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22 July 2010
I've really enjoyed getting to know Holly Jackson on Twitter; she's fun, talented and belongs to a group which uses the line, "By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth - click the Add to Cart button and let's get started!" (see the "Writing Fairy" link below). Enjoy and don't forget, if you have a favorite tool which you'd like to talk about right here, write up a post and send it in!
When I started my writing company, I took pride in being one of those traditional writers who got inspired through the pen meets paper part of the process. I bought those expensive moleskines and Japanese fountain pens, and proudly told anyone who asked that software for creative people was a complex fix to a basic problem.
This all worked out until my company took off, and I found myself doing more writing then I had ever done in my entire life. I'm one of those people where the more I write the more crazy ideas I come up with, and the vicious cycle lead to a total breakdown of my pen and paper elitist attitude.
It was about then that I found Evernote, which saved my sanity.
The big problem I run into as a company owner, a writer, and a wannabe author is that I'm usually dealing with at least three or four categories of ideas at once. I'm simultaneously brainstorming blog posts, info products, and personal essays all at once. I end up coming up with these ideas almost everywhere: at the coffee shop, at the park, in the shower, on the trail while running as I try and keep my dog from running down the nearest biker. Notebooks don't really do well in all of these situations, and pens are just a mess.
I'm not a huge software girl, but I can describe the benefits of Evernote pretty quickly.
- I can record my crazy overflow of ideas anywhere I am.
- It works on my iphone as well as my computer.
- Getting that huge overflow out ideas out of my head frees me up to do productive things, like write focused blog posts.
One of my favorite features of Evernote is that it lets you organize ideas by type. This way, I can do more than record my ideas: I can instantly file them in the right category for later so I don't waste time when I sit down to use them. Even better, it syncs up immediately from my Iphone to my computer so I don't have to worry about losing anything.
I've recently started recommending it to technology phobic clients as well, because it's one of the most intuitive pieces of software that I've run into. Setup is as simple as downloading the client from the web or the free Iphone app, and picking the type of idea you'd like to record.
Oh, and did I mention it's free? Their website advertises a premium version, but I've honestly never felt the need to upgrade. Evernote already has far more features than I use.
The only downside? It still doesn't work in the shower.
Holly Jackson is the founder of Cottage Copy (http://www.cottagecopy.com). When she is not out running with her dog, she can be found running her Kaffeeklatsch program (http://www.cottagecopy.com/got-kaffeeklatsch/) and being a writing fairy (http://www.delightspecialist.com/project-anaheim/).
Comments
My absolute favorite use for Evernote currently is recording ideas while I run, even if I have a dog leash in one hand. I run with an arm case, so I can literally just tap a button and record into my ipod headphones as I run if I want to.
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