Happy Saturday everyone!

As you know, I’m always looking for ways to find a balance between my writing and life in general. I stumbled upon a tool recently that I believe is helping me achieve a better balance. It’s called Microsoft OneDrive. In the old days of working on my manuscript, here was my steps:

1. Write on my PC
2. Send the draft to my Kindle email.
3. Open the manuscript in my Kindle app.
4. Read, toggle to my “notes” on my Iphone, continue reading.
5. Get back on my PC and make the changes I’ve indicated in “notes”.
6. If I want to write on my laptop, I would go to my email, find the manuscript in my “send” outbox, and download that copy to work on.

Cumbersome, right? And can you imagine all of the copies I have on my PC? I used to rename the title with a new date. Otherwise I couldn’t keep track of whether the updated version was on my PC or my laptop.

OneDrive might not be new to you, and I can hear voices in my head saying, “Ashlyn, we could’ve told you about OneDrive years ago.” Yep, you’re right. I won’t go into the history or the ins and outs of OneDrive. You can find all of that on the Web or on the Microsoft site.

With OneDrive, here’s my new writing process:

1. Go to  my documents. Access OneDrive on my sidebar. Go to “documents”. Find my manuscript and start writing. OneDrive auto saves as I write.
2. Say I’m having lunch in the kitchen and watching t.v. I want to read what I just wrote, but I don’t want to go back to my PC in my office. Hold up, here’s the awesome part. I can pull up the most updated version of my manuscript and read AND edit on my iPhone using the OneDrive App. OR I can get on my iPad and do the same. I also added for free Office 365 to my ancient laptop as part of my $6.99 monthly subscription. Here’s the page on the various subscription prices and what you get. I did a one month trial and absolutely LOVED IT.
3. OneDrive is easily accessible because I have my iPhone on me at all times. I write and edit in bed. I write and edit on trips. I write and edit anytime and anywhere knowing I can access the most updated version of my manuscript from any device. No more sending emails to myself. No more making notes and wasting time going back to the manuscript to make the changes. I can now write and edit real time. Hallelujah!

OneDrive saves me time and helps me keep my sanity as I’m toggling between writing and editing three manuscripts. I don’t know how I stumble upon OneDrive but I’m glad I did :).