Young Writers Society

I, uh, can't really pay attention to stuff for long. Well, my attention is actually rather selective. I can watch two hour YouTube videos with no issue, but find myself struggling to write for similar lengths of time. Even if I allow myself a break, those breaks can sometimes extend for hours as opposed to the initial ten minutes.

So, I've resorted to apps and extensions to help me write/focus. I also have a few extensions which help make reviewing easier for me.

Super Simple Highlighter is number one! It allows me to highlight stuff on a webpage, making it easier to focus on my review because I don't have to comb through the work again to find a section that I found needed work. I just scroll up, find the bright blue, and continue reviewing from there!

There's also Typio! It saves what I'm writing, so if I accidentally close a tab, then I won't end up losing most of what I wrote.

And for focus, I have:
StayFocusd! Basically, it allows you to limit how much time you stay on sites. I was able to make it so I had 15 minutes on Twitter/Reddit/Tumblr combined per day.

There's also Session Timer! It's like... StayFocusd but less rigid? With StayFocusd, if I went over my time limit, then all of those sites were blocked for me for the rest of the day. However, with Session Timer, it allows me press snooze on the timer.

Then there's Forest! I've also paid 1.99 to have this on my phone. Basically, (for the extension) if I browse the restricted sites on my computer while I'm supposed to be focusing on something else, then a virtual tree that I'm growing will die. However! If I don't go on those restricted sites and stay focused for those ~25 minutes, then a little tree will grow and I'll add to my forest.

The phone app is a bit different. With the phone app, you have to stay on the app's page or else the tree dies. It's definitely a motivator, 'cause I've gotten into the bad habit of blocking stuff on my computer and then picking up my phone >.<

So! Does anyone any any apps/extensions that help them write? I'd love to hear about more!

Super Simple Highlighter is something I did not know I needed and now I need it in my life so, so much. (I edited all the settings for the default colors so they're named stuff like "Grammar and Style" and "Plot Holes" and "Good Stuff".) I also went ahead and added Typio bc why not, it'll probably save my butt some day.

One of my favorites but everyone knows this is a Google Play app called Writeometer. I SO wish it had a browser extension. But basically, you can set deadlines and goals and reminders, and it has a timer as well to keep you writing. I really dig it!

I’m going to need to add Super Simple Highlighter to my computer! I’ve been meaning to look for something like this, but I’ve never found anything (this will make my life so much easier when reviewing).

The only thing I have installed as an extension is Grammarly because I find that when I’m reviewing, it helps catch a lot of typos/punctuation errors. I think someone told me about it? There’s an addition that you can buy but I just use the free version of it. Anyway, it’s great for reviewing because I don’t think YWS comment boxes detect spelling errors. I believe it’s also an app, but I haven’t installed it on my phone yet.

I live off Beeline reader. It adds colour to your screen so as you're reading long blocks of text you can follow along more easily, since your eye has colour to follow as it goes down paragraphs. Really useful if your eye skips around. Custom colours are a godsend (mine are, of course, pink and purple)

I also like Pomotodo, which is basically a 25 minute timer that has a to-do list attached. You enter in what you have to do, then set the timer. It doesn't allow you to block websites, but the obnoxious ticking does a good job of focusing lol

...I need all of these in my life.

My main problem is getting started and getting into the flow of writing, and then not taking a "break" when I hit a rough patch. There are also just sites I try to stay off in general because they take too much time/aren't good for my mental health, but I keep finding myself on them if I don't have an easy way to myself.

I've tried several different programs - first is the StayFocusd extension that was already mentioned. I give myself 15 minutes a day for Reddit/tumblr/various other things I spend too much time reading. My main difficulty with this one is when I need to not block a site in case I need it for xyz (like imgur) but then I can also spend way too much time on it if it's not blocked. Another one is RescueTime, which doesn't directly provide motivation, but tracks the amount of time you spend on any website or program and gives you "productivity scores." It really helped me pinpoint where my weak areas were, but I don't use it anymore.

I've also used WriteTrack, which I really like because you can set your own NaNo-like word count goals, but it's a lot more flexible because you can choose whatever word count you want and the duration you want, and give different "weights" to each day. So if you always have twice as much time to write on Monday and Tuesday as you do Wednesday and Thursday, you can factor that in. And if you miss a day, it adjusts your goal for all the days after to account for that.

Unfortunately, all of these sort of wind up not working as well over time, because what I really need is something external to motivate me at a click of a button and just get myself over that initial hump of starting whatever it is. (@Evander - Forest sounds great for that! I might have to try it.) It's gotten to the point that I'm actually writing my own program to keep track of my to-do list and have customized motivational quotes and such. For example, if I chose "writing" from a drop-down menu and click "Motivate Me," there's a random chance that it will literally open up Scrivener for me, which I find *super* helpful. And if I have too many things to do and don't know where to start, I have a "Choose random" button that selects a random task for me.

(Okay, that got long lol. Suffice it to say that productivity is something I think about a lot.)

These all seem super helpful! I'm looking into a few.

My favorite writing app on my laptop is FocusWriter. It keeps those tempting toolbar bookmarks out of sight, unlike Google Docs, and it also has an autosave feature. It's super customizable as well, and has a built-in daily goal tracker.

EDIT: I forgot to mention... TYPEWRITER SOUNDS <3

Cold Turkey Writer. No joke it incapacitates my laptop to the level of a typewriter until a certain amount of time/word count. It doesn't let you quit until then. And it's free.

EZ essay focus with that on the computer and Forest on the phone

I'm also a fan of Cold Turkey! It's free and doesn't allow you to get out unless you've fulfilled the amount of time, which works for me since sometimes I just have no self control and need to block social media to get stuff done.

I also like a good old excel document that's been color coded - red for not meeting goal, green for exceeding or meeting goal. I can put a whole calendar of days up and really easily keep track of if I've been writing or not.

I use Fighter's Block. It's cute but effective, and very portable since it's browser-based.

Actually, why don't you also just handwrite your stories like I do? This just works for me but I think it's worth explaining.

Personally, I do typewrite my stories on the second draft/final thing and my academic essays under time constraint, but handwriting helps a lot. The reduced WPM gives your brain time to think before you complete sentences, and it's completely gadget-free too. Maybe you can shave off more time by putting that in your writing process.

@Kazumi one of my problems with that is that my hands cramp and start to hurt after maybe 200 words. It's literally painful to hand write anything of length, and it always has been for me. Computers give me the ability to write much more prolifically than if I restrained myself to pen and paper storytelling. It's good for notes, but not much else for me.

Plus, there are way more distractions with pen and paper for me, mainly because it IS so much slower and lets my mind wander. And if I misspell something on paper, it's there forever. Cue self hating perfectionist streak.

Maybe it works for some people, but for others it's just not any option.

@Kazumi - I really write my best when I'm typing! Honestly, my quality is 100x better and I'm happier with the product. I'll sometimes try to handwrite a story, but I'll really only write down a few paragraphs before switching to my laptop.

I really find that I plan my best when I'm handwriting and that I write my best when I'm typing, haha

I also usually do my planning without the computer in front of me! It lets me walk around and get the ideas flowing, and I can jot things down in a much more free-form way. It's too easy to get distracted with formatting or something on a computer. But when it comes to actually writing the story, I definitely have to type it. It just goes so much faster that way and I have a better sense for how the story feels on the page.