Write your way right

Your creative writing should never lack inspiration, colour or format again with the host of Android apps designed to work as your writing assistant and your muse.

Writers are often researching topics, interviewing people or just trying to draw inspiration and thus are constantly on the move, carrying around documents, notepads and their laptops, trying to stay organised and keep their material and data together. Which is why there are two apps that every single creative writer should not do without.

The first is an app designed by a writer who was seeking a more convenient way to write while on the move. My Writing Spot, atR24.47, allows you to work on your novel, short stories or poems on your Android smart phone or tablet, were you have the option of typing in both landscape and portrait mode. This app keeps you organised and coordinated, with colour-coded sections in which to file your work. With features like word count, a dictionary and a thesaurus, which are easy to access and allows you quick exportation of your written pieces via email. By syncing with the online website, your work is also always saved on an online source, keeping them backed up and secured as well as password protected.

While My Writing Spot provides a great structured app for Android for creative writing, Journal – Orange Diary Pro is a must-have for any writer to stay organised and on top of what is going on. It allows you journal entries, which it formats in an easy-to-follow collection by date and syncs all of these with a calendar. The app is great for interviews or taking down notes when researching a story or even to use for to-do-lists and regular diary entries, where you can adapt it to suit your preferences. You also don’t have to use it just for words, where you can put up photographs, images, audio sound bytes or videos. Attach relevant files to each entry if need be, to keep track and organised and keep all of your information safe with the password protect. Journal – Orange Diary Pro also allows you a variety of ways to back up your data, ensuring nothing gets lost in cyber space.

A sound and accurate spell checking app is also crucial for any writer, giving them an opportunity to double check all of their work before sending it to anyone or allowing it to be published. I would recommend a simple spell checking app like Spell Checker (+voice input), which is available on the market for free at the moment. It allows you the option of simply entering your text into a white block for spell checking or using the microphone for voice input and speech recognition. This is highly convenient and quick to make use of.

Writer’s block is something that happens to the best of us and can leave a writer crippled when it comes to staring at a blank screen. Which is why I suggest that every single creative writer who likes to dabble in poetry pays the R40.84 for Poet’s Pad. I’ve never seen anything like it before, where the user can use the well-structured format of the app to work on their poetry as well as get suggestions for rhymes and phrases, depending on the mood the writer is in and what tone they are going for in their poem. Designed to get the creative juices pumping, you can also seek alternative synonyms for words or swap around whole stanzas. It’s one of the most innovative apps I’ve seen on the market, with huge potential.

There are tons of apps available for creative writers and the above are just a few that I’ve outlined as necessities. Make sure that you’re on top of your creative writing game, utilizing the Android smart phone to be the best writer you can be.