Newfangled #6: On Writers Block
Will Tech save us from the scariest place in the world?
Many years ago, a client had bought notepads saying
“The Blank Page - the scariest place in the world”
or something similar. I am paraphrasing. You get the gist. But will tech save us?
Have you ever heard of NaNoWriMo? For the uninitiated, it’s National Novel Writing month, where the dedicated attempt to write 50000 words in 30 days.
In honour of NaNoWriMo and the scary blank page, here’s a bonus Newfangled with a round-up of some valuable tools.
H/t to my fellow MA Creative Writing cohort at the University of Winchester for the suggestions.
Editing
Scrivener - makes restructuring your chapters easy, especially for writers with multiple points of view and non-linear timelines. People often credit it with the rise in popularity of this style of fiction in recent times. H/t to those who wrote on typewriters when cut and paste involved glue and scissors.
Note Taking
There are loads of tools in this space
Evernote - Organises tasks, capture notes, research, audio, webpages or emails together.
Scapple mind mapping software by the same people as Scrivener for plotting out storylines and keeping track of characters.
Bear for Apple fans - it’s a note-taker, but you can also go into Editor only mode and have a clean and clear page to focus on writing. Or you can keep the info panel open with your all-important word count.
Final Draft is for screen-writers with deep pockets to map out those story-beats. It has “investment” pricing, but it will all be worth it when you make it in Hollywood.
For Motivation
If you struggle with writer’s block, how about a cute picture of a kitten every 100 words, courtesy of Written Kitten? You can switch to cute pictures of dogs or rabbits if you prefer.
If you’re motivated by fear, you could try Flowstate, which deletes all your work in progress if you pause too long.
And Finally
And, if, like me, you are unsure what the gerundive is or how to use a semi-colon, Grammarly can help banish the passive voice from your writing and improve readability.
Any further suggestions, let me know in the comments!