Are You in a Writing Funk? Try These Productivity Apps

Whether you’re stressed about the quarantine, the state of the world, or you’re exhausted from home schooling small children, it’s hard finding the time to sit down and indulge your artistic side.

Maybe you recently lost your job or had your hours cut at work, so now you feel guilty about dedicating a few hours a day to your writing. Instead, you feel compelled to apply for jobs or find new ways to make money.

The truth is you aren’t being selfish by performing your craft.

These feelings are perfectly normal. I’ve experienced each of them at least once this year. But, if you want to achieve your writing goals you need to stay committed.

I wrote this blog to suggest ideas on how to stay productive even in the hardest of times. Some of these you may have heard of already, but just not used. Others could be something you never thought of before. My hope is that this article can be helpful to all writers.

Download a Writing Productivity App

Full disclosure: I wasn’t the most consistent writer even before the pandemic hit.

While writing my first novel, my work times were all over the place. Late a night before bed. First thing in the morning before work. Lunch breaks. Weekends. Holidays. I basically pounded out a couple of pages when and where I could.

I’ve never been the guy who got up at 6 a.m. every morning and wrote non-stop without interruption until noon. This was also before I had kids so I was just being undisciplined.

Fast forward to today and it’s clear my bad habits have come back to haunt me. One thing I’ve done is downloaded a writing productivity app on my iPhone. I’m on it all of the time anyway, so it makes sense.

Here are some free apps to check out:

• yWriter: Great for tracking your progress. Features include a storyboard function and progress reports.
• FocusWriter: A minimalist design to keep you focused on writing. Features include a progress tracker and timer.
• Reedsy Prompts: Provides new creative writing prompts each day to get your creative juices flowing.
• Mindmaps: Create a detailed mind map of your chapter or story within your browser.
• Google Timer: The Google Suite is useful for storing manuscripts and research, but you can also use its simple stopwatch to make sure you’re putting in the time.

And, of course, there are well-known paid apps like Scrivener or Evernote. They do offer free trials if you’re interested.

Finding My Writing Productivity App

When looking for my app, I simply searched for “writing productivity” in the App Store.  There are dozens of options and features to choose from. You need to consider what’ll work best for your needs.

All I wanted was a daily writing reminder to help develop a new habit.

I ended up downloading a simple, free app called “Write on Track.” It allows me to create a project and then set a deadline to finish. I can pick a total word count for the manuscript and then break it down by 500 or 1,000 words a day.

Here’s the best part. I can set writing notifications that pop up on my phone at certain days or times. That way I’ll never forget to finish my 500 words for the day. A habit will begin to form after a few weeks and then I should be good to go.

Sign up for NaNoWriMo Starting November 1

You may have heard of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). First-timers and published authors commit to finishing a new manuscript in the month of November.

There’s no real pressure here. You don’t have to participate and nothing happens if you don’t finish the manuscript. In fact, many people only finish half or less. The important thing is that you start the project.

Go to nanowrimo.org to  create an account and share your daily writing progress. According to the website, 455,080 adult writers and 104,350 students or educators participated in the 2019 NaNoWriMo.

Some novels written during NaNoWriMo went on to be published. For instance, Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hugh Howey’s Wool, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Jason Hough’s The Darwin Elevator, and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder.

Writers feeling unmotivated or unproductive can get a boost of energy from participating in this type of event with a supportive community. Often that’s more powerful than a productivity app.

And once you start writing consistently, it’ll get easier and easier to keep going.

Find a Better Way To Manage Your Time

No matter what you choose to do—blocking out time in your calendar or downloading an app—the key is finding a system that works for you. Then, once you’ve figured it out, you need to defend your time mercilessly.

Don’t let life or work responsibilities encroach into your writing time. It’s easier said than done, but it’s necessary.

You also need to fight the urge to procrastinate. That’s a problem I deal with constantly. It’s so easy to put something like this off—claiming you’re just too busy—but it’ll only make starting again more difficult. Trust me on this.

Good luck on your new writing projects!