Have you ever thought about using your Amazon Alexa device to help you work as a writer? Surprisingly, there are several ways that Alexa can assist you. Below I outline several Alexa skills that you could enable for your device that you might find useful.
*I am not affiliated with any of the suggested skills or associated companies.
Inspiration
If you find yourself in need of some inspiration there are a couple of skills you might look at. The first two skills listed here are designed to provide writing-specific inspiration to help get your creative juices flowing. If those don’t work, you may choose to create a music playlist for your writing sessions to boost your mood and set the tempo.
- Writing Inspiration
- Writing Quote of the Day
- Create a writing playlist
Prompts
Looking for creative writing prompts to keep your writing practice going? The skills listed here do just that. By simply telling Alexa to “Open Create Writing Prompts” (or similar) you can get the ball rolling. Please note when you are looking for these skills to enable for your device there are multiple skills with the same name, so if the first one doesn’t hit you quite right you can always try some of the others.
- Creative Writing Prompts
- Writing Prompt
- Writing Prompts
Research
Looking for some initial research on topics or ideas? You might find the daily briefing from “This Day in History” useful. According to the skill description, “Research Assistant” will allow you to “Get summaries of pre-prints and recent publications in academic journals from various research disciplines.”
- This Day in History
- Research Assistant
Productivity
Perhaps one of the best ways that your Alexa device can help is with your writing productivity.
- Writing Tips – claims to offer writing tips, tricks, and advice.
- Writing Tip of the Day with Michael La Ronn – claims to help you write better and faster in just two minutes per day.
- Writing Sessions – helps combat overwhelm by breaking up your writing into shorter sessions.
- Write|Publish|Sell Daily Brief with Alexa Bigwarfe – offers one-minute daily tips.
- Your Daily Writing Habit – Christine “Ink” Whitmarsh shares her expert writing secrets so you can write and finish a book that changes lives.
- NaNoWriMo Tips – is designed to help you write your novel and cheer you on.
- Random Name Generator – there are multiple skills with the same name listed here and these might help with generating character names for your novel.
- Writer’s Database – provides tracking for your markets and submissions and this skill gives you voice access through Alexa.
- Use Alexa to confirm spelling or hear synonyms
- Connect Alexa to your Calendar – and block out your writing time on your calendar; Alexa can remind you when your writing time is scheduled.
Podcasts
There are also several podcasts for writers that you can listen to through Alexa
- Author Inside You – designed to encourage authors to write and publish their first book.
- The Writer’s Almanac – hosted by Garrison Keillor, this podcast offers daily poetry and historic interest pieces of literary significance.
- The Writing Community – per the description, this podcast helps you “Learn tips, tricks and ideas from authors, publishing consultants, and literary agents to help you achieve your dreams of becoming a published author.”
Do you have other skills on Alexa you enjoy? Comment below with your favorites!
