Updating our Android Writing Apps

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Jon

We’ve updated all of our Android apps on both Google Play and the Amazon Appstore for Android.

Lists for Writers now has all the latest lists. The new search feature lets you search any list – perfect for finding a phobia or term from a genre list. The new shuffle feature randomizes the order of any list, making it easier to find some inspiration.

Story Dice now has all the latest die faces, bringing the total up to 170 different pictograms.

All of the apps also got some substantial internal updates, which should resolve a few cases where things didn’t quite work. Also behind the scenes, we moved all of the apps to Android Studio (goodbye Eclipse!), made some good improvements to our build workflow, and added additional test devices.

NaNoWriMo on the Nexus 7

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Jon

With NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) approaching, this is a good time to point out that three of our popular writing apps are available on Google Play for Android devices including the Nexus 7 tablet. Our NaNoWriMo experiences before forming Thinkamingo actually lead to our focus on building writing apps, so it’s always neat to see others using our apps to help hit their word count.

I actually carry a Nexus 7 (2012) and use it daily. I didn’t attempt NaNoWriMo last year, but I have written quite a bit on my Nexus 7. The Microsoft Wedge bluetooth keyboard makes a great companion for wireless writing on the Nexus 7. Though it is intended for Windows tablets, it matches the Nexus 7 (2012) style very well and is large enough to actually type on. I also have one of these cover-style keyboards as well but it’s pretty hard to type on. While I’ve tried the different Android office suites, I write most of my text in Evernote because it syncs so well to my other devices. I’m still not certain whether I will attempt NaNoWriMo 2013, but if I do, my Nexus 7 will get a lot of use.

Lists for Writers is a collection of lists to rapidly brainstorm ideas for characters, settings, and plots. The iPad version has been repeatedly featured by Apple and blogs like Cult of Mac and MakeUseOf.

Story Dice is a visual brainstorming tool. It simulates rolling dice with 140 different die face pictures to come up with combinations a writer can connect to come up with new plot or character ideas.

Name Dice is a simple tool for generating character name ideas. It provides random combinations of first and last names that have been surprisingly effective for a lot of writers. Best of all – it’s FREE!

All of our Android apps are available on Google Play, Amazon Appstore for Android, and the NOOK Market.

NaNoWriMo on the Kindle Fire

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Ann

For our family, November means National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) where we’ve all attempted the challenge of writing fifty-thousand words in a month, or one- to ten-thousand words for the kids. This year, the Office of Letters and Light has added Camp NaNoWriMo events in April and July. Word count goals for everyone can range from ten to fifty thousand words. For me, this means I have an excellent chance of completing my meager ten thousand word goal. (Fifty thousand has always eluded me!)

Many excellent Kindle Fire apps can help you accomplish your novel-writing dreams! Here are a few of our top picks:

For actual writing, there are a number of word processor apps, but it’s hard to beat QuickOffice Pro if you need a full-featured word processor.
Evernote organizes your writing and many other things. It’s even more useful paired with Skitch, a drawing tool that works with Evernote, for making maps, family trees, diagrams, and even crude character sketches.
Having a photo in mind of what each character looks like helps a lot, but for younger writers, an app like WeeMee Avatar Creator lets you create cartoon avatars for your characters.
We built the Lists for Writers app based on our experiences with NaNoWriMo. We took our collection of lists and organized it into a handy app that we can access all the time.
Our Story Dice app is a brainstorming tool to develop story plots. With a roll of the virtual dice, you could add a twist to your plot, or get an idea for your main character’s backstory.
Our free Name Dice app makes character naming easy! This free app has a million different first and last name combinations. The source lists have been carefully curated to produce believable names.
Movie soundtracks can be a an incredible source of inspiration while writing. Set up Pandora with some movie soundtracks! Also, creating playlists for each of your main characters helps explore them in greater detail and can help you really get into the writing as the character when it comes to dialogue.