Just today I installed:
– Bear for notes, as an alternative to Evernote
– Ulysses for large writing projects, as an alternative to “remembering with my brain where everything is and what is in each file”
I don’t hate Evernote but it doesn’t spark joy. So far Bear is (true to its reputation) incredibly PRETTY and just a joy to use. Its tagging system is genius. Overall it seems to be just everything I wanted in a notes app. (Still need to try out the iPhone app and syncing between devices.)
I have long used Byword to write long-form pieces, and it is perfection incarnate for the writing experience within a single file, but it doesn’t do anything to help with organization on a project with multiple files. You can only open individual files, each in its own window. So I’m looking for something to supplement that, which can gather all my files in a project, let me merge / cut / rearrange things as one does with a large project, let me easily export them back out as a combined manuscript, and generally help me stay sane. I have a lot of persnickety requirements/preferences (example: “not being ugly”– which rules out Scrivener), yet Ulysses is looking VERY promising re: fulfilling them (after just 20-30 minutes of poking around). I’ll probably write a long post about this later.
