CREATOR TOOL
Make Planning & Drafting 10X Easier— A Tool Leading Writers Are Using
EFFIE — be smart & visualize your story before you write it
Do you know what is the difference between most writers and successful writers?
The former just write; the latter write smart.
While most writers are using stones to make a fire, smart writers have lasers. That is where the difference lies.
I, too, was a pen and paper girl when I started my writing journey.
But as the diversity of the content creation kept scaling up, I could hardly keep up with my archaic tools. I would scribble my ideas on a topic somewhere and keep searching for them later. And sometimes I would scribble so bad, that even I can’t decipher my handwriting! Then there are times I cannot catch up with my initial chain of thoughts & am left scratching my head.
[‘Negative thoughts/positive outlook’ in a headline story outline — to date I don’t know what I meant!]
To top it all off, my daughter would often scribble on them. Aargh!
So, my pen and paper duo were falling behind, puffing and panting, trying hard to keep up.
All this is history after I met Effie.
What is Effie?
So, in plain and simple language, Effie is a plain sheet of paper. A white page.
The best part about Effie is its simplicity, and that’s what working on it makes it so effective as a content planner. It has several non-intrusive features which I will eventually come to.
Let’s take this step by step.
1. Download Effie
Well, you do that here.
2. Open the app.
You will get something like this. For your understanding, I have demarcated the areas.
The first yellow column is the index for navigation:
- New Sheet: This is a new page where you start a new workspace.
- All: Displays all the pages you have in the app.
- Introduction: Contains pages on how to use the app — navigation, command prompts, markups, mind maps, etc.
- Trash: Need I?
- Inbox: That will only display the pages that you have created.
The second red column displays tabs of what you have chosen in the index column. For example, if you choose ‘All’ it will show all the pages. If you choose ‘Inbox’, it will display only your pages. Just click on it to go to the actual page.
The third blue column is the work area. This is where your creative juices will flow.
There is another tab that appears when you hover the cursor on the top, which usually will be hidden.
As it is clear, you can use these tabs to manage your content. I have different folders as per my activity and organize my content accordingly. Helps me coz:
- it’s easier for me to look for my notes later on.
- I am more focused on the particular platform requirement.
- avoid getting distracted by other ideas.
3. The workings
There are many features, but I use only a few because I am a sucker for simplicity. Too many things confuse me. I will tell you those which you really need. Rest it is up to you to experiment.
Double arrows near ‘File’/ Ctrl 1: Brings up a blank screen that I love to work on.
Formatting: Go to ‘Markup’ and choose a heading from the dropdown. Else you can press ‘/’ and you will get a box to choose from.
So, you have your headings, emphasis, quotes, blocks, bullets, etc.
Just experiment with the ‘Markup’ features and choose your formatting.
Now the best part — Mind mapping!!
See the bullet points? This is where things get interesting.
Usually, when we write a story, we make a rough layout of what we want to include in it. That’s like a map that takes us through the process. With Effie, this becomes extremely easy.
Say the layout of a story is of this structure:
Now you can visualize it like these!!
How cool is that!? You have the whole flow and structure of the article right in front of you.
And yes, you can navigate things here and changes are automatically made on the source page. What more can you ask for!?
The mind map for this article:
And yes, you can change the appearance — light or dark.
Why will you fall in love, hard and fast, with Effie?
Oh yes, I am loving it!
- Simplicity. It has swept me off my feet. It took me half an hour to figure things out and start using it.
- All-in-one. All my content scribblings ideas are now in one place. And compartmentalized. No rummaging through the notebook looking for that idea for my LinkedIn post.
- Drafting time. Now when I have to write an article, all I do is open a new sheet and bullet-point and sub-point my whole idea. Keep editing/adding/rearranging the points till I am satisfied. It is so much easier than now.
- Cleansing. Once I have published the story, I delete the sheet. So, I do not have too much content crammed in one place. I know that all that is there are unused ideas.
- Zero-distraction. I am loving the feel of writing on a blank page. My distraction level has taken a nose-dive. And crashed. No app linking so the red and yellow lines of Grammarly does not bother me anymore here.
How is Effie making my job easier?
- Planning my content: Many writers stumble with writing because they do not plan ahead. A little planning in every field makes a lot of difference. With all my ideas in one place, I easily pick my work for the next day. I do not start my day with the most dreaded question — what to do today?
- My idea chest: It makes writing a hell lot easier. Writer’s block — what’s that now? Well, when you have your ideas right in front of you, you will also ask the same thing. I just pick on something and start writing. And also the folder system is a great help.
- Managing multiple platforms: We all know how being consistent is essential for a writer. And that is true for all platforms. Effie has made this task easier for me. Now I have pegged a folder for every area of work. So, all I have to do is go to that folder, pick a thread and start working. Trust me on this one; I am saving so much time.
- Drafting: The last but the most important one. Bullet-bullet-bullet, a slight rearranging, and I am ready to go. It’s like the sci-fi movies where the scientists and data analysts play with data projections on air and move them around!
Maybe I am cracking the code to generate a humongous amount of content like the great writers!
Final thoughts:
Nothing much to tell here. And I doubt you reached this section because by now you would be exploring the app, I suppose.
And you must, if you seriously want to take your writing to the next level.
Happy Effing!!
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