Jesse Koepke

An Instance with E-books

I saw my brother conversing with a friend on Facebook about a book by Twyla Tharp called The Creative Habit. I’m a creative and I love learning how to be better at it, so I searched for the book on Amazon. It was easy to find and looks like a great book. And then it was time to answer the all-important question: how much does it cost?

A new paperback copy costs $9.09. (It’s the same price at Barnes & Noble, in case you want to support your local bookstore.) Once I add in the typical $3.99 for shipping, the total cost for the book will be $13.08. Not bad. And actually, hang on, that’s the new price that eligible for Free Super Saver Shipping. I can find it for $5.04 from a third-party seller. That brings my total cost to $9.03. And if I get a used paperback, the price drops to $4.22, or $8.21 total. With my budget, that’s affordable.

I then saw in the left corner, “Start reading The Creative Habit on your Kindle in under a minute.” Instead of waiting 5–10 business days to receive the book via mail, I can buy the digital version and start reading instantly. Never mind that I’m already in the middle of a book right now and have the next two planned; I want the book now! I clicked on the link and expected to find the price cheaper, since it’s a digital copy.

It was $12.99.

Wait—it’s more expensive? (more…)
How to get on God’s fridge, and other thoughts on creativity

I’m reading Blaine Hogan’s book, UNTITLED: Thoughts on the creative process, and he wrote something at the end of part two that launched me into a deep soul search in regards to my art:

You are not a salesman. You are a storyteller.

How does that work? I agree; no one wants to be sold and convinced of something. We want our hearts to move within us to lay hold of something because we want to, not because we’ve been smooth-talked into something we know we don’t need or want.

But how do I as an artist do that? My starting assumption is that stories communicate truth. Jesus used stories to portray a truth he was trying to explain to those around him. Was he concerned with telling a good story or illustrating his point? Or was his situation different from mine? He was teaching, his main goal was to show others the Father and lead them to eternal life.

… how is that any different from mine?

If it isn’t, should my stories be any different? Can I tell a story merely because it’s good?

Define “good”: imaginative, creative (a new way of looking at things), inspiring, evokes emotions and a heart response. Not just entertaining, or I think a better word would be preoccupation. A large number of the stories told these days are only occupying our minds, taking our minds off the stressful things in life.

Isn’t that a legitimate deed? “You are in pain. Let me tell you a story that will make you forget the pain for a little while.” Perhaps. But at some point the hearer must return to his pain. I don’t want distract him from his pain; I want to offer him answers.

But how do I do that without selling him something? Without heading out the door saying, “I’m off to tell him a story that will help him through his pain”? (more…)
A review of Pages ’09, from a writer’s perspective

With the new release of OS X Lion, my old word processor is defunct. Even Shakespeare had to upgrade his ink well, so I’m on the hunt for a new program with which to write the next Great American Novel. First up, Pages ’09!

Pages '09

To start things off, I watched the Pages ’09 introduction video, and the presenter made an important distinction between “word processing documents” and “page layout documents”. Word processing documents are docs where you write things like papers, letters, or resumes. You are then able to format your headers and titles and add pictures if you want. Page layout documents on the other hand are things like newsletters, brochures, or flyers. In other words, documents with lots of pictures and graphical elements laid out with text.

For page layout projects, there are a number of templates from which to start or you can choose what Pages calls a blank canvas. It’s not a blank document, and there’s a big difference. You start with a white piece of paper and anything you want on it you have to add. If you want text, you add a text box. If you want a photo, you add a photo.

Available templates

And the beauty is, in the words of Steve Jobs, “It just works.” I make a text box and fill it with text. I drag in a photo. I choose how the text should wrap around the photo, and as I drag it around the document the text gets out of the way. There’s no pause, no struggling with the text to get it to fit around the picture. If you’ve ever tried to add photos in Word or do anything artistic, you’ll know what I mean when I say that Word is awful when it comes to putting in pictures. Granted, I’ve been used Word 2004 for years, so maybe Word 2011 does a better job. I sure hope so. I avoided using Word for design docs and always gave an inward sigh when my mother asked me for help. With Pages it’s a piece of cake.

But that’s not why I’m looking at Pages. Maybe some day I’ll need to design a newsletter, but I’m more interested in the word processing documents. Like page layout docs, there are different templates for word processing including, to my surprise, a screenplay template. In college I wrote all of my screenplays in Word using tabs and indent markers, and having a template already set up for that purpose would have saved a lot of time.

Before beginning my search for a new word processor, I wrote down six things I need in a program. After using Pages ’09 for a couple days, here’s how it stacks up: (more…)
What Shakespeare and I have in common

I’m sure Shakespeare had to deal with this issue.

I’m sure he was walking through the market one day and saw a crowd gathered around one particular booth. It was only a quill and ink well shop, one that he’d frequented many times over the years, and he couldn’t dream what all the fuss was about. He joined the crowd outside the shop window, and that’s when he saw it.

A new quill. Beautiful, minimalist, high quality. And to beat all, affordable.

But there was a problem. It required a new kind of ink. If he got it, he would have to get rid of his old ink well, the one the Queen had given him, the one that had a nice groove in its side from the years of wiping his quill tip. True, his ink well was getting old and leaking a little, but when it came down to it, he didn’t want to give it up. It felt like betrayal.

But that quill…. But his ink well! But that quill….

Technology still continues its ruthless march. I find myself, a beginning author, wrestling with the tension of new gadgets versus the old. You see, Apple released its latest version of Mac OS X: Lion. The updates to Mail look great, I like the design of Safari (and the idea of Reading List is intriguing), and there are more 200 other features that make the asking price of $29 ridiculously low.

There’s just one problem: it doesn’t have Rosetta. (more…)
The Potential Brilliance of Google+ Circles

THE INTERNET HAS BEEN ABUZZ with the recent entry to the social networking race: Google+. When I first heard about it, I wrestled a (teeny-tiny) bit with whether or not to try to get an invite for it. (Like most of its products, Google worked the roll-out of Google+ as invite-only. As one article I read put it, Facebook had a better strategy of rolling out campus by campus, thus ensuring that groups at a time and not just random strangers would sign up for the service.) The geek side of me wanted to be in on the latest new thing, which was just like how I felt when I got an invite for Google Wave. (Didn’t know what to do with it, but man, that thing was cool.) At the same time, I didn’t want to add another thing to learn and take up time. But when a friend offered me a Google+ invite, I threw caution to the wind and accepted.

I think I’ve posted an update three times since I got on.

The point is, I haven’t figured out where Google+ fits into my life. How do I use it? I have two—no, three friends on it right now. It’d be ridiculous to quit Facebook and use Google+ exclusively, because I don’t know anyone on it. And that brings me to today. Iain Broome, writer of the fantastic blog Write for Your Life, tweeted:

Here I am on Google+ if you want to head over and become my bestest friend in the whole world: http://goo.gl/W7tsL.

My first thought was, “Oh! Someone I can add on Google+!” My second thought was, “What will I say to him? Will I post my personal activities, like what I’m eating for lunch? Or will I restrict my posts to professional stuff, like videos I’m working on or things I’m writing?”

(more…)