• The game is much more stable (hooray for no crashing!)
• Droid app still out, still awesome.
• We (FINALLY!) have stickers!  They’ll be showing up around the world.  If you want some, shoot us an e-mail and we’ll get you set up.  Or, as always, leave a comment below.  Either way, you get stickers.

Fun times, right?  I know, so much excitement, you may have peed a little.  Go clean yourself up and spend your weekend playing Novel Idea.

No, really, they do sound like fun, but they’re no Novel Idea.  Not to trash-talk, but we do offer a far more creative experience.  Imagine how neat it would be to have the story you began on our apppublished!  I’m just sayin’.  That, and writing every day is a great way to improve your writing skills, so why wouldn’t you want an app that at least makes it fun, and brings you closer to friends and family?

That said, a decent number of you probably do more than creative writing.  You’re probably also familiar with academic writing (writing for research papers, that sort of thing).  Those who write creatively, especially those playing Novel Idea on a regular basis, have a bit of an edge with academic writing because it keeps the creative juices flowing and helps to strengthen one’s vocabulary.  When you’re playing Novel Idea, and you don’t know a particular bonus or key word, just click on that word and you get the definition.  Easy, right?

If you need an extra boost with your academic writing, we understand.  The Purdue Owl is a great online source for academic writers who need a little help.

The Purdue Owl: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

Whatever your goal, keep writing, and keep playing Novel Idea!

Speaking of getting to know our website, have you seen our tutorial?  Click the link above to go through the app tutorial.  Once you’ve gone to the page, just click the arrows to the side of the pictures to navigate Novel Idea.  It’s fast and easy, just like…things that are fast and easy.  Yeah, we know.

Do it!  It’s fun and informative.  Then go “like” us on Facebook, because that is also a good idea.

Go to the “Home” screen, and on the right side of the page under the “View Stories Played” menu is the “Game Mode/Challenge Search”, where you can look up stories by — you guessed it — game mode/challenge.  You can look up stories that have been played using “Novel Idea”, “Default”, “Theme”, or “Versus”.

We like to think this makes it easier for you to check out different game modes before you play, and it lets you find particular games faster after they’ve been submitted.  We’ve made it easier to show off stories to your friends?  Awesome.  Keep submitting your stories, you creative creatures!

Here are our Facebook stories so far: http://www.a-novel-idea.org/ani/fbsearch.htm

Remember, the more points your story earns, the more likely it is to be featured on our website’s home page.  Get playing!

http://itunes.apple.com/tw/app/novel-idea/id494809257?mt=8

Now, you’re probably wondering about our website.  We say, wonder significantly less!  There happens to be a handy-dandy link for that, as well:

http://www.a-novel-idea.org/ani/homescreen.htm

See that story on the home page?  That could be YOURS!  Well, not that one in particular, but your story could be featured on our front page.  How?  Get your friends to vote on the story by giving it a “thumbs up” on the bottom of the story screen.  Click “view entire story” at the top of the text under the blue bar, and that takes you to — that’s right — the entire story, where you can read it and rate it.   Simple, yes?  We thought so, too.  Enough positive feedback, and yours is the featured story.  Awesome stuff!  You can also download the app straight from that home screen by clicking the link on the right side (scroll down a little) under the words “download game”.  So easy!

…what are you still doing here?  Go go go!  Write!  Create!  Play!

We know the scene.  You’re out with your friends, but the party is getting stale, and you’re not ready to go home.  What do you do?  Whip out your smart phone and play Novel Idea on people-watching mode.  OK, so there’s no “people-watching” mode in the game, but you can create one by — you guessed it — people-watching and making up a story about what you see around you.

Now, don’t get us wrong — we don’t want you to be creepy about it, but we are well aware of that point in the day/evening during which you start to look at the people around you and make up a story about them in your head.  The great thing is, with Novel Idea, you can write it down and have your friends participate!  Let the world around you be your inspiration.  Just don’t begin to believe what you’re reading, because that could turn awkward very quickly.

It’s your turn now.  Play!

It’s true; most of us have one, and it’s more than likely an iPhone or an Android.  If you’re like most people, you just don’t turn it off at this point.  You use it as a phone, a GPS, an alarm clock, a book, and a gaming device.  These days, your apps reflect your personality just as much as the cover you choose to protect your phone.  What does it say about you if you have Novel Idea?  Well, we’re somewhere between book and gaming device…leaning more toward the latter.  We’re on the phones of the creative ones, the artists, the closet poets.  We’re on the phones of the party-people who love Cranium and apps having to do with mixology.  We tend to be on the phones of those witty, wise wordsmiths who enjoy a good challenge, and who want to get more than just a high score out of their games.  That’s us.

What do your apps say about you?  Go ahead, download us, and tell your friends to do so as well.  It’s good to be you, and it’s good to know there’s an app that’s made for you.

We like to go ahead and assume that, since you’re reading this, you probably know what an app is, especially in relation to a smart phone.  Given that, we can also safely assume you are familiar with app review sites online.

We’ve seen some reviews out there, and we’d love to see more.  The link we’ve provided here takes you to a list of 116 app review sites.  Yeah, that’s a lot.

Remember: your opinion matters!  Let us know what you think.  You’re always welcome to leave feedback here, and we’d love to see more out there.