Here is something I downloaded as a toy that, mainly because of a recent software version update, has become a truly handy little tool for fiction writing.  It’s a 99¢ program for the iPhone called “iStopWritersBlock.”  {website}  {iTunes}

Created initially to help writers with writer’s block, it features a database of myriad plot twists, writing challenges, and quotes designed to inspire you to write, all served up randomly at the touch of the screen.  Fun, I thought, but even though I bought it I never really used it.  I was saving it for those occasional bouts of writer’s block to see if it really works.

Today, however, a free update appeared which also includes handy tools for character generation:

Here is something extremely handy even if you don’t have writer’s block.  Random character traits, including names, descriptions, facts, personality, and my most favorite … quirks!

Please pay no attention to the typos

Obviously this isn’t for your main characters (I guess it could be, but I always know mine pretty well) but for the odd background character who only comes on the stage every once in a while, this is PERFECT.

Of course, programs like this have been around for a couple of decades now, but this one is always with me.  So if I’m sitting at Starbucks with a pen and paper, I still have the program.

Is it worth 99¢?  I think so.