Hi, SeERs. It’s another Mae Day on Story Empire. As writers we’re always looking for ways to increase our creativity and our productivity, right? Today, I’m sharing several apps that could be helpful in achieving those goals. Please note that I am not affiliated with these in any way. I either use them myself or just thought they were intriguing and wanted to share.
Brainstormer
I’ve used a Story Wheel in the past to spark creative ideas. Brainstormer is like a story wheel for your phone. It comes with three spinning wheels that feature plot/conflict, theme/setting and subject/location. You spin each wheel to create endless combinations for inspirations. The classic Brainstormer is free, and you can add the Creature Builder at no cost. Yeah, I was all over that one! If you write supernatural, speculative, or sci-fi, the Creature Builder is a nice plus. There are other wheels you can purchase for a minimal fee, such as the Character Builder (I snagged that one immediately) and the World Builder. More wheels will be forthcoming. You can also create and save your own wheels or tweak existing wheels. Heck, yes, it’s fun, plus the basic platform is free, so if you have a smart phone, check it out in the App Store or Google Play!
Write or Die
This one is available for your PC but also has an app for your iPhone or iPad. I admit I’ve only done the trial run and haven’t purchased the software. The platform is extreme, but if anything can motivate you, Write or Die will do the job. You’re able to set word count objectives with specific time limit goals (i.e, 400 words in one minute) but it does’t end there. You can decide on rewards, stimulus, or consequences if don’t meet your goal. Stimulus might be the sound of breaking surf or a kitten purring, whereas consequences could be anything from shrieking banshee sounds to spiders crawling over your computer screen. And if you’re in kamikaze mode, you could lose everything you’ve written. Not for the faint of heart, Write or Die will give you a solid kick in the butt to get ideas out of your head and onto your computer!
Portent’s Content Idea Generator
This one is free and it’s fun. It can also be kind of silly. Looking for an idea to blog about? Enter a topic and Portent gives you a headline for your launch pad. As an example I entered “novels” and got “How Hollywood Got Novels all wrong.” I also entered “cats” and got “Why Cats are Scarier than Dating Taylor Swift.” See what I mean—fun and also kind of silly. One of my last entries was “writer’s block” which netted the headline “What the Beatles Could Learn from Writer’s Block.” Have at it. And have fun!
Elevate
This isn’t a writing app, but works at sharpening the mind through communication and analytical skills—Writing, Reading, Listening, Speaking and (ugh!) Math. It’s been reviewed in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and CNet to name a few. I’ve used it going on three years now and love the many “games” it offers, all of which are beautifully designed and easy to use. You can start with a free trial but if you want to continue there is a yearly cost. It personalizes your training, shows you performance results, and makes recommendations for improvement. In my case, most of that involves math skills (double ugh!).
Obviously, there are ton of apps out there to help with writing, brainstorming, and creativity. I’ve downloaded quite a few that sounded awesome, only to discover they fizzled in use. Fortunately, the bulk of them were free. Much of it comes down to trial and error, but there are a few things you can do when looking for apps:
- Read reviews to see what others are saying about an app that interests you.
- Don’t make in-app purchases until you’ve had a chance to familiarize yourself with the app’s features and how they work.
- If you’re uncertain ask others. There is a huge and helpful #WritingCommunity on Twitter.
- And although I don’t use Facebook, there are plenty of author groups to connect with there as well.
Now it’s your turn. Have you used any of these apps? Do any sound appealing? What are some of the apps you’ve used and found helpful? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Ready, set, go!
Story Empire 
I like it!!
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Fantastic! Thank you! 🙂
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Thanks for sharing. I just started keeping a travel blog about a month ago, and, while writing a few posts, remembered how much I enjoy writing. I downloaded The Brainstormer. It reminds me of some of the writing prompts I used to get in my creative writing classes back in high school and college. BTW, as a few others have mentioned: The Brainstormer costs $1.99 now… but, still not out of reach for most folks.
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Hi! Glad to have you stop by and check out the post. I’m glad you discovered enjoyment with writing again through your travel blog. Also delighted you found Brainstormer to be a fun app. Like you said, $1.99 is still affordable. I guess I lucked out and was able to grab it before they flipped it from free to pay, but my guess is that it probably comes with more features. Many thanks for visiting and happy brain storming! 🙂
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Brainstormer isn’t a free app anymore, but it’s only $1.99. That one sounds the most interesting to me. I don’t spend a lot of time on apps, but I can see myself using that one in my creative writing club at school. 🙂
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Really? That’s a shame to hear. They must have updated since I wrote this post, but as you said $1.99 isn’t much. They might have built in more builders as well.
I’m glad you can see a use for it, Yvette!
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Thank you for the information, Mae. I think I will try one.
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Awesome, John! I hope you enjoy.
I love Brainstormer and Elevate, my personal favorites.
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Thanks
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These are cool, thanks! I usually get my inspiration from the news, there’s a never-ending list of craziness out there, lol
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That’s a good point, Jacquie. When you want to play around with creative brainstorming these are fun to experiment with!
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These are all interesting, Mae. To date I have used writing prompts posted by fellow bloggers for writing ideas. These might be fun though.
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They’re fun to play around with, Robbie. Given a lot of them are free I thought they were worth experimenting with. The brainstormer app is fun because you can be stuck somewhere waiting, and just give it a spin for a creative jolt! 🙂
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Reblogged this on Archer's Aim and commented:
Thanks for sharing these apps. I’ll check them out. Read all about Mae Claire’s apps choices on Story Empire.
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Thanks for the reblog, P.H.
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A very interesting post, Mae. I have not tried any of these apps, but the “Brainstormer” one caught my attention. It sounds like fun! Thank you for sharing!
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It’s definitely fun, Jan, and it’s free. If you check it out, I hope you enjoy experimenting with the prompts.
P.S…..Hope you’re enjoying NaNo too. I haven’t written a thing for days <gulp!>. I hope to get back to it this Sunday!
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I looked at your word count on NaNo through being Buddies, and honey, your word count makes mine look pitiful! I kept my grandchildren and two dogs for four days so you can imagine I didn’t get much writing done during that. However, I have this weekend and hope to get some good time in. The beauty of it is that you lose nothing and only have something to gain from participating. If nothing else, it got me back to my story!
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I thought I replied to this! How did I miss doing that?
I had a really strong first day writing, Jan (9,037 words on day 1), then after that I fizzled. I did manage to add some words yesterday, but my story keeps changing as I write it. Right now it’s an ugly mess, but at least it’s something.
And I can see how hard it would be writing with grandkids and pets, LOL. I am glad, however, doing NaNo has gotten you back into your story. That’s great!!
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Now I feel like a dinosaur:) I don’t use anything, haven’t tried story boards or apps. I’m behind, and these sound like fun.
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LOL! It’s never too late to check a few things out, Judi.
Although you seem to do just fine with your own inspiration. 🙂
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Thanks for sharing these, Mae! All are new to me. The Write or Die App scares me a little. lol It’s amazing what we can do on our phones. Cool! Happy Friday. I hope NaNo is going well for you. Cheers! 🙂
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I have to admit, I’m not brave enough to dive into Write or Die, but it seems to have a lot of fans.
I really enjoy Brainstormer and Elevate is great for stimulating creativity and keeping the brain sharp, something I need as I age, LOL.
I haven’t written a thing for days on NaNo, but I hope to make up for that lapse this weekend.
Have a good one, my friend!
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I haven’t even heard of these. What a hermit I am. Brainstormer sounds fun. Might be a cool writing prompt for blog only stuff, and could be even more on some spins. I only ever use things that are more like tools, like my corkboard app.
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Using Brainstormer for blog posts is a great idea, Craig. I hadn’t even considered that.
It’s a lot of fun, and the huge plus is it’s free. If I’m stuck waiting somewhere, it’s a nice tool to pull out and play around with.
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That makes sense, and sounds like fun. There used to be a blogger who posted two-fers. They were short fiction that took two days to conclude. I have a hunch that worked well to build her blog.
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That’s an awesome idea. I wouldn’t mind playing around with that some time.
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Write or Die sounds like fun. I’d probably work up a sweat trying to type before any spiders started crawling across the screen.:-) Yeah, seriously, I want to try that one out. It’s like a video game for writers.
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Have fun with it, Priscilla. The spiders would totally freak me out.
And I can just imagine typing along, in a zone, not hitting word count, then having a banshee suddenly shriek from the speakers. It would take me hours to recover, LOL!
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I think the content idea generator looks like a lot of fun. I’m going to take a look at it. So many cool apps. Great post!
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I hope you have fun with it, Tessa. I got a kick out of it. I’ve enjoyed using all of these apps. There are definitely some great ones out there!
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If the Beatles suffered from writer’s block, I’m in serious trouble! LOL These sound like fun. Going to try Brainstormer right away.
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You and me both about the Beatles, Joan, YIKES!
I love Brainstormer. Don’t forget to add the creature builder (it’s free), and I think the character builder was .99c. It’s a great app.
And it makes a cool sound when you spin the wheels on your phone, LOL!
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That Write or Die had me laughing. These look like both fun and useful apps. Like you, I don’t do well on the maths, ugh! Thanks for sharing these, Mae 🙂
Reblogged on: https://harmonykent.co.uk/cool-apps-for-writers/
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Yeah, the banshee shrieks and the spiders crawling over the screen kind of freaked me out, LOL.
Thanks for the reblog, Harmony!
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It’s a great pity that Brainstormer is only for mobile phones, as I would have liked that one. And no, not enough to try to use one of those dratted contraptions!
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LOL! I think Alexander Graham Bell called the telephone a dratted contraption. He never used one in his lifetime which I found very ironic.
I think Story Wheel has an online “spinner” (or something similar) for computers. Not exactly the same concept as Brainstormer, but it’s still fun! 🙂
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Thanks for that, Mae…
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