Are you someone who writes your own novels? Or perhaps you’ve always wanted to write a novel of your own but haven’t had the time to sit down and do it? I remember when I first started writing novels, or journaling as I like to call it. I was so interested in finding the best software online that would help me organize my thoughts and not only produce a great story, but help keep me organized as well.
In this article, I will be showing you the best writing tool for novels.
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.
Milanote
Cost: Free for basic plan or $12.50/month for premium.
Milanote is an easy-to-use creative writing app to organize your research, ideas, characters and outline in one place.
The vast majority of novelist-oriented writing software is organized around the idea of a linear document. But for most people, writing isn’t linear — because thinking isn’t linear. Writing is about gradually getting a jumble of ideas into shape, and Milanote’s writing app matches the way writers think.
Check it out if: you’re a plotter who likes a flexible workspace to organize ideas and see a birds-eye view of how your story outline is coming together.
Evernote
Cost: free for basic plan or $9.99/month for premium.
Its cute, little green elephant logo aside, Evernote is a great and easy-to-use option for writers who could do with a little more organization in their lives.
The app lets you quickly jot down thoughts, record audio notes, save online articles you’re hoping to reference, and it will sync all of this information across all of your Evernote-installed devices. What’s also handy about the app is the collaborative aspect of it: you can create shared accounts, so that multiple people can access saved documents at once.
Check it out if: you’re prone to getting great ideas while on the go, and need somewhere to make sure you don’t forget them by the time you’re home.
Scrivener (Word Processor)
Scrivener is the premier book writing app made by writers for writers.
Scrivener’s “binder” view allows you to break up your book into chapters and sections and easily reorganize it with drag and drop interface.
You can also get a high-level view of your book using the corkboard and outliner modes, allowing you to view chapters, sections, or individual scenes as index cards.
Project targets let you create word count goals and then track your progress daily. Its composition mode can help you stay focused by removing all the clutter.
Scrivener has formatting features for publishing (e.g. on Amazon or Barnes & Noble), as well as features for distraction-free writing, and has templates for novels, nonfiction books, screenplays, and more.
You can read our full Scrivener review here.
To be fair, Scrivener also has its weaknesses.
Formatting is more complicated than it needs to be and collaborating isn’t easy, meaning it loses its effectiveness as soon as you bring on an editor (we recommend Google Docs for collaborating).
You can sync with your iPhone/iPad, but only through Dropbox, making it not as easy as it should be. It also has something of a learning curve, especially for its advanced features. But it more than makes up for that by being so helpful in the early stages of the writing process.
Again, here are the pros and cons for Scrivener.
Pros of Scrivener:
- Easily manage a large book writing project (or screenplay) in the binder view
- Get a high-level view of your book’s structure using corkboard and outliner views
- Manage your writing productivity with project targets and deadlines
- iPhone and iPad app
Cons of Scrivener:
- Formatting can be overly complicated
- Learning curve
- Syncing with Dropbox isn’t always easy
- No Android app
We believe in Scrivener so much, we published a book about how creative writers can write more faster using it. It’s called Scrivener Superpowers. If you’re using Scrivener or want a tutorial to save yourself time as you learn how to use it for your creative writing, you can get Scrivener Superpowers here.
You can also learn more about how to use the software with one of these resources:
Cost: $49 for Mac and WindowsGet started with Scrivener here »
Google Docs (Word Processing)
While Scrivener is the best book writing software, once you get to editing and getting feedback, it begins to fall short.
That’s why Google Docs has become my second go-to piece of book writing software. It’s free, very easy to use, and requires no backups since everything is in the cloud.
Best of all are its collaboration abilities, which allow you to invite your editor to the document and then watch as they make changes, which are tracked in suggestion mode, and leave comments on your story (see screenshot below).
Pros of Google Docs:
- Real-time collaboration with editors, beta readers, or other writers
- Suggestion mode
- Free!
Cons of Google Docs:
- No large-document organization features
- No productivity features
- Offline mode withstanding, usually requires an internet connection
Cost: Free!Get started with Google Docs here »
Google Sheets OR Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet)
If you’d told me when I was first trying to become a writer that one of my most-used tools in my book writing software toolkit would be a spreadsheet, I would have told you I didn’t major in English to have to use a spreadsheet.
But now, as I’m finishing my fifteenth book, I realize that I use spreadsheets almost daily.
Spreadsheets allow you to get a sense of the elements of your book at a glance, and when you’re working on a 300-page document, distilling it down to useable information becomes very necessary.
You might use spreadsheets for:
- Character tracking
- Scene lists
- Outlines
- A Foolscap/Beat sheet
Google Sheets is perfect for this because it’s free and you can quickly share your documents with your writing partners, editors, or beta readers to get feedback. Microsoft Excel is another great option, but is a bit behind in the collaboration functions.
Pros of Google Sheets:
- Real-time collaboration with editors, beta readers, or other writers
- Fast
- Free!
Cons of Google Sheets:
- Managing spreadsheets from other sources (e.g. Excel) can be clunky and time-consuming
- Offline mode notwithstanding, usually requires an internet connection
Cost for Google Sheets: Free!Get started with Google Sheets here »
If you have Excel already and love it, great.
Cost for Microsoft Word: $69 / year (includes Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, and other Microsoft software)Get started with Microsoft Excel here »
Vellum (Book Formatting/Word Processing)
If you want to turn your book into an eBook, it’s not that hard. Scrivener, Word, Pages, they all can format eBooks and print books. But that doesn’t mean they’ll look good.
In fact, it takes a lot of skill and effort to format a printed book that looks good on any of those word processors. That’s why I love Vellum so much.
Vellum makes beautiful books.
Vellum picks up where Scrivener, Word, and Pages leave off, giving you a tool to make great looking eBooks and print books, usually in under an hour.
The most important part of this is the previewer (see the image below), which lets you see how each formatting change or book edit you make will appear on Kindle, Fire, iPhone, Nook, and other eReaders.
It also has stripped-down, option-based formatting, which is perfect for designing both eBooks and print books.
I really love this writing app!
Pros of Vellum:
- Easy and intuitive
- Format a manuscript for print and ebook in less than an hour
- Beautiful styling
Cons of Vellum:
- Limited styles
- Relatively expensive
Cost: $199 for eBook generation; $249 for paperback formatting
Get started with Vellum here »
Conclusion
Whether you’re a novelist, blogger, journalist, or content writer… you’ll want to ensure your writing is top notch. But this can be difficult because there are so many choices out there.