My actual writing is chaotic, only marginally organized and it’s nice to have tools to help me put it together into scenes, outlines or whatever so I am always keeping my eye out for apps. As I’m always on the go, pretty much non-stop I really value the accessibility of my phone. I have an iPad air in my backpack that weighs the amount of a banana and I still can’t be bothered to pull it out half the time.
Personally, I’m waiting on the fabled, lost treasure of the iOS version of Scrivener thats supposed to be released this year, maybe, probably, hopefully?
Until then, I’ll just throw down some of my workflow here and of it helps you, awesome. I do use iOS and Scrivener a lot, just a forewarning.
Notes - for raw writing - I am not ashamed to admit I primarily use the native notes app on the iPhone. I just takes notes everyday and compile them together every month or so to try and formulate dialogue, characters, scenes, plot ideas, everything.
Notebooks 7
I use Notebooks 7 to keep track of new stories/ideas I might write, past ideas and everything that works better organized. This app is pretty straightforward, allows me to organize my stuff into books, and actually does a lot more than I use it for.
Thesaurus Rex
I use this app a lot more than I thought I would. I have a few other dictionary/thesaurus apps but I almost always go to this one.
Lists for Writers - ideas for creative writing
This app looks pretty useful, and I’ve had it for awhile but I’ve never actually used it. I’m listing it anyway. They’ve recently updated it so it’s being maintained.
Kindle
The amount of writing books I’ve purchased and read on Kindle is shameful. A must have.
Index Card for iPhone
Index Card for iPad
This app is nicely done and syncs with scrivener but I’ve only ever used to it digitally recreate actual index cards I created when trying to formulate a story. (I carry around some real index cards :P)
Outliner
This app is indispensable for me, even though I use this in a weird way, in conjunction with Scrivener. I consider my actual novel to be in scrivener so I use this to keep an organized actual copy of my scrivener novel handy.
[how-to] In scrivener, go to Export > OPML file. Check Export entire Binder and make sure you have titles and text checked. Sync that to Dropbox and Outliner will pull it in. Bam. Your whole body of work is available to you on your phone when you’re away from Scrivener. It’s invaluable.
Voice Dream Reader
This app is incredible, hands down. It’s a little pricey, but worth it. I use this to read an exported text version of my story to be read to me so I can take notes while I hear my story. I can do this on walks, on the bus, wherever.
For voices, I recommend buying Amy, the Ivona UK voice. There are lots of good ones but this one’s my absolute favorite.
[how-to] From Scrivener click Compile and choose convert to Plain text and Compile for Plain Text. Voice dream will have no problem picking it up (it can read most text files, even PDF’s). This app is one of my favorites. I’ve made so many corrections and notes listening to my own story like an audiobook that it’s unbelievable.
Everything above works for iPad also.
Final Draft Writer
Celtx Script
For iPad only, I recommend Final Draft Writer or Celtx Script if you’re doing screenwriting. Neither app is perfect but both work well. Final Draft Writer is pricey so Celtx Script might be a more reasonable option.
For me, there’s something about the size of an iPad and the actual page of a screenplay together that makes these the perfect apps/hardware for writing a screenplay.
Apps I’ve tried that I haven’t discounted but I haven’t made the most of. They’re worth a look, at least.
Story Skeleton
This is another kind of index card app I’ve delved into. I’ve played with it a lot and it seems interesting but I haven’t been able to really make it super useful for me.
Story Planner
I want to like this app, it seems really good and a lot of work went into a smooth UI but I feel like you have to have your story planned before you can really make use of this app.
Storyist
This is a popular app/desktop program a lot of people choose to use over Scrivener. While I own the desktop version also, I feel like the mobile version menus and navigation is so convoluted it blocks any spontaneity for me. It’s a good app though and a lot of people really like the whole Storyist process.
Paperless Lists + Checklists
I’ve used this for making lists in the past, mostly of things I should fix in my story. I really don’t use it too much though and don’t make the most of it’s potential.
Evernote
Everyone is most likely already familiar with this, I’ve used Evernote once when I was doing a collaborative work with someone, and it was great for that. For me, I get what Evernote offers from Dropbox and Notebooks 7. If I was writing something more robust like a blog I might make more use of Evernote. It’s definitely a good app with free model and a subscription subscription model.
Lastly, Podcasts if you’re using iOS. There are lots of writer specific podcasts available to listen to. Personally, I listen to Helping Writers Become Authors but I’ve seen lists here on Reddit of lots of podcasts people prefer. Useful and free resource.
Those are the apps I use daily.