My On-the-Run College Apps
This is my 6th semester here at Penn State, and my trusty iBook G4 has been with me every step of the way. I can’t say the same for the applications that have inhabited its hard drive, though. I’ve gone through more than my fair share of applications, looking for the ones that worked best for what I wanted. At this point in my career, I can say “I think I’m set.”
I want to preface my selection with this bit of information. I don’t own my own printer. I can’t get myself to invest in something the campus provides for free. So nearly all of my printing is done in the computer labs on campus. This has its benefits as well as its draw backs. Using Mac OS X means I have to either use a Mac, which aren’t always available in the locations I need to be at, or export the file as a more universal type. The majority of my picks are heavily influenced by this.
First and foremost, as a Film/Video major, I need a good script writing application. I’ve messed with everything from the monstrous Final Draft, down to the screenplay template in iWork’s Pages. The program I decided to go with: Celtx. Celtx is an open source application for the budding screenwriter in all of us. It provides me with all the features I can get in the bulkier programs, but without all the glut. It can export scripts as PDF files, which allows me to print from anywhere. The only other program I really considered was Montage. Its only minuses came from an abundance of features I’d never use.
For basic essays and assignments, I stick to trusty iWork Pages. It has the features of Microsoft Word, in the sleek presentation of normal Apple applications. It does what I need it to and exports to *.doc files when I need to print in a lab.
I also do a bit of creative writing. I’m not a notebook kind of guy. I like to put my thoughts down on a screen. Something about it helps the information flow from my head and into words much easier. So I needed an application that would give me the ability to store notes, move them around, and have them all in one place while writing a much larger work. Scrivener gets this done beautifully. It helps me keep track of hundreds of little ideas and notes that a normal word processor can’t handle.
*On a side note, I have actually started using the screenplay template in Scrivener for larger scriptwriting projects.
Another program I’ve come to love is Genius. It is basically a flash card application. I don’t particularly enjoy memorizing facts and numbers. Genius helps me do just that, with minimal effort. Simply plug the question and answers in, and have it deliver a slide show for you. Not only do you memorize via the flash card method, but having to fill in the actual questions and answers is an additional method of studying.
Podcasts. Use them. Nearly every language you can take will have some kind of pubic podcast out there. Nothing helps learn a language then hearing it spoken by native speakers. Search them out and listen to them on the way to class. Not only does it reinforce what you’ve already learned, but helps with pronunciation.
Those are the programs I used to stay productive in my writing and studying. I keep track of school life and work with a couple other programs. I keep up with assignments via iProcrastinate. What I love about this is that it takes advantage of iCal and puts the assignments in as To Do’s. With Leopard’s streamlining of iCal and Mail, I can always see when something is due.
Although I’ve found what works for me, if there are better applications out there, I’d love to hear about them! What do you use to write?
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What about some of the web apps?
For screenwriting I’ve been using Scripped (http://www.scripped.com) and it’s great. Of course it has fewer features than desktop apps, but for writing at work or at a friend’s house, it can’t be beat.
For sheer writing experience, it beats the hell out of ScriptBuddy, Plotbot, and even Zhura.
R Franco on February 28th, 2008 9:41 am
Wow, I like that a lot. I’m definitely going to give this a try. Like I said, being able to write on the go is a must for me. Unfortunately, not all computers on campus have Final Draft or some other scriptwriting software on them. Thanks for the suggestion.
Sameer Barkawi on February 28th, 2008 1:11 pm