The first thing I do when I start a new writing project isn’t outlining or researching.
- Using Evernote For Research
- Evernote Research Log
- Evernote For Academic Research
- Evernote For Research
- Evernote For Phd Research
Get organized and productive with the leading note-taking app. Download Evernote for Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android and create your free account. Organize class notes into notebooks. Use Evernote as a digital binder where you can save all your. A must for doing research on the fly in a setting where you have no effectiv. A look at using the free program Evernote to store and manage research articles. A must for doing research on the fly. Evernote uses cookies to enable the Evernote service and to improve your experience with us. To learn more, check out our cookie policy. By clicking OK or continuing to use our site, you agree that we can place these cookies.
Nope — first, I set up an Evernote folder expressly for that project.
Haven’t heard of Evernote?
It’s a free app that lets you collect about a half-dozen types of notes (text, screenshots, photos, voice memos and more), organizing them with tags and folders so you never lose anything. Whether you’re working on a novel, your blog, or work for clients, Evernote can shave tons of hassle and friction from your writing process.
You can access your notes three ways: through a program on your computer, through any web browser or through a smartphone app. Your notes sync across all your devices, so you always have access to everything from your grocery list to your novel notes.
I affectionately refer to Evernote as my “exobrain.”
One reason I love Evernote is because it’s so adaptable to anyone’s writing process.
Here’s a quick Evernote guide with five ways I use it for every writing project.
1. Collect research
From learning about flintlock pistols for your steampunk zombie novel to tracking down statistics for an article on immigration, writing requires research.
This is what Evernote was born for.
Whenever you come across internet research pertinent to your project, you can save it directly into a project folder in Evernote with the web clipper extension for your browser. Photos, articles, bookmarks and even screenshots all sync into the program without having to leave your browser.
Evernote even has a feature on the smartphone app that allows you to quickly snap photos — of the cover of a book you want to read later, scenery that’s perfect for world building, you name it.
Need to capture written text? The “page camera” feature is optimized for handwriting or typed content.
2. Gather your thoughts and find inspiration
When you’re a writer, the world’s fair game, right?
We take inspiration where we can get it — and Evernote is perfect for quickly capturing ideas and epiphanies in the moment.
I used to jot down interesting ideas I didn’t know what to do with on scraps of paper and throw them in an ideas file folder. Odd character quirks, overheard scraps of dialogue, photographs of fascinating places, and ideas for stories I wanted to pitch to magazines all lived in a chaotic, unsearchable mess.
As often as not, though, those little scraps of paper also ended up going through the wash or getting tossed out by accident.
Now, I write them directly into Evernote in an inspiration file that I can visit whenever I’m looking for a little creative boost. Plus, it’s searchable, and I can tag ideas with things like “character” or “article” so I can easily find the right category later.
Using Evernote For Research
You can even leave yourself a voice memo if you don’t have time to type.
3. Work on the go
Stop logging onto social media to kill time, and start using Evernote instead to write a few hundred words on your latest project.
While some writers enjoy drafting in Evernote, I prefer typing up scenes and then pasting them into my Scrivener file when I’m back at my laptop. Evernote isn’t bad to write full drafts in, though — it has most of the same features you would find in a dedicated word processor, including fonts, alignments and styles.
You can also fill those spare minutes by reading through some of the research articles you may have clipped from the web, saving to read later.
4. Organize your edits
If you’re working on a larger project — whether that’s a novel, memoir or feature article — there are a lot of balls to juggle. Particularly when it comes to the editing stage.
I tend to use Evernote a lot during the editing process, creating checklists for myself of problems I need to fix, or continuity issues I need to watch out for. This lets me jot down any thoughts I have (like the need to check the color of a character’s eyes, or add references to an event earlier in the story) without breaking my writing workflow.
When I get ready to do an editing pass, I categorize all of those tasks, then check them off the list as I fix them.
5. Collaborate with others
If your writing requires any sort of collaboration, Evernote makes it easy to share what you’re working on.
Along with the ability to share notes and folders, Evernote also offers a dressed-down chat platform that allows you to converse about what you’re working on.
Then, instead of looking through your email, text messages, or Slack to find out what conversations you had about a certain subject, they’re all saved (and searchable) in your Evernote.
Have you tried Evernote to streamline your writing process? What are your favorite tips and tricks?
Featured resource
Content Marketing for Journalists
Use your journalism experience to make a fantastic income with content marketing.
Evernote Research Log
I have to admit I have been a slow adopter of Evernote. In 2013 and 2014 I posted here about how I wanted to give Evernote a(nother) try to help me organize certain aspects of my genealogy research. Well, it’s two years later and I’m happy to report that I am actually using Evernote to help organize a bunch of things in my life, including certain aspects of my genealogy research. I’ve become a big fan, though no one would describe me as a power user.
I thought it might be helpful to some people for me to describe how I’m using it for genealogy. Before I do, though, I want to emphasize that this isn’t the best way or the only way to use Evernote. It’s just the way I’m using it. And it will no doubt evolve.
Evernote For Academic Research
So here’s a source list of ways I use Evernote in my genealogy life:
- Research log. I have a very simple template in Evernote in which I jot down what I’ve researched that session. Full disclosure: I don’t do it each and every session; I just do it when it feels right. Evernote makes it very easy.
- Genealogy task list. I have a notebook (in my Genealogy stack) called Genealogy clues/puzzles to check out. That’s where I make note of the things that come up that I don’t want to explore at the moment. I helps me stay focused on the task at hand.
- Source documentation project. As I described last month, I’m systematically reexamining all my sources in Reunion, verifying them, checking citations, ensuring that I’ve gleaned all the information I can out of them and adding images of each source to the citation. I keep the list in Evernote and check it off as I go.
- Keeping track of resources. I have a notebook called Genealogy resources where I clip interesting websites. Do I go back and look at it a lot? Not so much. But when I do there are usually some treasures in there. And clipping it means I don’t have to try to remember it, which frees up my mind.
- Genealogy travel. When I’m planning a research or cemetery trip, I keep notes about hotels, logistics, things to remember to pack, etc.
- Blog post ideas. I jot down ideas for this blog and my organizing blog when they occur to me. I consult it when I don’t know what to write. Which is quite often.
I don’t store my genealogy research in Evernote. After the 2015 National Genealogical Society meeting where I heard a detailed talk on using Evernote for genealogy, I briefly tried storing images of the genealogy documents I’d downloaded (census records, vital records, etc) in Evernote. I abandoned that as too labor intensive (though I can see the sense in it because it makes those documents exquisitely accessible). Instead, I attach those documents to the source citation in Reunion on my Mac.
In short, Evernote has become indispensable to me. It’s my go-to place to store and retrieve all manner of things (and I use it a whole lot for non-genealogy purposes as well). I pay for the premium version, so that I can access it when I’m not online. The price for the premium version just went up from $50 to $70 a year. I like it enough that I didn’t even consider not renewing because of the price hike.
Evernote For Research
Evernote is such a robust platform that I know I could be taking better advantage of it. And in a year I might be using it entirely differently. But right now it’s meeting my needs quite nicely.
Evernote For Phd Research
How do you use Evernote for your genealogy research?