You’ve been writing for a while now. You have a blog or two up and running, you’ve written a few books, and you’ve dabbled in online content as well. But, as your writing comes into its own, you realize that there are certain tools that you wish you had to make the entire process easier. Unfortunately, those tools just aren’t out there. Or maybe you know of a couple of them but aren’t sure which would be best for your purposes. Well, fear not! In this article we go over some of the most inspiring writing tools around to make your writing life less painful, and more productive!
Here are the best writers tools out there..
Coschedule
If you are a blogger, marketer, or copywriter, you very well understand the importance of writing an effective headline. Headlines are your content’s first introduction to the world and are often the primary reason why people decide to consume your content, making them an integral part of the writing experience.
This writing tool claims to be the “#1 Headline Analyzer” on the internet. Coschedule lets you write headlines that drive more revenue, shares, click-through rates, and search results. You can use Coschedule Headline Analyzer for writing headlines for your blog posts, email subject lines, or social media messages.
The tool analyzes the overall structure, grammar, length, keyword density, and readability of your headline, and even provides Google search and email subject line previews.
Yoast
If you write for the public, you want to make your content as discoverable as possible on search engines. This is where SEO comes in. But SEO can be confusing, especially when Google continues changing its SEO technology in hopes of providing its users with better search results.
If you want to improve your content’s visibility through SEO, Yoast is a great writing tool
Yoast SEO boasts of 3+ million users worldwide, making it one of the most trusted SEO plugins out there. Yoast SEO offers a lot of features to help improve your content and make it search engine friendly.
Features like the ability to add focus keywords, meta description, rich snippets, and XML sitemaps help in optimizing your content and increase your chances to appear on the 1st page of Google. We highly recommend this tool!
Read more: How To Write A Blog Post Readers Will Love?
The Most Dangerous Writing App
Here’s a fun writing tool!
Ever procrastinated writing? This is the app for you. The Most Dangerous Writing App is a writing tool that deletes everything you have written if you stopped typing after a pre-determined timer.
If you think you are struggling with writer’s block or are easily distracted by funny tweets and memes, this might just be the tool you need. Did we call this app fun? Oops, we meant scary!!
Marinara Timer
Cost: Free
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method meant to promote productivity. In a nutshell, it stipulates that you should work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break, then work for 25 minutes, take another 5-minute break, etc., etc.
The free-to-use Marinara Timer makes this easy for you by alerting you each time your work sessions and breaks are up. It also offers customizable timers in case the 25/5 isn’t quite right for keeping you on track. Fun fact: taking a break to stand up or walk (or do anything but sit!) every hour is also a good way to protect your back if you sit hunched at a computer working for long stretches at a time.
Check it out if: consistent breaks from work help actually keep you focused on the task at hand.
Cold Turkey
Cost: Free for basic plan or $20 for premium plan
“Meet your match, Zuckerberg,” says Cold Turkey’s tagline. In case that, paired with the writing tool’s name, doesn’t make it clear enough, Cold Turkey is a program that allows you to completely rid yourself of distraction. And when we say “completely,” we mean completely.
With Cold Turkey, you can block yourself from accessing certain websites — or even your entire computer — for periods at a time, only allowing you to use the current document you’re working on.
Check it out if: “willpower” is not a characteristic you’d ascribe yourself, and the only way for you to get something done is in a totally distraction-free state.
Freedom
Cost: $7/month or $29/year (or a 7-use free trial)
Apart from pleasantly getting the “freedom” refrain from Aretha Franklin’s “Think” stuck in your head, the Freedom app is another resource that can turn your devices into tools of productivity once more.
It functions like Cold Turkey; however, a unique function of Freedom is the ability to sync your distraction-free periods across all your devices. So if you know that on Tuesdays, you want your computer, phone, and tablet to all block access to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook — you can!
Check it out if: letting other people know not to bother you during your non-negotiable writing time isn’t enough, you need to let yourself know not to interrupt, well, yourself.
Noisli
Cost: Free
If total silence encourages your mind to wander, whereas light sensory action keeps your thoughts on the task at hand, Noisli will be a friend to you. The tool lets you choose from a range of soundtracks, such as rain, coffee shop, wind, lake, and more. You can mix several sounds at once, and choose the volume for each one. So let’s say you want to create the atmosphere of writing by a babbling brook, with a fire crackling next to you, and the moon shining brightly overhead. Noisli will make this happen for you!
Check it out if: you get the most work done with white noise.
Editing tools
If you’re planning to publish a book — or any kind of writing you’re hoping to make a profit from, it’s crucial that your work is thoroughly edited. To that end, working with a professional editor is an investment you should give serious thought to.
In the meantime, here are a few editing tools that can help you out along the way. Hopefully, they’ll either ensure a typo-free draft, so by the time you do work with an editor, they can spend less time fixing small typos and more time on big-picture work, or, if you decide to forego a professional edit, you’ll have the tools to do the best editing job you can.
Hemingway
Cost: Free
The Hemingway app claims to make your writing “bold and clear.” It has a number of handy features like a word-counter and an automatic readability score. But its real use lies in the features that make suggestions to your prose. For instance, it might highlight a complex sentence that’s hard to read. It also highlights instances of passive voice, qualifiers, and adverbs. Let’s take a look at how this passage from Ernest Hemingway’s very own To Have and Have Not fares:
“Just” is highlighted because it’s a qualifier, and Hemingway suggests, instead: “Be bold. Don’t hedge.” The sentence in red is highlighted as being hard to read. And “probably” is pointed out as an adverb — the app suggests using a forceful verb instead.
Check it out if: you want to bring out your inner Ernie. (Curious what else Hemingway offers? Check out our full review of the app right here.)
Cliché Finder
Cost: Free
Cliché Finder is exactly what it says on the tin: it combs through your writing in search of clichés, and then highlights them for you. It’s not always necessarily a bad thing to use clichés in your writing, but when you do, you want to be purposeful about it (and not to mention aware of it!).
Check it out if: you want to avoid clichés like the plague, and for your book to sell like hotcakes — and the rest is history.
yWriter
yWriter is another free writing software worth paying attention for book writing. If you are a novelist and need to be able to write a well-planned and structured novel, then this software is for you. Developed by Simon Hynes, a programmer and author, this program was especially designed for other book writers.
Benefits to using yWriter as your free book writing software:
#1 – It helps you break down your book to chapters and scenes. It can be frustrating using a regular word processing tool to structure your novel. Since yWriter was designed for novel writers, it features an organization component to help you plan and structure your book.
#2 – Word count tool helps you know the number of words in each chapter. This is helpful when you need to keep track of how many words are in each chapter, especially if you’re trying to meet a certain count.
#4 – It’s a stand-alone application. This can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on your needs. Since it’s an application, you need to download it to your device, and it can’t be accessed from a cloud, like Zoho Writer or Google Docs. However, if you only write in one area and on one device, this might not be a big deal.
Note: Since yWriter is a free book writing software specifically designed for authors, it does not come with any templates. It might not be a good choice if you’re looking for an all-around word processing tool for completing tasks other than writing your book.
This book writing software is free.
Conclusion
The Internet presents writers with an abundance of options when it comes to finding the best online writing tools. From blogs to books to reference sites, writers can find anything they’re looking for to help them with their writing process.