An App To Break Through Writer’s Block

A unique adventure for writers 😉

Brought to you by our native Medium writer, Philip S. Naudus, is an adorable new writing app — Koala Quill.

Now, you all know I’m still quite addicted to Medium. This love affair isn’t intended to replace that at all. In fact, I’d say it’s complementary.

Le- not li.

Anyway, back to the point: writer’s block. It’s a real thing, and is often caused by a full mind. Maybe there’s a lot of stress in your life, or pressure riding on this next chapter, or even that you’re overwhelmed by daily writing and are running low on inspiration.

Well, consider these awesome bonuses to Koala Quill.

Incentive To Write Daily

In case you’d rather read the dev’s pitch, here’s Philip’s article on the app. Even David Perlmutter’s read it, so you know it’s good. 😉

You begin as a lowly peasant, represented by an adorable koala image (drawn by Philip’s wife). As you write, the magical blue bar at the top begins to grow. After about 5 minutes or so, the bar reaches the other side and you gain a level for that day — along with more tokens!

Only one level can be earned per day, so no matter how much you write today you’ve only gained that one level.

— And if you don’t write tomorrow, you lose that level.

Ruthless indeed!

Tokens

Let’s talk tokens for a moment. They have the basic function of being the currency for generating new prompts. But they can also be used to undo demotions. And after level 30 (which takes a minimum of 30 days to achieve), tokens can also be spent to enter tournaments.

I…I’ve never been in a tournament to know what it does. I think it gives people a chance to compete for more tokens, but honestly I’m not sure.

There’s also guilds now! Guilds help you gain more tokens, and are required at level 14 to gain further promotion. You better believe I’ll be trying to create a guild when that happens — and I’ll leave the info here when it does! I’ll probably name it Monster Alley for continuity. ;)

Why Am I Promoting This?

Well, the main drive is because I like the idea behind it. Write about nonsense for five minutes a day and you not only help build your writing habit but gain levels and functions on the app/site*.

Personally, I think there’s a lot of us that could benefit from a 5 minute daily brain dump. Myself heavily included in that!

But on top of that, if I refer people, I get a whopping 40 tokens out of the deal! Woot!

It’s not money — tokens aren’t exchangable for cash or anything. But maybe if I get into those tournaments it’ll help me out somehow. You know, with… tournamenting. Things. And stuff.

No, but seriously, I just really like the idea. AND I love that it’s designed by a fellow Medium-er, so consider giving it a go yourself. It’s absolutely free, so there’s literally nothing to lose but a bit of time.

And you’ll be writing, so it’s not really a waste. ;)

*Technically, the app isn’t an app yet, it’s a website. But it will be eventually!

See It In Action

To raise above the Rat Catcher, I decided to prompt some good ole fiction from the Koala Quill generator. After a few tries, I got this:

The Witch’s Secret

A normal, little penguin lives in a magical world filled with witches, wizards, and other magical creatures. One night, the penguin accidentally breaks a spell. Immediately, everything starts to go wrong — the witches start falling sick and losing their powers, the wizards can no longer control their own spells, and the animals start acting out of control.

If you’d like to see where I took the story, check it out on Izanamikun:

It’s pretty fun, to be honest. I might make a habit of publishing random short stories on my Izanamikun account from now on with this. Of course, I also might not. ADHD, you know. 😉

Until next time, follow each other, follow the dopamine, and follow yourself, always!

Hey, look: a newsletter. And also Twitter. And Facebook. And Patreon. And now Instagram. Also Mastodon. And a podcast on Podbean!

Support writers, read without limits, and be part of the community — all for $5.