Always dreamed of writing your own novel but don’t know where to begin? You’re not alone. Fiction writing can be intimidating, and it’s no coincidence that novice novelists often run into the same problems, like starting with a heavy exposition or lacking continuity in plot or setting.
Even if you’ve finally figured out how to flesh out your characters, there’s the actual writing part of it — that’s a whole other story.
As the year nears its end, it’s time to take a look back at everything that was awesome in 2017. As usual, Mac developers rolled out some stellar software, which means macOS remains the best platform for the greatest apps.
Here’s our roundup of the best macOS apps of 2017.
It’s been a banner year for iOS apps. From smart photo-editing tools to music-generating apps, Apple and third-party developers alike brought some serious heat to the App Store. We’ve combed through our home screens to pick out the best iOS apps of 2016.
Check out our picks below.
If you’re looking to unwind this fine Sunday by sampling the latest App Store delectables for your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or Apple TV, look no further: Cult of Mac has your back!
Whether you’re on the hunt for a great mashup between two classic card games, a real estate app optimized for your Apple TV, or more, we’ve got what you’re searching for.
Check out our picks below. You won’t be disappointed.
Another week, another raft of great new deals. This week’s latest are a diverse bunch, from real-time screen recording to an education in Scrivener, massive iOS storage expansion and top notch dictation software. And all of it’s discounted by at least half, take a look:
Anyone who writes on a computer knows the mental juggling routine involved in keeping track of research, notes, drafts and edits. Scrivener 2 offers a way to consolidate the whole process in one place, making for a much more efficient and less time consuming writing process. The award-winning app has also been a hit with Cult of Mac readers, who now have an extra few hours to get a copy of Scrivener 2 for $19.50.
Write anything longer than a couple paragraphs or involving more than a couple sources of research, and the computer can quickly become a confusing morass of pages, websites, and notes. Scrivener 2 cuts through the computerized clutter, making it easy to simultaneously outline ideas, take notes, and view research without flitting between pages and programs. It’s an invaluable tool for anybody who writes with any degree of regularity, and right now is your last chance to get it for $19.50 at Cult of Mac Deals.
We were told that computers would make word processing way more efficient and less time-consuming. By now we all know the truth — writing on a computer is like fighting through an obstacle course of distractions, scattered notes and half-read articles. Scrivener is a word processor and project management app that streamlines and organizes research and writing on your computer, an invaluable resource that you can get for $19.50 at Cult of Mac Deals.
These days you can easily share data and collaborate on almost anything, from Rdio playlists to photo streams. But when it comes to plain old written text, your options are terrible. You’re pretty much caught between working on a shared file in Google Docs or shuttling versions of your work back and forth via email. Add more than one collaborator and this becomes a total nightmare.
Thankfully, tools exist to smooth the process of collaborating on writing projects. I’m currently editing the second draft of a novella, and I’m looking for a way to work with “beta” readers. I’m testing several pieces of software, and so far one called Draft is in the lead. Not only does it let you share a document with other people, it lets the team comment on any part of the source document and also allows them to edit a copy. Then, when they submit their versions, you can preview any changes before accepting or rejecting them.
Better still, because Draft can sync with a document in Dropbox (as well as several other cloud services), you can sync the edits from your beta team with a local app, like Scrivener. Here’s what you need to make the collaborative magic happen.
Straight outta Leipzig comes the latest update to Soulmen’s Ulysses III, the writers’ text editor for the Mac. As ever with Soulmen updates, the fact that this is a “mere” point update shouldn’t fool you. Ulysses III 1.2 is the kind of thing many folks would ship as a v2.0.
