s/its, their/there/they’re, etc. These types of words a spellchecker wouldn’t catch because they’re still valid words and the spellchecker is incapable of understanding the word’s context.

People have contacted me saying that it highlights some things that are not wrong. This is missing the point a bit. The goal of EditMinion is to bring words to your attention so that you can use your discernment whether you’ve chosen the right word or not. It has the potential to be more useful when used in this way. It’s also a robot so it’s not judgmental, it’s arbitrary.

Look forward to more updates in the future.

Procrastinator’s Special: Write or Die iPad $4.99

drwicked — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:23:30 +0000

For the rest of November, Write or Die iPad is on sale for only $4.99! If you’re hecka behind on your NaNoWriMo wordcount you can pick up Write or Die iPad for half off and catch up to your prolific … Continue reading →

Announcing Write or Die for iPad

drwicked — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:40:56 +0000

It is my great pleasure to announce the release of Write or Die for iPad! Available now on the App Store for $9.99. With new features, including a deadline countdown and story idea generator, project goal and stats. Support for … Continue reading →

Public Service Announcement: You never need to buy the Desktop Edition more than once.

drwicked — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 01:12:59 +0000

I noticed several people commenting on the last post saying that they were planning on buying it again because they’d lost their first installation.

NO ONE EVER NEEDS TO DO THIS

Over on the right hand side of the page is the “Request New Download Link” menu item. All you have to do is email newlink@drwicked.com and I will send you a new install link straight away. The only reason the download link expires is because I don’t want just anyone to download it, only the people who have paid for it.

Again I reiterate, as much as it’s very kind of you to pay me again:
YOU ONLY NEED TO BUY THE DESKTOP EDITION ONCE

Thank you.

Poll: Why do you use the online edition vs the desktop edition of Write or Die?

drwicked — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:12:17 +0000

Hello fellow writers. If I can be so bold as to distract you from your busy procrastination schedule to ask you for some feedback. I am getting 30,000 hits per month which makes me intensely happy. But I was curious and wanted to inquire why people are choosing the online version over the desktop edition. I’m intending to revise and update the look and feel of the online and desktop edition and I wanted to check with you to see how I could make both better.

Please take a second to respond to the poll and if there’s anything you’d like to add, please comment below.
Thanks!
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Podcast: The Fourth Wall, Storytelling in Videogames, Books and Extended editions

drwicked — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:36:34 +0000

Wow, I’ve doubled my total podcast count and the hits just keep on coming. This is unprecedented.

This week we banter about Rango and the storytelling techniques within, discuss writing in videogames, I leak some vitriol regarding Avatar and James Cameron and we discuss books and special features. Hope you enjoy.

Links in this episode:
The Brainstormer by Andrew Bosley

Podcast, New Email, Short Stories?

drwicked — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:56:32 +0000

I found an accountability buddy and podcast co-host in my friend Dave Hilden.

He’s writing a graphic novel series with his cousin who works at Jim Henson Co. He’s a pinball afficianado and all around hilarious dudefella.
More of Dave’s antics can be found at his three blogs:
Words Making Sound
Crap That Dave Says
Crap That Dave Dreams

It’s our first time so bear with us if there are awkward silences that weren’t edited out. In this podcast we ramble about writing, graphic novels, childhood, and why we don’t always like the things liked by people we like. It makes more sense when I’ve had more sleep.

We hope you enjoy it.

Listen

I would like to do another short story podcast, I think that iteration died because the second suggestion wasn’t very useful. If there’s a topic you’d like to see, let me know in the comments.

In other news, I’m moving my email from Gmail to Google Apps so if I’ve missed an important email from you, please re-send it to drwicked@writeordie.com

The Plural of Status

drwicked — Sun, 01 May 2011 20:37:02 +0000

Just wanted to drop a note and let people know that:
A) I’m still alive and working on things behind the scenes, not unlike The Great and Powerful Oz.
B) I know that Word War is down. The hosting company basically winked out of existence. I’m working on implementing a new, much more elegant and reliable.
C) With this new system will come new functionality.
D) Facebook things are in the works.
E) The iPad app is in the near future, I’ve learned what I need to learn to write it, now all that’s left to do is code. I’m thinking it will be $4.99, let me know what you think of this price point.
F) Working on a prettification of the Write or Die desktop edition which will also pave the way for multilingual capabilities.
Those are all the things I can think of at the moment.
Keep writing!

Dr Wicked Interview at Near Miscellany

drwicked — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:24:59 +0000

Recently I was interview by Glyph a.k.a. Foxee for her blog Near Miscellany, here’s an excerpt:

Has the software come together quickly or has it been a long process of development?

I’m a bit like Sherlock Holmes without the opium when it comes to creative endeavors, I have periods of manic productivity which punctuate long stretches of inaction. The online version of Write or Die didn’t exist in September 2008 and was finished by October 25th, 2008. The same goes for the desktop edition, that came together in October 2009. It will likely be the same way for the iPad version I intend to write. Everything’s been finished just in time for NaNoWriMo. I need to be right up against a deadline to have any hope of finishing anything. I expect I’m not alone in this.

Read the rest of the interview.