Inspiration
Our team, and authors all over the world, all enjoy writing stories quite a lot, but we often have times when we just don't know how to continue! These times are called 'writer's blocks', and can be quite frustrating. Most of our team has experienced these and it can be quite difficult to get back on track. So, we decided that we'd like to make an app that could help give ideas, prompts, and inspiration to writers of all levels and genres so that we can help them overcome writer's block!
What it does
Serocea gives users a variety of ideas and prompts based on the type of work they are trying to generate. That is, prompts and ideas are based on whether the author is writing a story, poetry, or even trying to create some art. We currently focused on story writing, so content for the remaining types will come in later through upgrades. After picking their type of work, users are prompted to select their genre. Based on that, they are then asked to select if they're stuck at a particular point in their work, for which the app will provide prompts for furthering the plot. If not at a particular point, then users can choose among several options such as symbolism, character names, etc. and the app will provide them with ideas and options in those categories so that the author's creative process can continue.
How we built it
We built this using XML and Java, in Android Studio.
Challenges we ran into
Except for one member of our team, we didn't have any experience in app building. In fact, another one of our members was new to coding as a whole. So, it was quite a struggle to create this app and make it workable with the time constraints that we had. We found that dividing up tasks was something that helped with this problem. The member with app building experience was able to do quite a bit of the backend programming, while the rest of us worked on the frontend programming, design, and ideas for what the app should do, how and when it would do certain things, the content, and etc. Together we worked and performed quite well, despite our differences in programming knowledge levels.
Accomplishments that we're proud
We are proud of being able to finish building most of the app, to a somewhat working level, within 14 hours. We are also proud of coming up with this idea and being able to create something that can help solve a problem faced by many in this profession.
What we learned
The work that goes into creating an app, and how to go about doing all those tasks is something we all got exposed to while building Serocea. It was really interesting and it was the first time that we built an app.
What's next for Serocea
We have many plans for what is coming up for Serocea. For content, we are planning on adding inspiration for creators other than just authors writing stories. We are planning on making name generators and a section that provides quotes. Since this app was currently made for Android only, we are planning on bringing it to iOS in future updates. We are also planning on adding some other features that can be accessed through a paid premium version of the app.
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