Some of the tools that are vital for my daily grind:
Scrivener
This is my daily writing software. I love it. Extremely writer friendly and powerful yet easy to use.
A lot of care and consideration has gone into making Scrivener the perfect tool for writers.
You can get it in the Mac App Store (not the Norwegian one, unfortunately), or directly from the developer: Literature & Latte.
If you are serious about writing (any kind of writing), you owe it to yourself to check it out.
Scrivener is not hard to learn, but it has a lot of features which are there if you need them. To quickly get up to speed on the basics as well as the more advanced features of Scrivener, check out the ebook Take Control of Scrivener 2.
NovaMind Platinum
Another indispensable piece of software. I’ve really come to love and depend on using mind maps. I use them for planing my writing projects, collecting research, for making a résumé of books I’m reading, for quick brainstorming or problem solving. Almost anything!
And finally: NovaMind 5 for mac is here at last! They certainly took their time. Two more weeks, and it would have been two years since I paid in advance for the upgrade to version 5. You start to suspect that their Windows customers are more important. (You can see it on the design of the software, the homepage and the templates as well: It is kind of ugly and Windows-y. It is like Steve Jobs said about Microsoft: They have no taste.)
But I’m a bit harsh here. (Blame it on the long wait for version 5.) It is quite possible to make mind maps in NovaMind that don’t make you want to put your favorite writing pen through your eye. And version 5 looks to make it even easier. Besides, according to the experts, mind maps are supposed to have lots of colors and illustrations and variations to make learning easier and aid your memory. So I guess I should just shut up.
And after all: looks are not everything. NovaMind is probably one of the most powerful mind mapping solutions out there. I chose the Platinum version because of the screenwriting component (which I’ve yet to get around to trying). At the moment it is out of version 5, but they say on their forum pages that it’s coming.
There is a lot of mind mapping software out there, some for free even. But NovaMind 5 is probably among the very best.
Download a free trial from NovaMind.
My Treadmill Desk
Yeah. I know it looks crazy. But it works. It works great!
I can’t recommend this enough. Sitting is lethal. And as a writer, you probably do way too much of it. This solution solves a lot of problems at the same time:
- It improves your health.
- It increases your heart rate, making you more focused and creative.
- It increases blood flow to the brain and improves productivity.
- It makes you more sexy.
And here are an additional 52 benefits.
A nice accessory: The Levo Book Holder for walking and reading. (They even have one for the iPad!)
Coffee
Who could do ANYTHING without coffee?
And not just any kind of coffee. Only the best is good enough when it comes to my twice daily double espresso caffein fix.
These are my tools:
- ECM Giotto Premium espresso machine
- Mazzer Mini grinder (the grinder is very important)
- An Espro calibrated tamper to get consistent tamping force (one tamp, no polish)
And amazing coffee beans from World Barista Champion Tim Wendelboe, who just happens to have his roastery and espresso bar in my neighborhood.
Perfect! Now, time to do some writing...