Writing in iOS

Seth

2012-05-08 03:23:24

I have been accused on more than one occasion of being an Apple fanboy. This is an accusation that I try and dismiss, since I've never been that big a fan of OSX. It gets harder and harder though when I find myself nerding out over the newest gizmo that Apple puts out. Be it iPad or iPhone or some new iPod I am always subject to the desires foisted upon me by my tech-lust. So...you'll have to cut me a little slack when I talk in gushing tones about my iPad even if it is a first generation, damn the luck.

To be honest, when Steve Jobs called the thing magical, I had real doubts about it and wrote that particular statement off as pure showmanship. But, I'll be damned, if after two full years of use the man wasn't right. The silly thing has done more for my writing, finances and the general organization of my life than I ever though it would. But, that's not what I'm ranting about now. It could be argued that any tablet would be just as good for many of those tasks and you'd probably be right. What Android is currently lacking though is the sheer number of apps for creating content. They might be catching up as other developers start filling the gap, but if you're an author looking for a platform to write on the go on, iOS is where its at.

Ever since I got my iPad I've been keeping an active watch on the App Store for the latest and greatest writing apps, and I've tried most of them out. Some of them give very good service while others are quickly discarded for an app I've been using longer that just does things better. Today, I wanted to expose some of the better apps that I've found and my reasons for loving them.

Daedalus - This is my current writing app and has beaten out several other contenders, even the darling of the app store, iA Writer. There's a big push in apps for a more minimalist writing environment, so as not to distract you with a bunch of options while you're in the middle of creating. I've got to say, this is one movement that I can get behind. Daedalus has a great writing setup. There's very little to get in your way as you're putting words to page. In that way, its not much different than iA Writer, or a half dozen other apps. Where it really shines is its touch implementation. Daedalus doesn't want you to treat it like a writing program where you're making huge files of text. Its set up around the concept of the writer working with pages and arranging those pages in stacks, like you were working with pages of paper in the real world. Its touch interface is genuinely intuitive and helps the metaphor along. As one would expect, it has several ways of exporting your work as well as dropbox syncing. Unfortunately, Daedalus is a little hard on my poor first gen iPad. That being said, even if you have a first gen and are looking at experimenting a bit, I highly recommend it.

iThoughtHD - This is a really good mind mapping app with a ton of options, plenty of tools and everything you need to flesh out and connect ideas.

CarbonFin Outliner - Some people don't need to outline their stories. They just keep all those details in their giant brains and reference their vast intellect as needed. I have nothing but loathing for such people and want their orange juice to go sour on them. For us mere mortals that can't keep track of what schmuck in our stories has green eyes and which one has creepy goat eyes that look at you like they've seen your end and only want to hasten its arrival, you need an outlining program. Might I suggest CarbonFin Outliner. It's a spiffy little app that has a well thought out interface that backs up your intricate story outline to the cloud. You can even get at online versions of your outlines and the changes you make there will be reflected back to your iPad. It's pretty spiffy.

Headspace - I'm not sure where this one fits, but its pretty nice. It fits somewhere inbetween CarbonFin and iThoughtsHD in terms of usability. Think of it as sort of a 3d outliner and mind mapping software. The things a little hard to use, and the interface for linking things and writing descriptions could definitely use a little work, but if you want something that just looks amazing and is fun to use, you can't go wrong. Headspace basically lets you set up your outline - mindmap thing in a 3d space that you can pan and zoom around in. Collapse and expand elements for more effects. Its a neat little app in terms of how it looks, though in terms of usefulness, it could use and upgrade or two.

Writings - This is my secondary writing app. It boasts some organizational improvements over Daedalus and there are days where I much prefer using it. I think you'll just have to try both out and see which one you like more. What I really like is the ability to create multiple workspaces, letting you make separate areas for working on different stories and then syncing them to their own folder on Dropbox.

Pages - Pages is another program that's getting rough with my poor little first gen iPad, but its second to none in terms of formatting your rough manuscript into something more pretty and presentable. It also syncs up to iCloud and presents a plethora of options for formatting your story material. I get less use out of it than other people do, but it really is a requirement if you use the iPad for making words that people will some day read.

Alright, I think I should put things on hold here. I've rambled on for much longer than my allotted time. Until next time, enjoy the comics and go buy some eBooks. I mean really, go and buy them. Now.