I've been jotting story ideas on a paper timeline for a long time, which is great. I could use Evernote as an electronic timeline and capture device for a life story project! Many writers use Evernote to write novels, so why couldn't I use it to write a memoir?

It had some great ideas for using the Evernote app to capture and organize genealogy information, but it also gave me an idea: You can also scan Post-It Notes! You can then use the optical character recognition to search for text within a photo.Over the weekend, as I was in the organizing mode (specifically, organizing better my genealogy files), I ran across this article on Evernote's blog. You can use the photo function in Evernote to scan a page of a notebook or marginalia in a book. The optical character recognition is a game changer. In an interview with Copyblogger she described her research process: 'I use Evernote to save notes on various items I’m reading and to photograph the marginalia on book pages, which are then searchable thanks to optical character recognition.'Įvernote offers many different features that are perfect to keep writers organised: When Maria was asked how she organises her research material, she said she uses Evernote to keep an index of her notes and ideas. Maria writes essays featuring quotes and wisdom from the world's best thinkers. I first came across Evernote via Maria Popova who writes the insightful blog Brain Pickings. Not only does it provide an easy way to keep track of your ideas and thoughts, but it also helps you stay organised with research material.

If you're like me, you have a tonne of notebooks, and scraps of handwritten paper crumpled up in your bag or your jeans pocket, or notes on the back of the shopping list on the fridge.Įvernote can be a lifesaver for writers, whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction. The struggle to keep track of all your notes for your novel is real.

How to use evernote to write a book