Comments on: Top Ten List: where my 1000 words a day go

By: Alison

Alison — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:28:37 +0000

I used to type in amber font on black text in WP for DOS! Wrote my first several books that way. May have to give that a try at some point, LOL!

By: Kristi

Kristi — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:21:54 +0000

I have open office on my netbook and set it up to display a black background with gray text. Total throwback to the DOS days (I used to type school papers in Wordstar back in Jr High). With the smaller screen, and my tendency to read for my crit group while sitting in bed at the end of the night, my eyes appreciate the break.

Also, as I’m a bit distractable, I count my “staring off into space” time as “saving my vision” (see, boss, I’m not just daydreaming, I’m attempting to save the company valuable health care dollars…)

I’m software developer by day and spend all day staring at text on computer screens, so my eyes are killing me by bedtime. But I am too used to computer screens and keyboards to do paper edits if I’m not forced to.

By: Alison

Alison — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:04:56 +0000

I do a lot of staring, too. ;) And I don’t know anyone who doesn’t struggle with the words – with the exception of a couple of writing machine types. ;)

By: Sami Lee

Sami Lee — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:12:44 +0000

I do the blue background tip too, plus I can set my computer screen to a dimmer setting. And as I’m easily distracted from work, staring out the window at random intervals saves me from eye strain :)

I’ve been loving your accounts of how the writing process goes for you Alison. It’s good to know a successul author such as yourself struggles to get those words down on a regular basis, just like the rest of us.

By: Alison

Alison — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:37:43 +0000

I hadn’t thought about the blinking thing but it makes sense. And I love soothing tired eyes with a warm cloth. I only do allergy drops occasionally.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:08:57 +0000

This sounds silly, but we don’t blink as often as we normally do when we’re working on a computer, and this causes dry eyes. A simple solution is to put up a post-it with the word “blink” on the edge of your monitor and blink every time you look at the post-it. :)

Because I hate eyedrops, when my eyes feel tired or burn, I sit with a warm, wet washcloth over both eyes for a few minutes. I do this when I take a tub bath, too, and it works better for me than eye drops.

By: Alison

Alison — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:42:33 +0000

I tend to read long beyond when my eyes are telling me they’re tired!

By: Colleen

Colleen — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:22:52 +0000

I never really thought of any vision saving tricks… I just take a break here and there when reading… it is amazing how wide spread the written word can be during the day…

By: Alison

Alison — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:35:16 +0000

You should see the ingredient list in the eye supplement I take. Scares even me, LOL!

By: Charlene Teglia

Charlene Teglia — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:43:17 +0000

Good idea on the background. I just take lutein and eye breaks (look at the distance to let my eyes rest) and use a good screen with a BIG font. *g* Yay for pieces coming together!