Writing apps for iPad - suggestions?
Can anyone suggest any good fiction writing apps for iPad? I downloaded Writer's App today for the times when Ponyo kicks me awake (at 3.30-ish every night, like clockwork) and I have an hour or two of bright wakefulness, so that I can jot down plot bunnies and notes better than in the Note application I generally use. It's a barebones but helpful planner that has already paid for the only 99 cents it cost by taking me from a vague story idea to a clear idea of what I'm writing in half an hour while waiting to be picked up just by filling in the fields and letting things take shape in my head.
But it's not designed for actually writing. And while the weather has been so horrendous, I've been escaping the flat by going to the uni library during the day to play on the internets and write. I'm not supposed to be carrying, well, anything, so a handbag with iPad, Kobo and DS (YES I NEED ALL THREE) on one side and a laptop on the other, plus lots of drinks, is not a good idea, so I am thinking of getting an iPad keyboard tomorrow and ditching the heaviest component for when I want to write outside the house. But I need something to write in, and I don't just want a word processor.
PC writing wise, I am a Scrivener convert from about a year ago. Omg, am I ever a convert.I was all, I use Word and Open Office or Googledocs or whatever happens to be at hand, and I'm not a planner, why do I need a dedicated writing app? I was wrong, very, very wrong. (I didn't think I wanted an Android smart phone, either. Or an ereader. Or an iPad. I am very silly sometimes.) I will go into rhapsodies about Scrivener at the drop of a hat, now. I still underuse its rich features - again, not really a planner except in the "Talk things over for weeks with my wife and write a two page dot point outline, plus a list of character names so I don't forget what the Sixth former who is good at hockey in Sixth House is called at most" planner, but I find it incredibly useful and I will never, ever go back to a linear word processor. Being able to automatically outline and corkboard and move scenes around and change chapters and export to every format from standard US manuscript submission to epub - amazing.
I spent quarter of an hour today inserting black and white images and a fake cover into P&P and exporting it to epub to see how it would work illustrated - it looks perfect on my Kobo, complete with auto generated half title page and copyright statements and scene breaks and linked contents page and OMG that would be such much crushing, confusing work by hand!
I'm still stumbling on cool stuff about it, too - I only today realised that it has a built in name generator by sex and ethnicity, separate for given and family names, so that I can come up immediately with twenty random male names for a boy with an English first name and a Cantonese family name, or twenty female Welsh lacrosse players. For minor characters, that's so much better than baby name sites and googling. And there is an enthusiastic user community who solve problems like using End Note with it and make academic writing templates or Snowflake Model templates and things. (I am tempted to plan a novel using the Snowflake Model just for giggles, to see how a non-planner who hates mind maps and things with a passion goes with it. It might be fun.)
Anyway, I am never, ever going back to writing in a word processor if I'm not at work. (Tangentially, here are some free alternatives to Scrivener - haven't tried any of them, but they are probably all better than word processors, too.) So I want something... well, not as full-functioned as my beloved Scrivener, obviously, but that easily can do notes and outlining and chapters and things with as well as just adding words. And transfer things into Scrivener when I get home.
The author of Writers' App also has an app called, confusingly, Writing App. It's a whole $2.99, and it looks like a distinct possibility. From reviews, it has helpful templates and things for all it is bare bones. But I am leaning towards Storyist. It's only $9.99 which seems almost expensive next to Writing App - I can't get over how cheap apps are, by the way - but it looks really good. I just wish there was a way to free trial things for iOS instead of just reading reviews and taking your chances. But then... cheap.
I'm just wondering if any of you have experience with writing apps for iOS and can suggest a better alternative, or if you've used one of these?
But it's not designed for actually writing. And while the weather has been so horrendous, I've been escaping the flat by going to the uni library during the day to play on the internets and write. I'm not supposed to be carrying, well, anything, so a handbag with iPad, Kobo and DS (YES I NEED ALL THREE) on one side and a laptop on the other, plus lots of drinks, is not a good idea, so I am thinking of getting an iPad keyboard tomorrow and ditching the heaviest component for when I want to write outside the house. But I need something to write in, and I don't just want a word processor.
PC writing wise, I am a Scrivener convert from about a year ago. Omg, am I ever a convert.I was all, I use Word and Open Office or Googledocs or whatever happens to be at hand, and I'm not a planner, why do I need a dedicated writing app? I was wrong, very, very wrong. (I didn't think I wanted an Android smart phone, either. Or an ereader. Or an iPad. I am very silly sometimes.) I will go into rhapsodies about Scrivener at the drop of a hat, now. I still underuse its rich features - again, not really a planner except in the "Talk things over for weeks with my wife and write a two page dot point outline, plus a list of character names so I don't forget what the Sixth former who is good at hockey in Sixth House is called at most" planner, but I find it incredibly useful and I will never, ever go back to a linear word processor. Being able to automatically outline and corkboard and move scenes around and change chapters and export to every format from standard US manuscript submission to epub - amazing.
I spent quarter of an hour today inserting black and white images and a fake cover into P&P and exporting it to epub to see how it would work illustrated - it looks perfect on my Kobo, complete with auto generated half title page and copyright statements and scene breaks and linked contents page and OMG that would be such much crushing, confusing work by hand!
I'm still stumbling on cool stuff about it, too - I only today realised that it has a built in name generator by sex and ethnicity, separate for given and family names, so that I can come up immediately with twenty random male names for a boy with an English first name and a Cantonese family name, or twenty female Welsh lacrosse players. For minor characters, that's so much better than baby name sites and googling. And there is an enthusiastic user community who solve problems like using End Note with it and make academic writing templates or Snowflake Model templates and things. (I am tempted to plan a novel using the Snowflake Model just for giggles, to see how a non-planner who hates mind maps and things with a passion goes with it. It might be fun.)
Anyway, I am never, ever going back to writing in a word processor if I'm not at work. (Tangentially, here are some free alternatives to Scrivener - haven't tried any of them, but they are probably all better than word processors, too.) So I want something... well, not as full-functioned as my beloved Scrivener, obviously, but that easily can do notes and outlining and chapters and things with as well as just adding words. And transfer things into Scrivener when I get home.
The author of Writers' App also has an app called, confusingly, Writing App. It's a whole $2.99, and it looks like a distinct possibility. From reviews, it has helpful templates and things for all it is bare bones. But I am leaning towards Storyist. It's only $9.99 which seems almost expensive next to Writing App - I can't get over how cheap apps are, by the way - but it looks really good. I just wish there was a way to free trial things for iOS instead of just reading reviews and taking your chances. But then... cheap.
I'm just wondering if any of you have experience with writing apps for iOS and can suggest a better alternative, or if you've used one of these?