Evernote

[Marvin Double]

Writers all need a way to easily keep track of research, working notes or simply story ideas. I collected information using handwritten notebooks and as well as a disorganized collection notes on scraps of paper. I was often frustrated when I lost some important bit of information in the middle of a project.

I'd developed some bad habits over the years and gotten kind of sloppy . There is nothing worse than searching of an obscure quote on an old post-it note somewhere in a pile of lose papers at 3 AM. The frustration can be magnified considerably if you also happen to be writing on a deadline.

Some time ago I discovered a great program which has made my life considerably less stressful. It combines a fantastic array of tools which makes capturing and organizing information of all types easy and efficient. The program to which I refer is EverNote and, I can offer a personal endorsement that it is simply fantastic. For me at least it has become a virtually indispensable part of the writing process.

The program allows to quickly capture, catalog and reference information from various sources, including web pages, email, video, images, even handwritten notes. The features are to numerous to mention here but it would be sufficient to say that it would be difficult to find a tool which is more versatile when it comes to gathering cataloging and retrieving information.

Consider the following scenario. You're working on a travel story about in a distant city. You find a fantastic restaurant and are served a great wine you'd like to remember for your article. The label on the bottle is written in a foreign language and your waiter doesn't speak English. You pull out your camera phone and photograph the bottle then send yourself a short voice message about the wine. Once you get home you can capture all that information directly into EverNote and then go to work finding out more about the wine to fill in those details you couldn't get easily on the road.

For the record this is an entirely personal endorsement. I don't sell the program and received no financial compensation for this post. I offer this information solely for the benefit of my fellow writers. You can find out more about EverNote

If you don't already use EverNote I suggest you take some time to check it out. I'm using the free version, but there is also a commercial version, which, in my opinion is priced quite reasonably.

[Jo Cook]

I didn't realize Scrivener was Mac only. There are many inexpensive Mac solutions in the marketplace these days. I can give you some other reasons to switch to Mac:
1. Cost of ownership.
2. It's efficient and pleasant to work on.
3. The learning curve is very short.
4. Of course, it's fun.
5. The switch will be virtually transparent to your clients/friends, etc. [This did not used to be the case.]

[Marvin Double]

Thanks for your comment about EverNote. I've had a look at Scrivener, which you mentioned in your post. The software looks wonderful and seems to have many features which EverNote lacks. Unfortunately for me it also seems to be for the Mac OS only. for lots of practical reasons I work entirely on a PC (shock and horror). Seeing this software does however give me reason consider getting a Mac.

[Jo Cook]

I like Scrivener. It allows you to view multiple screens simultaneously so you can write with your inspiration in view; be it video, web page, pdf, word doc.