Software programs for writing novels

An experienced writer can pretty much improve their drafts themselves. However, it's a lot more challenging for a beginner to detect complex grammatical errors or point out their vocabulary issues. Fortunately, there are some software that help content creators compose and edit content. Among the top book writing software, we have Grammarly. Grammarly comes in two versions, a free version, and a premium version. The free version offers various features, including grammar and spell check, integration with web browsers to assess social media posts, emails, etc.

The free version may be ideal for some writers. However, if you want to become an efficient writer and improve your accuracy, you need the premium version. Aside from the basic features offered by the free version, Grammarly's premium version offers the following key features:. On top of it all, Grammarly helps you become a better writer by enabling advanced grammar checks and laying out your performance stats via email. As mentioned earlier, the free version doesn't require a single penny from the user.

However, to unlock the premium version's advanced features, you have to choose from the following plans. The pricing works on a subscription basis, and making an upfront payment at once breaks it down to a reasonable monthly price. Among the other top book writing software, ProWritingAid is a widely used tool, popular in the writers' community.

You can use the free version of this software to optimize your content efficiently. However, it has some limitations to it. For example, the free version only scans words of your text at a time. Other than that, the free version doesn't integrate with other programs and can only be accessed online. Nonetheless, despite its limitation, it is a go-to tool for many writers. Here's why:. To use its advanced features, you need to subscribe to the paid version of this app, which unlocks the following features.

Other than that, the most appealing feature is easy payment plans. As opposed to other software, it has flexible yearly subscription plans. You can purchase the premium version of this software in affordable price packages listed below:. As you can see, the prices are quite reasonable. Furthermore, if you like the tool and want to use it for the long-term, you can buy their lifetime plan. FastPencil is another useful book writing software in our list with an easily navigable dashboard, collaborative editing feature, and many more.

Just like Google Docs, it's entirely a web-based platform that can't be accessed without the internet. However, it offers some useful features that make up for this inconvenience. Furthermore, you can also track the channels that bring you the most sales and royalties and maximize your focus there. They offer a vast array of services to the authors, including managing writing projects, book design, marketing, and publishing.

The pricing for each service is mentioned below. Visit the website to learn about the detailed pricing plan for different services. Sometimes, writers need a push to keep working and stay away from distractions. What if I tell you that there's a tool that starts producing a mayday signal the moment you stop typing? There's a tool that goes by the name Write or Die. While a lot of apps in this guide offer similar levels of functionality, Dramatica brings something different to the table.

The way it analyzes story and character is truly unique and like nothing else out there. A lot of major writers from the worlds of fiction and screenplay have thrown their support and praise behind Dramatica.

Not everyone will agree with or want to learn the theory and philosophy underpinning Dramatica. Those who do will find there is a learning curve involved in understanding its take on story. Dramatica is one of the most interesting and unique products in this guide. For years, FastPencil was a standalone writing and collaboration platform available in the cloud. The novel writing app is still known as FastPencil, so we will refer to it by that name for the rest of the review.

FastPencil is no longer available as a standalone product. If you want to use FastPencil, you simply need any computer capable of logging into the cloud environment in which it operates. So what are some advantages and disadvantages of opting for FastPencil as your choice of novel software? Unlike some of the other writing apps out there, FastPencil has been going a long time. There are two decades of experience behind the product.

You can get a lot of the same functionality elsewhere at a lower price point. By all means, see if you like the way that FastPencil helps you craft a novel, but we feel the majority of authors are better off looking elsewhere.

FocusWriter is very much an example of the latter. Instead, FocusWriter aims to solve a common pain point for novelists — the ability to drill down into your work, get into a creative flow state, and make progress on your word count target.

FocusWriter does this by offering a very minimalist writing environment, with some degree of customization. You can set timers and goals to help you write. You can create a minimalist, distraction-free environment that is customized to your needs. Milanote is a tool that allows you to gather together ideas and inspiration and store them in mood boards and mindmaps. One specific application of Milanote featured on its website is its use as a novel planning tool.

You can create story outlines , make character information cards, and more. But how much will it set you back, and is it right for your next book? You can try out Milanote for free, but the paid option has a lot more functionality, as the following price points indicate:.

Milanote is very stylish and easy to use. Perhaps the major drawback to Milanote is its cost. You need to be comfortable with paying for a research and planning tool, albeit a really good one. If you are comfortable using a separate tool for research and planning, consider checking out Milanote.

Novellus is an affordable solution for novelists that offers some advantages over a standard Word Processor app. Unlike a standard word processor document that quickly becomes cluttered and unwieldy, Novellus allows you to better organize a lengthy project such as a novel into different scenes and sections.

Novellus also offers some functionality as a proofreading aid. While this will never take the place of a human editor, it will help you send your editor cleaner text to work with.

Novellus is preferable to using a standard word processor. AutoCrit helps you write better and improve readability.

Scrivener is a decent novel writing software that simplifies writing and organizing your novel, its chapters, and your ideas. It works on both mobile and desktop making it easier for you to access your manuscript from multiple devices. You'll have to keep your device with you all the time. Ulysses is a writing app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone for novel writers. If you are a proud Apple user and need a novel writing app that works on all Apple devices, Ulysses is the writing software for you. It has a lot of handy features that help you write better novels.

It offers a free trial letting you explore it before you decide to pay. Ulysses is a novel writing software for Apple devices with no online version. The features are good but lack some of the much-needed ones like corkboard and collaboration. ProWritingAid is a grammar, style, and readability checking software that helps you edit the content of your novel and make it reader-friendly. It improves your writing to a great extent with its amazing and helpful features.

ProWritingAid has flexible pricing. ProWritingAid is a handy cross-device novel writing tool that lets you write better and quickly hassle-free. You can improve your writing style, grammar, and readability with ProWritingAid. However, the interface is a bit slow and there is no library of documents either. Scrivener gives you a space within your project for all your research, then let's your organize it with cards. It is kept out of the way but still accessible. You can create multiple documents for different areas of research.

Scrivener also allows you to import existing files for research and reference purposes. You can also keep track of links, images, and notes. Once you know how to write a novel , the next thing that you should know is how to outline a novel. Everyone has a different outlining style so it can be hard to pinpoint a process that will work. Regardless of how you end up doing your outline though, Scrivener is there to help. If you like seeing things in list form, this will work best for you.

It is also helpful if you like to keep everything in one central place. You can create a new document for each chapter outline, or each character, whatever works for you. It is a digital cork board that functions and appears much like a real cork board.

You can pin virtual note cards to a screen that looks like a cork board. Each note card is a small rectangle that has a scroll feature. This means you can include as much information as you want on one card while keeping it small and compact.

The cork board is great for those who are more visual. You can lay out your entire novel right in front of you with the cork board. A popular way to do this is to create a note card for each chapter and set them in proper order. They can be rearranged easily by dragging and dropping. You can create note cards for characters, scenes, settings — anything really. The cork board is extremely versatile and will suit the needs of almost everyone in one way or another.

Scrivener allows you to set goals and targets for writing your novel. There are two types of goals you can create with Scrivener:.

This is a word count goal for your entire project. It is hard to know exactly how long a novel will turn out to be. But you can predict a general ballpark and set the goal. For instance, 80, words is a common novel length. You can make a more educated guess if you already have a detailed outline created.

This is a small goal that you can set each time you sit down to write. Maybe you have a couple of hours and you want to bang out words. You can create a session target with that and Scrivener will start tracking you. The targets are tracked in a small window that can be kept on the screen in a corner and out of the way.

A progress bar will slowly start to fill up as you work. As you start to get closer to completion, the bar will go from red to green. Watching your progress increase and seeing that bar go green is a satisfying reward for your efforts. It keeps you going if you get stuck or lost.

There are several Scrivener templates available to choose from. A lot of these templates are created for novelists. Scrivener comes loaded with a few basic templates. If you need more templates, you can download them free and upload them to your dashboard. There are tons of high-quality free templates available out there. A fully comprehensive template will have everything you need to write your novel seamlessly. Others will focus on one area. If you have a certain weakness that needs improvement, there is a template that will allow you to work on it while offering assistance.

Are you more interested in a book writing software with a narrower and focused approach that lets you brainstorm and manage your novel easily?

Scapple is the novel writing tool you need. It is a special-purpose novel writing software that helps you brainstorm and manage your notes and ideas in a clean interface. It comes with a free trial so you can try it for free. You can create mind maps easily with this amazing software that will help you write a novel and finish it quickly. Scapple allows you to create digital mind maps and brainstorming notes.

You can then store these notes on your computer to import elsewhere. You can use mind maps to bring ideas and themes together in a cohesive way visually. It helps you get rid of the chaos during the ideation and process.