You never know when inspiration is going to hit, and nothing sucks more than suddenly having a fantastic idea – but you have no way to write it down. Remember that time in the restroom when you suddenly thought up the perfect pitch your boss was going to love, only to get home three hours later and realize you’ve forgotten every detail of your promotion-worthy plan? Whether you’re a student, musician, writer, or just someone looking for a way to keep their inspiration organized, with these five apps, you’ll never have to worry about forgetting an awesome idea again.
Number Five: A Novel Idea. An essential for the novelist, A Novel Idea is an app which lets users plot out story ideas from anywhere. The perfect tool for organization, it allows you to rearrange scenes, create character concept sheets, and quickly highlight the key plot points of your story. With A Novel Idea, gone are the days of rifling through scratch paper notes and hastily emailed plot-points as you attempt to organize every idea that makes up your future best-seller.
Number Four: SimpleMind. SimpleMind, for Android, is a fantastic way to map out your ideas. Essentially, the app allows you to create an idea web with just the touch of your finger, instantly organizing the flow of your thoughts into an aesthetically pleasing, visual map. It’s fully customizable and a fantastic tool for visual learners.
Number Three: Pocket. An extension of Google Chrome, Pocket caters to the more research-based side of inspiration. The app lets you snag online content and save it in a file system for a later date. It’s great if you’re doing preliminary research for that thesis paper due next week, but you don’t have the time to actually read through heavy amounts of online text.
Number Two: Keezy. Not all inspiration comes to us in words, especially for those in the music biz – and that’s exactly what Keezy was built for. Basically a recording studio for your mobile device, Keezy allows users to record their own music using a variety of sound boards and pre-recorded sounds, which are already downloaded on the app. So next time you’re on the road, and the riff for the next great rock anthem hits you, you can easily record the track and save it for band practice.
Number One: Penultimate. Penultimate is a visual note-taking application geared towards those of us who despise taking notes on smart-phone keyboards. When it comes to taking notes, readability and swiftness are key, but between the auto-correct nightmare and fat-fingers syndrome, sometimes that tiny keyboard on your phone is more of a hassle than a tool. That’s where Penultimate comes in. The app allows you to jot down your thoughts in your own handwriting, mimicking the feel of basic pen and paper. It’s basically a notebook on your phone!
