Writing is about sitting down and writing, yes, but there’s a whole lot of things you just have to do before you can start wordsmithing. I recently gave in and bought a tablet, running on Android OS, and of course the first thing I did was looking up apps that could be useful for me as an author.
There are some lists out there, but I’ve yet to find the perfect one. I suspect that’s because each of us has different needs, but at any rate I thought you’d be interested in what I use. Perhaps I’ll introduce you to something new and useful! Or perhaps you can share new ways to use these apps, or new apps.
Regardless, let me introduce you to…
My Android Apps for Writers Master List (TM)
If you choose to download just the one app, let it be this one. The best feature, by far, is the existence of “Similar to,” “Related to,” “Hyponyms” and “Hypernyms” options. Your characters keep skulking every where? Look the word up and find either a broader word or a more precise one to add variety. No more excuses for repetitive prose!
- Also available for iOS
- Free
Who isn’t talking about Evernote? Create notebooks for each of your projects and fill them up with notes, speech recording, lists, pictures… The selling point is that you can install the app in various devices (including your computer) or access it from the internet and all your content will be on hand, regardless of where it was created. Never let an idea flee your mind again!
- Also available for iOS
- Free with a paid premium option
Mind maps are amazing. A bunch of concepts linked together, with pretty colors to explain their inner logic… And if you’ve ever had to worry about character casts for your projects, you know they’re priceless. Schamatic Mind is a free option, very intuitive, which covers all your basic needs. You can export your files to .OEPM (which you may or may not have the software to read, but that’s another story).
- Free
Another great tool for mind mapping. The advantage it holds over Schematic Mind is that this app allows you to save and send screenshots, which is great if you aren’t coming to terms with .OEPM.
- Free
What apps do you use?
What apps couldn’t you live without? Tell me all about them!