Writer’s Tool Review: Evernote

Hiya folks! I’d like to introduce my new blog series, which I’m going to post once a week until I’m out of material… That is, out of Writing Tools to write about! Thank you Elizabeth Craig for the inspiration – sorry for comments as long as blogs in your comment section, lol.

The first Writing Tool I will present is Evernote. You may, or may not, already be familiar with this website/program/handy tool.

My notebooks

Evernote is a tool with which you can bookmark websites, collect notes, pictures and voice recordings. What I like most is that you can add tags to every note to categorize them, but what’s even better, is that you can make an unlimited amount of “notebooks”, in which you can put your notes. On the left, you can see how I have organized my notebooks.

You can order your notes on “created”, “updated”, “title”, “notebook”, “tags” and “size”. For instance, I have bookmarked websites that I’d like to share in tweets, but to keep track of which I have used, I put the tag “used” in them. Then, if I order them on “used”, I know which I shouldn’t use anymore. (Why not simply remove them? Because I might want to use them again next year!)

You have several choices. You can just use the online version of Evernote, but you can also download it and install it. There honestly isn’t much of a difference, except that I have it stuck to my taskbar so that I can access it easily, any time I want, and I won’t forget it.

What’s even cooler about Evernote is that you can synch it with basically everything. Many, many websites offer icons that’ll link you to save something in Evernote. If you look down in this post, you see I offer an Evernote icon, too. If you click that, it’ll send you to the Evernote website, and you can save it. It’ll be synchronized with your desktop version automatically if you use it.

Screenshot of the Webclipper (click to enlarge)

However, I have to admit I don’t use the icons often. Because I have an even handier tool. If you use Google Chrome or Firefox, Evernote offers a really interesting extension (for Internet Explorer and Safari, the browesr extension is automatically installed if you install the desktop version). It’s called the “Webclipper” (on the right you can see the webclipper in my browser). It allows you to easily select the notebook you want to save it to. You can add text and tags if you want, and when you click save, it’s automatically synched to all your Evernote platforms.

To make it even more spiffy, if you have an Android Smartphone, iPhone, Blackberry, or basically any phone with internet connection, you can download their app. This app is also synched with all your Evernote platforms, and you can easily add notes, or pictures or voice recordings with your phone, too. If you ever have a picture you want to put on your laptop, but don’t feel like connecting it with the USB, just put it in your Evernote and you can access the picture from basically anywhere.

The synchronization with all the platforms is so smooth and seamless that it’s a dream tool to use, especially for writers. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I often take notes about my dreams for possible story ideas. Then, when I get out of bed, it’s there, on my laptop, and I can get started with it right away.

If I’ve convinced you to try out Evernote, you can find all downloads here. Select the platforms you want to use (they even provide you with a QR-code for the Android market!), install, and GO! ^_^ (And if you enjoy Evernote, you may want to check out their Trunk, with all sorts of cool extensions!)

Evernote – making the lives of writers easier and the lives of trees longer (because trust me, you won’t need those paper notes anymore. I know – my house used to be scattered with them).

Have you ever used Evernote? Why did or did you not like it?