Dropbox…a writer’s lifesaver
By Ron Estrada
Super G is back in the wonderland that is Oklahoma, but we’ve still got a little time to ravage her blog while she recovers from a severe overdose of trans fats. By the way…who knew you could get a good bottle of chardonnay at White Castle? Only in New Yawk.
Today, my minions, I’m going to introduce you to the wonderment that is Dropbox. For those of you already in on this little secret, please remain silent and in your seats. Work on assignments from one of my other classes or meditate on my wisdom for a few moments.
For the rest of you, here’s the skinny on Dropbox.
Dropbox is nothing more than file storage in “The Cloud.” The Cloud is not just one of those words that will never look right if you stare at it too long, it’s one of those mysterious terms that Trekkies have applied to server storage sites. Theoretically, The Cloud should involve at least two independent servers in separate locations. That way, if a nuke hits a server in Denver, your files are still safe at the alternate location in Detroit (though the hubcaps may be missing…yes, I remember hubcaps).
If you have an Apple account via your i-phone, pod, or pad, you may have set up a cloud account with a unique e-mail address to go along with it. I believe other smartphone companies are getting on board with the program as well.
Dropbox allows you to store up to 250Mb free to start with. For the average writer, that’s plenty. But you continue to build up storage space over time. I currently have 2.5Gb and I have no idea what I did to earn it. You can also add space by referring friends. For example, here’s the link I was given to send to friends. If any of you click on that and sign up, I get more space. Or, if you need 100Gb because you want to store every family photo for safe keeping, it’s $99 a year.
But wait, there’s more! I always wanted to say that. There is much more to Dropbox. I have an icon on my laptop, desktop, iPad, iPhone, and my company Android (I got it all man). And I can login to Dropbox.com from any computer with internet access as well. All my files are there. Anywhere I go, my latest WIP is there and waiting. From most of my apps, I have a dropdown option to save to Dropbox.
Most of you know I use Scrivener for my writing. If I have my way, each of you will do the same if you hope to be on my coveted good side. Good grief, writing is hard enough. Why mess with Word? Okay, enough preaching. Scrivener doesn’t have a handy Dropbox connection. However, I can save my entire WIP into separate scenes with a click of the mouse. Scrivener saves in RTF or TXT format. I always use RTF because it’s the first choice. I save that to a “Ron’s Current WIP” file on my desktop. Dropbox opens as a file folder, so it’s just a matter of dragging and dropping from that point. Now I have my WIP backed up and available for editing anywhere I go.
If you insist on using Word, you can do the same thing (by the way, you can try Scrivener for free).
Oh but wait…we’re not through. Dropbox also allows file sharing. If you and your writing partner, who is too busy dancing and eating her way through New York to get with the program, want to access each other’s latest scenes for critiquing, you simply create a file in Dropbox for this task and invite aforementioned partner to join in. Of course, aforementioned partner will have to get with the program and open a Dropbox account. It’s free. So really, there’s no excuse is there?
You can create as many share folders as you like. For example, I have a “Budget” folder that I share with my wife. Only she and I can access it.
So there you have it. Never again will your writing partner in crime send you a frantic message from the airport, on her way to New York, saying she forgot to save her WIP to laptop hard drive. Because she will listen to her wise, talented, and good-looking partner and open a Dropbox account, thus never being without her files again, even if she forgets the whole laptop.
So for those of you already using Dropbox, have you found it to be the lifesaver I have?
