As a writer, it’s easy to feel like you’re drowning in a sea of story ideas. It’s great to have creativity flowing, sure, but what do you do when have idea overload? And what about those moments when your once reliable well of inspiration dries up completely?
Take a deep breath and relax, because the solution is here: writing apps. Say goodbye to the chaos and hello to organization with these handy writing tools, and watch as you streamline your writing and get ever closer to writing that best-selling novel.
1. SCRIVENER
Scrivener is a powerful writing and project management tool designed specifically for writers. Despite a steep learning curve, I must admit this software has taken my writing to the next level. The days of crumpled up notes in folders are long gone.
In one place, I store my notes, research, locations, and profiles. Plus, I can sync my manuscript on my phone, tablet, and laptop. Pretty sweet if you ask me. Currently, they even have a ProWriting Aid add-on ( more on that program later).
I am sure that I haven’t scratched the surface of what this program offers, but I am glad I have it in my life.
2.Rocketbook
Have you had that story idea you just had to get out? Like… right now?! Do you have tiny little pieces of paper stuffed into you pockets or in multiple notepads or even on your own HAND? I remember being at work and scribbling down random pieces of dialogue on the first thing I saw. It was as if the thoughts would fall out of my brain in seconds.
If you’re anything like me, this will help you. You just jot down your notes and either save it to your phone or send it to numerous other applications.
This smart notebook allows you to write, scan, and upload notes directly to your email cloud services like:
- Google Drive
- Evernote
- Dropbox
- Trello (more on Trello later)
It helps writers keep their ideas well-organized and accessible from anywhere.
3. Trello
This popular project management app uses a visual board to help writers organize tasks with the use of lists, cards, and labels. Use it to plan your novel structure, allocate tasks related to editing or publication or track writing goals. Collaborate with others while in the editing phase.
As expertly demonstrated by Jessica Brody, a writing instructor and creator of The Writing Mastery Academy, this board can be tool to list out your scenes, color code them, and writes notes pertaining to edits or possible ideas. You can even save photos or links to other websites underneath your assigned card.
4. Google keep
A versatile note-taking application that syncs across devices and integrates with other Google services for seamless organization. Writers can use Google Keep to capture their ideas on-the-go using audio, images, text, and touch-screen notes.
5. GoodNotes
A powerful digital note-taking app available for iOS devices that supports handwriting,typing, and annotation of documents or PDFs. GoodNotes helps writers maintain organized digital notebooks with easy search functionality. This writing tool supports syncing across multiple platforms. It also allows you to share your document with other collaborators to work on. There’s a free version allowing you to create three notebooks to work with.
6.NOTABILITY
An alternative to GoodNotes is Notability. This app also combines note-taking, annotation, recording capabilities into a single app; Notability is perfect for writers who need to take detailed notes and reference them later. Available on iOS devices, it supports real-time syncing across multiple platforms. This writing tool also is completely free.
7. Speechify
This app would’ve been a life-saver while I was still in school and needing to review notes while commuting. Nonetheless, it’s a life saver now when it comes to hearing the errors in my own writing that my lying eyes tend to skip over.
This text-to-speech app lets you listen to articles or your own writing aloud while on the go or multitasking, helping you proofread and spot errors more effectively. You can even get your novel read in the voice of a few celebrities. Currently, Snoop Dogg is a featured voice. How cool is that? Check out the demo below of my own short story “Good As Hell”.
8. Plottr
A visual outlining writing tool designed specifically for authors that helps you create timelines, character arcs, and detailed story structures without hassle. By visually organizing your story elements in Plottr, writers can ensure their plots remain consistent and engaging throughout their work. I’m fairly new to plotting. I can honestly say this app has helped me plot out stories more quickly than ever before
9. ProWriting Aid
An all-in-one software designed to improve your writing through grammar checking, style suggestions, and detailed analytics. ProWriting Aid helps writers achieve a better level of organization and clarity in their work by analyzing readability, and providing valuable feedback.
10. GRAMMARLY
An alternative to ProWriting Aid is Grammarly, a well-known online grammar checker that not only corrects spelling and grammar mistakes. It also provides suggestions for improving your writing style. It assists writers in polishing their works by ensuring that the text is error-free and coherent. Honestly, I tend to use ProWriting Aid a little more because I prefer the interface, but I believe both applications are top-notch.
7 comments
Great post! I need to up my writing tools, I’m only using Grammarly at the moment.
Grammarly helped me so much while drafting.
A really insightful post. Thank you.
Thanks for reading ?
Fantastic post! I 100% agree with you in regards to Notability and Rocketbook – two essentials while gearing up for school. You might even say they are *drum roll please* ‘notable’! Ha! I will definitely have to try out Speechify though. Never heard of it until now but I’m in desperate need of learning Anatomy before finals! <3
Thank so much! ? I love Speechify! It helps so much for catching small errors and plus I can use it while multi-tasking. Let me know if it works out for you.