useful apps for professional writers

useful apps for professional writers

Useful Apps for Professional Writers

1. Introduction

And what’s more, this technology is helpful to just about anyone; with the exception of certain brand-specific content, many of these applications are available on most any device running their respective operating systems. And now, without further ado, let’s dive into the world of mobile writing!

The times they are a changing, and with the advent of the Smartphone, it’s no different for writers. Instantly store those moments of inspiration, jot down thoughts on the go, or even craft whole passages for articles or stories; the possibilities are immense with these portals to the world of ones and zeros.

If you are a member of this modern, restless generation, you must have experienced this situation, and if you often find that you want to write but don’t quite have the time to sit down at your desk, then this guide is for you.

Have you ever been struck with a brilliant thought? One of those thoughts which could only be brilliant if penned down immediately. Then you recalled you were far from your workspace and the thought perished. What an awful disgrace, I should have written it right away, you think!

2. Writing and Editing Apps

Writing apps are one of the useful apps for professional writers during the creation and editing process. Surely, everyone knows the popular Microsoft Word. Despite its simplicity, in modern days it does not have proofing tests on its own and grammar tests are purchased separately with the program. Simple programs like Notepad and Wordpad usually do not have any proofing tests either. Then professional writers will need some helpful apps like StyleWriter, WhiteSmoke, and Grammarly. Those three are the most popular proofreading programs widely used by people around the world. Those programs have a grammar checker with full explanation and it has a function to customize the proofing to check errors based on writing style. For instance, subjunctive which is usually not used in casual writing or passive voice that is being avoided in formal writing. It also has a function to translate the proofing results to the writing app, which makes it easier for us to adjust the errors. Grammarly also has a Plagiarism Checker to check the document’s authenticity.

3. Productivity and Organization Apps

Notable as the very best dictation software on the market at present, Dragon Dictation is the voice recognition app I’d recommend for use to accelerate your workflow. Offered freely for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, this intuitive app can understand your voice with remarkable accuracy and transcribe your spoken words into written text on-screen. Whether you’re sitting on the sofa or out and about, this app is perfect for capturing those spur-of-the-moment ideas and annotations that are all too easily forgotten before they reach the keyboard. With professional writers in mind, the app offers a full edited text display, allowing the user to go back over the transcribed text and easily apply any frequent changes or dictations that affect the whole text. This can be easily copied and pasted into the text of an email, a word processing document, notes app or any other text-based application using the clipboard. Dragon Dictation will also remember items that have been dictated within the last few days, keeping track and presenting them on launch instead of beginning a new session. This is ideal for long ongoing projects such as novels and theses, allowing the user to resume progress on the go. On the downside, the app requires a significant amount of data to be transferred over the internet to their servers, and so is not recommended for heavy use by users with a low data usage limit or on slow internet connections.

4. Reference and Research Apps

4.1.4 Evernote Not a tool for simply fact finding, it’s worth mentioning Evernote in this category as its web clipping function allows for the simple collection of information from the web and the placement into note format for later use. Information collected can be easily organized and tagged.

4.1.3 Wolfram Alpha Described as a computational knowledge engine, Wolfram Alpha uses a vast collection of algorithms and data to compute all sorts of queries from mathematical formulas to the day of the week several centuries ago. The unique presentation of computed data can often give a fresh perspective on a topic.

4.1.2 CIA World Factbook The one stop shop for basic national information, the app version of this resource can give overviews of geography, population, and government types in any given country. Though this app does provide a great deal of information, another similar app would be Google Earth.

4.1.1 Dictionary.com An invaluable tool for writers in their day to day work, this app offers a wealth of information for the English language. Definitions and synonyms are easy to find, and the word of the day feature can be the source of inspiration in times of writer’s block.

When working on larger projects, it is not unusual for a writer to get to a point where more fact is needed, whether it’s a formula for the properties of a Scrabble tile or the capital of a country in a far off land, the following applications can make fact finding exercises significantly faster. This small selection was chosen for its balance of search functionality and multiple sources of information.

5. Conclusion

The apps that are out there for professional writers looking to streamline their work process are aplenty. More are being developed every day and they are far too numerous to cover in a single article. The best thing to do is to ask around to other writers to see what they are using. You are sure to find at least two or three people who are truly excited about some app that has made their life massively easier. Most of the apps are inexpensive and have trial versions available. I highly recommend using the wide array of note-taking apps to list down all the apps you are interested in and setting deadlines and goals to experiment with as many as possible. It is through reflecting on our own work process that we figure out the right way. And remember, using apps can become a harmful addiction when it takes away from the actual word on-page output. Do not focus so much on getting the perfect app or the perfect work process. It is better to use a mediocre app and write more than to never actually get around to writing in the first place. All these apps are just tools. Trial and error with them will see which tools work the best for you. Wishing you the best in your writing endeavors.