I was recently reading an article on Gizmodo about the rise of the article, where they discussed how articles are more popular than ever. We all know how useful articles can be to introduce new products or services or simply for expanding our knowledge base. But despite the popularity of writing online, there are still a lot of people deterred by the negative stereotype attached to writers. But no longer, my friend! Your stories too can become the best in class with these tools.
1. Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is one of the oldest word processors out there, and it is still widely used for writing books. Word has a lot of features to offer, and with a new suite of productivity features added regularly, this software makes writing more accessible to the average writer.
Furthermore, Word has been around for so long that most people are already familiar with using it. If that’s you, it’ll probably be a lot easier and better to keep using Word than switching to another program because it takes time to learn new software. You can use headers to organize your chapters, use the navigation pane to navigate through them, and create templates that you can use repeatedly with multiple manuscripts or projects.
You can collaborate with co-authors and editors, reorganize your draft in outline view, use it as a brainstorming tool, and even go distraction-free when you want to. You can even format and publish an eBook using a Microsoft Word template for free.
Most editors still prefer Word documents for manuscripts, so it’s a great tool to use for writing because it makes tracking and reviewing changes and comments really easy.
You can buy Microsoft Word on Amazon here.
2. Scrivener
Scrivener is an advanced writing software created with serious novelists and nonfiction writers in mind. It has a collection of templates for both fiction and nonfiction writing. Both Mac and PC users can use Scrivener. You can export books easily to other digital platforms like Kindle, Kobo, and iBooks which is handy because it’ll save you time when it comes to formatting your manuscript.
This software is made for writers, and you can tell. It’s easy to drag and drops sections, create outlines and scenes, and you can even develop sub-files so that your manuscript is organized. It is also super easy to keep track of all your research and notes with a project binder.
For more complicated work, you can split the screen, work in outliner views, or use the corkboard view and move index cards to plot your storylines.
You can buy Scrivener for $45 for Mac or PC here.
3. Ulysses
Ulysses is a tool that creates a document out of fragments and makes it a complete story. It has a feature that inserts words with automatic synchronization, and any programmers would probably love this function. This tool lets you work anytime and anywhere you want.
You can download its 14-day trial here. Check product pricing here.
4. Google Docs
Google Docs is a simpler version of Microsoft Word. It’s a barebones, simple word processor that does not offer much regarding formatting and outlining. While it is simple, it is quite a capable word processor for those writers looking for free writing software. Its features offer that it can share files and content and communicate via comments too. You can even access previous versions of your work to review all the changes that have been made to your book file.
However, if you want to use Google Docs as your main writing software, you’ll want to make sure you enable Google Docs for offline use so you can still write without internet access.
5. Evernote
Evernote is an application for storing, creating, and searching through notes in a very sophisticated way. You don’t need to type everything manually and you can access all your notes in any of your devices. It even allows you to search the handwritten words and you can share it with your friends and family.
It is a very powerful tool for writers, researchers, and anyone who wants to organize lots of notes and research.
You can start using it for free and you can always upgrade if you want their extra fancy features. You can check their plans here.
Book Writing Software You Might Not Know About
Let’s get to know some of the best book writing tools you can use to up your author game and make some progress.
Just because you may not be familiar with a specific writing software doesn’t mean it’s not beneficial or even better than what you’re using now.
#1 – Pages
Think of Pages as the Mac alternative to Microsoft Word.
It has a variety of beautiful templates to choose from, has a simple design, and syncs with all devices from within iCloud so you can access it in a number of different places.
Personally, I love the ease of Pages. It works great for creating ebooks or manuscripts with a variety of writing tools you can get creative with.
Book Writing Software Cost: $28
#2 – Freedom
Freedom isn’t technically a writing tool, but it sure can help improve your writing. It’s a productivity app designed to help eliminate distractions by blocking certain websites – something more than beneficial for those of us who get sidetracked easily.
For example: let’s say you have a tendency to get distracted by social media sites. All you have to do us start a Freedom session that blocks all your social media sites—and then you won’t be able to visit them even if you wanted to.
Here’s what it looks like when you schedule a session:
Notice that you have a lot of options. You can schedule one-time sessions (starting now or later), or you can set up recurring sessions (for example, to block distracting sites every day when it’s time to write).
When you try to visit a site that’s being blocked, you’ll get this message:
This is a really liberating tool. Once you know you don’t have the option of visiting those distracting sites, you’ll find it easier to keep focused on your writing and you’ll be able to get a lot more done.
Book Writing Software Cost: $2.42/month and up, or $129 for lifetime access.
#3 – Ulysses
If you’re a Mac owner, this might be the best book writing software for you. While you do have to pay $39.99 per year to use it, the cost to use Ulysses is completely justified.
One of the best features has to be the distraction-free capabilities. As a writer who gets distracted easily, this is definitely a feature I look for in a good book writing software.https://www.youtube.com/embed/LNH1gYMngxc?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://self-publishingschool.com
This one is also great for exporting. Meaning, you can do all your writing in-app and then export it in relatively any format you’d need in order to send it to your editor, critique partner, or even beta readers.
And if you’re someone who has a hard time keeping all of your notes and ideas organized for your book, this app also has a feature that helps you keep all of it straight!
Say goodbye to forgetting what you wanted to add in that obscure scene you wrote two months ago!
Overall, this is one of the best book writing software programs out there for Mac users. But if you’re not sure if it’s worth the price, you can actually try it for free for 14 days. What a deal!
Book Writing Software Cost: $39.99/year
Free Book Writing Software
There’s not much we love more than getting stuff for free – especially when it comes to our aspirations. You don’t have to doll out a ton of cash just to use highly beneficial book writing software.
In fact, there are many best free book writing software programs.
#1 – FastPencil
FastPencil is a nice little platform with lots of tools. You can also use it for distributing your ebook. It is free to start writing with, but they offer paid services as well.
Everything happens online in your browser, which means you can access your files from any computer (as long as you’re connected to the Internet).
Book Writing Software Cost: Free (paid upgrades are optional)
#2 – FocusWriter
FocusWriter is a word processor for writers that’s intended to eliminate distractions to help you get your book written quicker. It’s a basic, lightweight writing tool that was designed to be completely free of progress inhibiting distractions.
In its fullscreen mode, there are no toolbars or additional windows, just a background and your text so that you can concentrate solely on writing your draft.
FocusWriter also allows you to choose what your screen looks like, as seen in the example below.
You can customize the image in the background to suit your project to help inspire your writing.
It’s simple and effective. If you need a lot of features, it probably won’t work for you. But if simplicity is your thing, then you may have found your perfect free writing tool.
Book Writing Software Cost: Free
#3 – yWriter
yWriter is a really popular word processor (intended mainly for novelists) with some impressive features (especially for a program that’s completely free).
It helps keep your project organized by giving you space to include notes on all sorts of things, like character notes, scene notes, scene goals, etc.
You can specify whose point of view each scene will be written in, and you can see the word count of your entire novel broken out by chapter—all at a quick glance:
One thing that yWriter does differently than a lot of other writing programs is focus on scenes rather than on chapters. A lot of writers prefer this since scenes are usually fun chunks of story to work on.
And using yWriter, you can rearrange all those scenes to compose a compelling novel.
I’d call it a Scrivener alternative that’s free to use. But one downside is that it only works for Windows (at least, for now).
Book Writing Software Cost: Free
#4 – Evernote
Evernote is a note-taking app. It’s a great way to keep track of your thoughts—like brainstorming ideas, outlining chapters, and jotting down inspiration when it strikes.
The mobile app is particularly useful for capturing new ideas when they strike, since most people have their phone with them 24/7. This is what it looks like on a mobile device:
While Evernote has been around for a little while, they seem to always be expanding on their features, making it one of the best writing softwares out there.
Here’s are some of the extended features Evernote offers:
While you can use Evernote to write content—I’ve used it for writing blogs and other small sections of books—you wouldn’t want to use it as your main word processor. Its functionality is a bit too limited.
But as a way of keeping track of ideas, it’s a great find.
Conclusion
Story writing tools make the process of creating a story easier and more interesting. These tools can help your friends, colleagues and clients to keep a good story going. Story writing tools make sharing a little easier and enhance our efforts to find out what people think about a given topic or situation. Our stories enable us to communicate our thoughts about a certain topic in a way that makes it easy for others to comprehend.