Apps With ‘Tude #2

The First Date Edition!

~ By Melina Kantor

Hello! And TGIF!

I hope you’ve all had a great week!

The weekend’s almost here, and for many that means getting ready to dive into some serious writing.

Which means that some of us need to wake up our muses. Luckily, like I said last week, there are apps for that!

Here are this week’s muse-pleasing apps with ‘tude.

* Drumroll please! *

Question of the Day — Your Character Building App:

Has this ever happened to you?

You’ve thought up a perfect protagonist, with a cute flippy haircut, an adorable sidekick in canine or feline form, and a group of quirky friends.

You’re in the middle of writing this fantastic scene where your protagonist’s love interest has finally, finally noticed her and has even started to flirt.

But then your heart sinks because, well, you realize you don’t know your protagonist as well as you thought you did, and it seems she doesn’t have much to say.

The scene comes to a screeching halt.

Not to worry! Question of the Day is an app full of thought provoking questions we can “ask” our characters. The questions range from “light” to “heavy” and some of the questions have attached video clips of people’s actual answers.

So give your protagonist a cup of tea (or something, ahem, stronger, if necessary) and ask away!

Soon, Mr. Love Interest (and your readers) will be mesmerized by all her witty anecdotes and opinions.

First Date Advice — Your Romance App:

Now that you’ve questioned her, you’ve gotten to know your protagonist, and she’s been pleasantly chatting away with Mr. Love Interest for several chapters now.

Any chick lit writer worth her salt knows that this just can’t continue! Characters are created to be tortured.

And few things are more torturous for a chick lit protagonist than a first date.

Enter the First Date Advice app. It’s full of good advice about everything from what to wear to whether or not to kiss on the first date.

But rules are more fun when they’re broken. Take a rule the app gives you, like “don’t discuss your ex on the first date” or (gasp!) “be honest” and make one of your characters break it.

Thanks to the Question of the Day app, you already know what makes your characters tick. Get ready for some delicious conflict!

Now step back and admire the tangled web you’ve woven.

My Writing Nook — Your Writing Tool:

Away from your computer? Maybe you’re on your lunch break, or on a train, or just too comfortable to get off of the couch.

But that’s no excuse not to write. Especially since you and your muses have just cooked up the best scenario for a first date scene. Strike while the iron’s hot!

Pull out your phone or iPad and open My Writing Nook, a writing app so handy it even allows you to organize your scenes into chapters. It also has a built-in dictionary.

And there you have it. With these tools, your next first date scene is sure to become a classic.

Then again, sometimes, thanks to real life, you may not need to rely on apps for inspiration:

(Used with permission from Debbie Ridpath Ohi at Inkygirl.com.)

As always, let us know if you try these apps! And do tell us if you’ve got any apps to recommend.

Have a fabulous, writing filled weekend!

Next Time: Apps With ‘Tude – The NaNoWriMo Edition!

See ya!

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. By day, she is an elementary school computer teacher (hence the affinity for apps). You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.