A sample of tech tools for writers

For many writers, a pen and a blank piece of paper is enough to open their veins and get the words flowing.

Pen and paper is the tonic writers need to start a story.

There are also tech tools that can lift a writer’s profile and enhance his experience.

If you are a fiction writer, imagine a software that can help you create deeper, richer characters.

STORYBOARD

Think about apps that block off all those distractions — such as from social media — that fly into your screen when you want a quiet moment to get your thoughts together.

How about journaling apps or synonym finders and deadline trackers?

Wouldn’t your life be better if you had an app to organise your storyboard?

Don’t push these away as futuristic tools. They are available and many are free.

APPLICATIONS
If you are in writing business, you probably have spent days or weeks kneading a story only for it to disappear into the innards of your computer.

Or you saved on a portable drive that got lost or the file “refused” to open.

I feel your pain as you grudgingly redo the work. I have been there.

Applications like Google Drive help you to save your work on the cloud and access it from anywhere.

Besides, it provides a space for collaborative projects — where you and your colleagues are working on a project and you don’t want to mix-up versions of documents by exchanging a barrage of emails and huge attachments.

GRAMMARLY
It eliminates the need to carry your precious work on drives, or on a computer, which has become a prized quarry for thieves.

Like other cloud-based software, Google Drive increases efficiency, accessibility, and reliability.

Ever heard of Grammarly? It is a free app that points out erratic punctuation, tenses and overall sentence construction in your work.

The good thing is that it doesn’t change your work — it leaves you to decide how to make the changes.

WORDPRESS
Writers who want to grow their art and business need to become familiar with platforms such as WordPress — which help you create a website.

WordPress requires basic understanding of HTML. If you think you can’t crack those computer codes, you are mistaken.

If you know how to drag and drop objects on your computer, you are half way to becoming a pro in WordPress.

You also need a personal domain on which to host your work online.

Your online presence matters, unless you do not want your little light to shine.

DOMAIN

For a few thousand shillings, you can own a domain. A good domain name exemplifies your name and your brand.

Keep in mind that many people do not know that you exist online.

The only way they would know about you and your work is when they go to Google and search for work like yours and your name comes up.

So, how can you increase the chances of being found online?

Make sure that your website has keywords, context and content that people searching the kind of work that you do can find you.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Don’t despise the social media as an avenue to hang-out when you have nothing else to do.

Social media is where you will likely find a large chunk of your audience — you probably already know that.

For example, to enhance your professional digital presence, you must open a Facebook business page, which is different from your professional profile.

Facebook profiles simply aren’t designed for business.

TECHNOLOGY
Anyone who likes your page will henceforth receive your content.

A page has no limit on how many people you should have, but your profile has.

Writers, like almost all other professionals, must embrace technology.

Besides getting the words on paper neatly, there are tech tools to help organise, produce and promote your work.

The writer is an informatics specialist. [email protected]. @samwambugu2