A Tablet, a Keyboard, and the Process of Journalism

In the midst of a slow news weekend and a busy personal weekend, it is sometimes difficult to find noteworthy topics to cover. With that in mind, I thought about how interesting the story-writing process can be, and how different means of technology affect that process.

HardwYred is a process, like any writing center

News gathering is both a science and an art; it is certainly important to cover them all. It is not always important to be first, but to be noteworthy. While I try to catch every product launch, keynote, conference, etc, that is not always a possibility. That is why you have to count on every website imaginable to get you the best information. How do I get that quickly? Checking every website on my phone, and following every reliable source I can on Twitter. Up-to-date announcements lead to informative pieces.

As for the actual writing, every person has their own style. This is HardwYred; it is unscripted and unfiltered. I start with a topic and just write. For me, the flow and onctent changes as it goes because there are no outlines and no structures.

The strangest part about the whole process here is how those words are written. On most week days, I try to write the day's piece on my lunch break. By doing that, I ensure that it gets published on time so that it is right there waiting when people get home. However, this is not always the case. Do I have a nice home setup to type? Of course. I also have a small notebook running Cloudready that could be used, but neither one of those offer the portability that I would like.

The HardwYred creation center

Enter my writing tools: a tablet and portable keyboard. Yes, when I am home and typing, the vast majority of HardwYred articles are written on a Kindle and portable Anker keyboard. Strange and uncomfortable as it may seem, this set-up works perfectly for me in a home setting. It is this small bit of technology behind the magic of HardwYred, and it is just a few small pieces of technology that run the journalism process. Welcome behind the scenes.