There are many types of writing tools available to authors. Different authors will use different tools depending on what they are working on. There are free software tools available to writers as well as premium software for those who enjoy writing fiction, blogs or academic papers.
The following article provides information on some of these writing tools for authors.
WorkFlowy (Web, macOS, Windows, Chrome, iOS, Android)
Best free writing software for creating content outlines
Well-structured writing starts with a well-structured outline. WorkFlowy makes outlining straightforward: the app lets you quickly create an organized summary of any writing project and all of its parts using bullet points and nested lists.
Start with the broad strokes—section names, big ideas, themes—and nest related details and research beneath those bullets. WorkFlowy also offers hashtag-based tagging and search features, so you don’t have to worry about creating too many lists or letting bullet points run wild.
You can zoom in on any list by clicking on the corresponding bullet point. Plus, if you hover over a bullet point, you’ll see options to complete, add a note to, share, export, duplicate, or delete that item. Use the Complete option to tick off sections of your outline as you finish writing them, or drag and drop bulleted lists to organize your outline into logical sections.
WorkFlowy Pricing: Free for up to 250 list items per month; from $4.99/month for the WorkFlowy Pro plan that includes unlimited lists and items and customization options.
If WorkFlowy isn’t right for you, check out our guide to the best outlining tools—many of which have free plans—to find the best app for your needs.
HubSpot Blog Ideas Generator (Web)
Best free writing software for brainstorming ideas
If you have a general idea of what you want to write about but need to expand your ideas, mind mapping helps. If you have lots of ideas but need to organize them, outlining helps. But what about when you need to write something but have no idea what to write about?
In that scenario, HubSpot Blog Ideas Generator helps. Enter up to five nouns into the generator, and it produces titles for five blog posts (or 250 if you’re willing to provide contact information). While the titles it suggests are somewhat formulaic, it does provide suggestions for unique angles you can take with your piece.
For example, say you know you want to write about conferences but aren’t sure what you want to say about them. Enter conferences into the Blog Ideas Generator, and you’ll get suggestions like “Conferences: Expectations vs. Reality,” “The Next Big Thing in Conferences,” and “This Week’s Top Stories About Conferences.”
You can take those suggestions and run with them, or read through them to try and trigger other ideas for topics and angles you’re interested in writing about.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Office also has an established word processor in Microsoft Word. As one of the early word processors, Microsoft Word probably has the most variety in formatting options. So if you need to write a longer document with many sections or headers, Word has you covered.
Grammarly
Of course, we couldn’t list our favorite writing tools without mentioning Grammarly! Grammarly’s products do more than identify grammar and spelling mistakes; they also offer detailed writing enhancements focused on clarity, conciseness, and tone. You can install Grammarly as an extension for Chrome, Safari, or Firefox web browsers for free, or check longer pieces of writing in Grammarly’s online editor. Grammarly Premium, a paid service, provides deeper writing feedback, detects plagiarism, and offers style and vocabulary enhancements.See for yourself how Grammarly works!Download Grammarly and start writing.GET GRAMMARLY
Twords
Twords describes itself as “the web app that nudges you to write.” The app operates based on three principles—awareness, accountability, and consistency. Twords makes you aware of your writing habits by tracking how much you write each day and month. “Accountability buddies” notify you when you miss several days of writing. If you get writer’s block, you can consult a library of prompts, set a timer to challenge yourself to write for a specific amount of time, or read an article about the habits of successful authors.
Evernote
Evernote is a software program that syncs digital items across all your devices. For example, suppose you are at the office and you want to consult a website that you viewed on your desktop last night at home. Or you are at the gym and you want to access a photograph or an email, but all you have is your smartphone. You can set up Evernote to monitor certain folders on your computers. Anything that you add to the folder is accessible from all your tech gadgets. You can even search your notes if you don’t remember where you saved something.
Google Docs
Google Docs is a well-known online word processor. Its collaboration and organization features can help you write a draft of your short story and share it with a few friends for comments, for example. Google Docs allows you to store your documents in Google Drive, which allows you to access your documents from anywhere.Want to clean up your writing in Google Docs?Grammarly can help with that.WRITE WITH GRAMMARLY
Reedsy Book Editor
Cost: Free
Does “fake it ‘til you make it” ring true to you? Well, the Reedsy Book Editor is a free, online word processor that formats your book as you write. See your drafts automatically turn into a professional-looking, ready-to-publish manuscript — and allow this glimpse of your work as the final product spur your motivation to write.
It comes with an automatic spell-checker — and a built-in goal reminder system to get you back into shape if you find that you’re falling behind on your writing schedule! Another one of the Reedsy Book Editor’s best functions is that it lets you instantly typeset your manuscript to EPUB and print-ready PDF files.
Check it out if: if you want a writing tool that takes care of formatting and conversion for you.
Draft
Cost: Free
Do you like a helpful tap on the shoulder, reminding you about something you need to do? Well, you’ll likely enjoy Draft then, because the book writing software not only keeps track of how many words you write per day, it can also email you daily reminders about your daily word count goals. (Of course, if this sounds a little too “hands-on” for you, you can always turn the reminder function off).
Other than that, Draft functions a lot like Google Docs: allowing you to track changes, collaborate via suggested edits, and make comments on the doc.
Check it out if: you like Google Docs, but want an even simpler interface.
LibreOffice
Cost: Free
Yes, we did say that we wouldn’t mention Microsoft Word, because by now everyone knows that it’s a useful writing tool. But we didn’t say we wouldn’t mention its free counterpart: LibreOffice.
LibreOffice is the open source answer for people who want to try Microsoft without paying the price tag. (Open source means that the software is built on code that anyone can inspect and enhance). Plus it’s compatible with all of the regular file types people are used to, such as .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, and .pptx files.
Check it out if: you like a classic word processor — and moreover, a free one.
Mellel
Cost: $50 (or try a 30-day free trial)
The people behind Mellel don’t just know word processing — they also know catchy, memorable marketing. Their description of why writers should choose Mellel starts like this: “Mellel is a writer’s dream come true. To start, it is exceedingly boring: it just works, day in and day out, reliably. An enormous number of people used Mellel to write and they all report that their journey with Mellel was boring and uneventful. As well it should. In other words, it does all the mundane bits, and leaves the creative stuff to you.”
Mellel is not free (and note that it’s only for Mac). In return for the price tag, you’ll get more book-specific tools than other, perhaps more traditional word processors — such as outlining and bibliography-making functions. And, judging by the witty, funny copy on Mellel’s website, Mellel makes the process of writing much more fun than they let on.
Check it out if: you’re a Mac user who wants more than the Pages app offers.
Organization tools
Plotters tend to finish their writing projects quicker than pantsers — simply because when they hit a wall, they have their notes or outlines to reference, allowing them to jump straight over that hurdle and hit the ground running. P.S. You can grab a free template for your book outline here in this comprehensive guide to outlining.
The following resources will help you keep your thoughts organized so that any bouts of writer’s block don’t slow you down.
Conclusion
Most of the book writing tools are called word processing applications, but they can be used to create content for a variety of applications. They offer a wide range of functions, but most have a word processor, a spreadsheet and a database.