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The advanced procrastinator’s guide to Writing Software
I probably can’t tell you much about writing. Maybe a few things, but you probably already know anything I’ve got to say.
What I CAN tell you a LOT about is procrastinating.
Is it procrastinating at the Olympics yet? Because I’ve done my 10,000 plus hours that they say you need to do to master anything, and I’m good for Olympic gold.
When I was doing Uni, it took the form of getting online folders ready, buying the right stationery, and coming up with a study schedule that for six straight years I never stuck to… each year thinking “this is gonna be the year.”
And what I was able to figure out from that is I like the IDEA of the studying, and the reading, and the writing, and the learning, more than the actual picking up of the books, and finding time to read them and then writing the essays. Or at least I found it easier to set up the processes than follow them.
So now that I’m trying to get some scripts and stories written, my old habits and diversion skills are bubbling to the surface. Only now they’ve taken the form of analysing and testing EVERY bit of writing software I can get my hands on. I’m like the best-dressed guy at Parkrun with all the gear but no idea, who rarely shows up to put in the kilometres and feel the burn.
In my instance, it gets so I’m so intent on using the MOST appropriate software that I don’t actually start working on my writing projects (aside from the musicals I wrote where there was a line-in-the-sand due date and then I’m back in journo-deadline mode.
HOWEVER… while my dalliances with all of this software aren’t getting the chooks fed at my end, it MAY be useful for others to hear about some of the software in case it helps them. Either that or this blog is yet another diversionary tactic from the hemisphere of my brain that isn’t one that likes writing (I can never remember which part of the brain that is).
Some of these are free, but most cost SOMETHING. Typically most cost about the same as a streaming service, and with many things screaming for your limited budget, it’s handy to limit where the dollars are frittered away to.
Here, then, are a few reviews of some writing software options I’ve had a look at. It may help you (you’re welcome), it may even clear the roadblocks and get me writing my own stuff (I’m welcome).
Story & Novel Writing software
Scriptwriting software
Other useful software
Story & Novel writing
This is probably the biggest are of growth for writing software. Some of it is very brand specific… only works on a Mac Computer or only works on an iPad. I’ve avoided those because I don’t have a Mac, and since I do most of my writing on a PC a phone-only or tablet only option doesn’t help. So here are some story and novel writing options that work on a PC, that often work on smaller devices and that may but may not work on a MAC.
For each option, if you are even vaguely interested, I suggest looking the software up online, researching it in greater depth and then trialing a free demo version if available.
Dabble
Dabble is a VERY simple program, but that may also deter some who see it as not much more than a word processor. It’s lack of gimmicks means that it offers a clean and easy to use option.
It structures chapters or scenes within the overall story and allows sections for places, world-building, characters etc. It also has one of the neatest section for writing goals … today’s writing, overall project and if you give it your word goals and hopeful completion date it keeps that ever present, permanently on the right hand display.
Dabble also allows you to organise a story board or plot board so you can see at a glance your story, and shuffle around elements as needed.
There’s a 14 day free trial (give it a bash and take it through it’s paces). After that the Basic is $10 USD a month, Standard (which gets you plot grid, story notes, sticky notes and more) will cost you $15 USD, and Premium (which adds advanced grammar checks, and co-authoring) will cost you $20 USD. As an early adopter, I locked in the Premium package at the Basic price in perpetuity. They don’t offer a one off life-time payment option.
Price: All prices in USD, the options are
Basic: Monthly $10. Annual $96
Standard (adds plot grid, story notes, sticky notes and more: Monthly $15. Annual $144.
Premium (adds advanced grammar/style checks, co-authoring): Monthly $20. Annual $192.
Novel Factory
This one is a complex as Dabble is simple.
For instance, say you want to create a character. It provides detailed sub-options, any one of which provides more sub-options, and in many questions a series of questions to be answered. In addition to physical appearance, age, hobbies and so on, there are 14 different character types to chose from starting with the protagonist and antagonist and proceeding through a dozen more options.
There are archetypes (choose from Myers Biggs, Jungian, Enneagram, Western Zodiac and Chinese Zodiac… or all of the above), lists of identity characteristics (flaws, external motivation, internal motivation, philosophies and so on), a breakdown of voice and personality habits, quirks, assertive v passive and many more.
There’s a detailed questionnaire that’s longer than you’d be asked by ASIO if you wanted to work there, and a lot, lot more.
And that’s just characters.
In planning they offer room for Overview, Extended Synopsis, Scene Synopsis… each scene can include goals, conflicts and disasters, what characters and locations arte featured, scene blocking – and separate sections for first draft, second draft and final draft.
It also has a VERY spiffy statistics/goals/word tally section.
It provides, essentially, the kitchen sink but I found it very hard to find what I needed and get through the incredible mass of stuff I didn’t. It can be a bit overwhelming.
To make things a little more confusing, I bought a standalone lifetime version that exists on your PC and cant be accessed online. Since then, the company ONLY offers the online only ongoing subscription version which to be fair has improved the look and made it slightly simpler. But only slightly.
The online one is getting more updates and more love from the company.
It can be more complex and confusing than reading the rules to a new board game, but if depth of character detail is what you’re about, this may be the one for you.
Price: All prices in USD, the options are
Basic ($7.50 month / $75 annual) that allows one novel/project only.
Standard ($20 Month / $198 annual) which allows unlimited novels and more storage, or
Premium ($60 month / $600 year) which really only increases the storage.
Campfire
Ok, gotta confess, bit of a fan boy with this one. It has a different look and different structure to most of the other software packages that may appeal to some writers and does appeal to me.
Campfire consists of a series of 17 interconnected modules. At the heart of their system is a manuscript where you write the story, but there are separate modules for Characters, Locations, Maps, Research, Timeline, Arcs, Relationships, Encyclopedia, Items, Magic, Species, Cultures, Systems, Languages, Religions and Philosophies.
So, unpacking that long shopping list of menus, you may have detected many modules, especially in the second half of the list, that are particularly suited to genre fiction… fantasy, sci-fi and horror. That’s true, but you don’t have to use those options if they have no relevance to your story.
The central Manuscript module works simply enough with an ever-present word count and a very handy manuscript sidebar. Now if, for instance, you had set up the name of a character in the character module, when you type that name in the manuscript it is highlighted. Hover over the highlighted text, it will show you a summary of the character. Click it and you get the fully detailed version. The same goes for other modules… locations, items etc.
The Timeline module is very useful and works like a storyboard in some other writing packages. And the Encyclopedia module is very useful if you were setting up a “bible” for a complex story where it’s handy to get keep track of specific details… especially useful with genre story-telling. It even suggests its’s good for RPG players and Dungeon Masters.
This application (it’s an app on mobile devices, and a website on desktop PCs) is great for visualising a story and seeing it coming together and quite good for writing your story. Your readers will never see the way it’s presented here, so it’s more a case of if it helps you.
There are also links to the LEARN section (a huge amount of tutorial stuff and examples) and the EXPLORE section (where some other campfire users have shared their writing projects… and it’s optional. The world doesn’t get to see your words unless you want them too).
Back to the modules. You get so many free uses of each one (eg you get 25,000 words in your manuscript for free, 10 free characters and so on). If you decide you like it, you only pay for the modules you want AND you choose to either subscribe monthly or annually OR buy that module outright.
Again, I like how it presents the raw info and I like the payment options. Check it out.
Price:: There are 17 different modules, all ranging from $0.25 USD per month to $1.50 USD per month. You probably won’t want them all so the monthly price would be dictated by whatever modules YOU want. Likewise the annual subscriptions ($2.50 USD per year through to $15 USD per year. But you can also buy modules outright (from $7.50 USD to $45 USD). If your timing is right, there are occasionally 30% off sales.
Scrivener
Scrivener was once the domain of Mac owners and users but in the last few years it’s been ported over to Windows. It is hugely capable but doesn’t look as graphically or aesthetically pleasing as something like Campfire. There’s a bit of a learning curve (nothing like the PhD you need for Novel Factory) and the deeper you dig, the more you find it can do.
It is a buy outright piece of software and in some respects it looks and feels like open-source software that is very versatile but a little undercooked in intuitiveness, while in other respects it’s like photoshop where you suspect you’ll only ever be utilising 10% of what it can do. But there are MANY pluses.
Like many of the other programs here, it is built around a binder layout with different folders and files for your story, chapters ands scenes… for characters, places, research and more.
There are available templates for almost all imaginable writing projects (including screenplays) and it prints to a long list of formats including specific book sizes and eBooks.
It’s corkboard/storyboard provides a simple overview of your plot and makes it easy to visualise summaries of chapters and scenes. The corkboard here probably edges out Campfire and Dabble for ease of use and simplicity of display, and falls just short of Living Writer (below).
Scrivener also displays project goals and wordcounts nicely, handles footnotes that many writing packages don’t (although you have to link to something like Zotero, so it’s not in the box and ready to go) and offers a wide range of importing and exporting options and a long list of very practical bits and pieces.
In fact there aren’t many negatives (including the very affordable price). Compiling the end manuscript may need a few minutes of reading to figure out but this is probably the most capable package for most writers.
Price: $89.99 AUD.
Living Writer
It seems unlikely that software will ever be able to breed, what with their lack of sentience… and body parts… but IF you pulled back a smidge on Campfire’s everything-but-the-kitchen-sink overall appearance, and merged it with Scrivener, Living Writer would be their baby.
It has a lot of templates, but MOSTLY these follow the structural layout of various writing techniques (hero’s journey, save the cat etc) and NOT different milieu like novel, screenplay etc. It does, however, offer a non-fiction template.
As with Campfire, Living Writer allows linked elements (in this case Characters, Locations and Objects) that offer suggestions as you start typing. Any of those words displays detail about the person, place or item in the right-hand panel.
Did I mention panels? There are two. The one on the left of the main writing area shows layout, the right one shows highlighted detail and other nifty bits.
As with many of the packages, Living Writer also offers an Index Card system (they call them Boards) which can be configured as straightforward Index cards, or more free-form and floating. The overall layout of the Index Card system in this program is neater and less congested than most of the others,
You can use Living Eriter online but it also provides apps for your PC, MAC or other devices.
I have to say, in re-looking at Living Writer, I’d forgotten how good it is. Good thing I read this software comparison story… thanks Chris Gordon!
There are flaws. It doesn’t provide many import or export options for other packages and file types. But it has more under the bonnet than I’d remembered, and a very simple, pleasing interface. While it doesn’t have all of the features of Scrivener and Campfire, it has some from each and with citations, one the others don’t have. It’s a serious contender for a first-choice writing package.
UPDATE: In March 2023 the developers expect to have added footnotes, endnotes and specifically formatted templates like screenplays, making this an even tougher software choice to beat.
Price:
Monthly: $9.99 USD. Annual $96 USD. Outright purchase: $399.
Papyrus Author
With all of these software packages, what you choose will come down to taste. I’m saying that because I’m certain some people will love Papyrus Author. For whatever reason, I just happened to prefer some of the others.
Positives… a clean main story area that allows a wide range of views (Office, Focus, Plotting and & Writing etc) each with different elements displayed.
It handles Characters quite well and simply, and provides a very nice and easy-to-follow timeline, has a “thinkboard” that is essentially a mind map and an organiser that helps you keep track of your narrative, arcs, characters, locations and items. Papyrus doesn’t use the “binder“ style or layout of Scrivener and many others, but the information is still available to be all stored internally in separate sections.
WordCount is always on display and a handy graph of extra statistics, including session goals and projet goals, is just a click away. Papyrus does Footnotes simply, claims to do EndNotes (I couldn’t get this to happen).
I think one of the letdowns is that, while it offers a bunch a templates for writing projects, they are based around dimensions and print products rather than, say, Report, Screenplay etc. But if getting the print (or eBook) dimensions and formatting is your primary consideration, this may be the best opinion for you but if I was talking to Papyrus Author I’d have to say “hey, it’s not you, it’s me.” But it’s not me. It’s Papyrus.
Price: Free (limited functionality) or $14.99 USD per month.
SmartEdit Writer
I don’t even remember downloading this one , much less using it, but there it is on my desktop so I’m guessing I put it there at some stage.
Just shuffling about on it and the biggest appeal was the simplicity. It’s like a pared down Scrivener. A VERY pared down Scrivener. It uses a binder menu so you can have folders (with sub folders) for characters, locations, research etc… all in one place.
It does a word count, broken down by days if you want.
It can export to several file types (but not PDF) and does some an amazing job with qualitative reports in your writing (cliches, redundancies, overused words and many etceteras). And that’s about it.
But here’s the thing… it’s FREE. Stone cold motherless free. It is simple as hell, doesn’t have many bells and whistles but keeps a story and all its bits in one place, tracks your progress and provides an editor’s eye at the end.
The good folk at SmartEdit also offer a version that piggy backs on Microsoft Word… one for writers and one for Editors. They become a new menu item and ribbon on word and provide all of those qualitative reports, but both of these versions are NOT free. AT a guess, as these versions involve money, maybe their manuscript assessing functions may offer more than the free software version… couldn’t really say… but if you’re after a simple, free option, SmartEdit Writer is fits the bill.
Price: As stated – Free.
yWriter
Like SmartEdit Writer, this option is FREE and has been around for quite a while. It was one of the first I ever used back in the days of Windows XP and found really useful back then.
You wouldn’t probably accuse it of being aesthetically pleasing but it works in chapters and scenes, allows the creation of characters and tracks whose viewpoints each scene/chapter is in and also allows the creation of Locations and Items. The Character, Location and Item sections are quite neat and give you space for all you need to include, including pics.
It does text to speech, exports some handy reports and the word count is always on screen. The central story writing area is a little overshadowed by some of the other aspects… that’s probably the only real flaw, and it’s only cosmetic.
While it’s free to use, the creator asks that people register it they like it and that seems totally reasonable to me. The creator is a one of us (where “us” is where I exaggerate my role as a “writer”) who has written around 30 novels, mostly or all sci-fi… even cooler. He has written a bunch fo other software and just seems to be a real fan and a good guy.
Worth a look, gets the job done.
Price: Free.
Script writing
For some people, their oeuvre of writing is quite specific. Here are three writing software packages particularly for script writing – again, specifically that I’ve used on a PC. Probably also available for a MAC and I have not tried MAC only software.
Final Draft
Stop the fight! This is the winner. It’s the one I’ve used for all four of the shows I’ve written and that’s after trialling the other two I’ve included here extensively.
But first, let’s go back a few years. When I was looking into this stuff there were two big names… like Coke and Pepsi, Holden and Ford… vegetarians and normal people.
The two big names were Final Draft and Movie Magic Screenwriter. BOTH had tribes of loyal advocates. Both had lengthy lists of famous users and testimonials and both were selling well (I gather).
But then… Final Draft kept updating and developing and modifying, and Movie Magic didn’t. I’m not sure what happened there… probably something very mundane and boring, but here we are.
I preferred Final Draft even back then and today it seems I’m in good company with Final Draft declaring on their website “Used by 95% of film and television productions.
It’s another one of those packages that offers an abundance of features (many of which I have yet to get around or figure out) but the ones I need it delivers in spades.
The formatting is intuitive so that after I type an action, it prepares for a character’s name. After a character’s name it expects dialog. After dialog from one person, it anticipates (not always correctly) that the other person in the conversation’s name will come next. And so on. It may not sound like much but when the muse strikes and the words are tumbling out, something that automates the process a bit really helps.
You can see the scenes as corkboard cards and I colour code them so I can track what’s happening where to help anticipate scene changes. It also does a clever looking beat board that I haven’t mastered yet.
One of my favourite features are the reports that show hwo often someone talks, how many lines and words they have, who they talk to… and if you want to print out all of the sides for a specific character (or separately for all separate characters) it’s a breeze.
Final Draft offers a wide range of industry recognised Screenplay formats, from BBC Screenplay and Broadway Musicals to One Cam sitcoms and Graphic Novels. It also offers a treatment, synopsis and outline options, Index card options and a very, very basic novel and manuscript option.
It really does so much more, the list would be pages long (and I confess many are things I don’t use). There are some formatting issues for audio plays (I’ll get to those in Fade In, below) but I really enjoy clicking the Final Draft button, being greeted by it’s layout and getting to work.
Price: $199.99 USD.
Movie Magic Screenwriter
The current model of Movie Magic Screenwriter has changed very little since 2007, give or take the odd modification to work well with Windows updates.
That shouldn’t be a problem because the basics of screenplay formatting are fairly timeless, but I never felt this software stood up well against Final Draft and as Final Draft has continually upgraded, this hasn’t.
So what does it do well? It is very easy to use for the actual writing of a screen play with some of the same intuitiveness Final Draft has for which elements should follow which. The layout in th “NaviDoc” sidebar for scenes is simple and handy, as are the scenes and notes in the same panel. Also, Movie Magic handles audio plays, where the person’s name and the start of the dialog are oin the same line, much better than Final Draft.
This is simpler and possibly less overwhelming than Final Draft, but I personally prefer some of the functionality, layout and reports of Final Draft.
Price: $169 USD.
Fade In
Even though Final Draft is the bee’s knees… the duck’s guts… the Caligula’s amygdala of screenwriting software, Fade In is very, very good. I use it a lot for specific scripts.
Firstly it does a much better job with radio plays / audio plays than Final Draft and Movie Magic. The Character Name and Dialog can appear on the same line which is not only industry standard but also save a lot of blank space.
It does a lot of the stuff Final Draft can do… Index Cards, scene navigator, automatic formatting (knows what element is meant to follow which), can import from a wide range of file types (including Final Draft, Scrivener and Celtx) and can export to the same wide range.
It offers collaboration tools and using its app on tablets and devices is easier than Final Draft. And one of it’s strongest appeals is that it is a very clean, easy to follow display with few distractions.
I’ll keep using both this and Final Draft… I guess the strongest individual appeals of each (for me anyway) is that Final Draft gives detailed reports and individual sides, and Final Draft provides better radio play / audio play templates and usability. Fade In’s outstanding price however makes it hard to go past.
Price: $79.99.
Celtx
Celtx’s two greatest assets are (1) it’s all online; and (2) it touches on budgeting and external production areas. Having distinct areas for Cast and Crew, Scheduling and Budgeting make this a particularly powerful package BUT are you going to use those capabilities. The answer for me is no.
Celtx is popular with universities and, as an online software, is operating system agnostic.
But I don’t like its look and feel, I don’t like that it lacks the wide range of templates of the other options, and it’s quite dear… especially if you want the production nick nacks like budgeting, scheduling, call sheets, cast and crew details etc.
You can’t pay outright, so your (quite expensive) choices are as follows. Please note, for one year of Basic Celtx you could buy outright Fade In three times.
Price:
Writer Pro: Monthly $24.99 AUD. Annual $269.88
Teams (up to 5 members): Monthly $53.99 AUD. Annual $647.88 AUD.
Other useful software
Invariably, the software you use the most may be all you want. I mean, all you NEED is a pen and paper. Or even a basic word processor. But some of these programs are pretty handy and may be just want you want.
Microsoft Word
It’s hard to say anything useful about Word as pretty much everyone knows it backwards already and since it has more bells and whistles than you’d find at Aunt Beryl’s Olde Bells and Whistles Shoppe.
It has left all other word processors in its wake (remember Word Perfect and Word Pro… and incidentally Word Pro was a revelation for chapters in its day) and continues to upgrade and expand.
If writing a non-fiction book and you need endnotes and/or footnotes, Word does it best.
It provides superior spellchecking and can provide grammar reviews and suggestions.
There’s no point listing all it can do. If you have any versions of Office, you already have it so it feels free (even though you’ve paid for it). Don’t discount it.
Price: See Microsoft Store or part of Microsoft 365 packages.
Google Docs
However… when writing, if what I’m doing is largely word processing, I lean towards Google Docs. It does a great job of displaying chapters and subheadings in a side pane (yes Word does it but it’s much easier here). It doesn’t do as well with footnotes and endnotes but is supported by a citation system that, while lacking the staggering depth and detail of the Microsoft Word citation system, is pretty bloody decent.
For those fluent in citation speak, It offers MLA (8th edition), APA (7th edition) and Chicago Author-Date (17th edition) formats. Now if they could find a way to insert the references as endnotes and footnotes that would be a real winner for non-fic writers and uni students.
If you need more, that can mostly be solved by hooking it up to Zotero – separate software that handles footnotes and endnotes.
Because we ALL lose things to Word sometimes even if we set up a backup frequency, Google Docs appeals as it’s only and backs up instantly, and because the source file isn’t in a folder on a desk that may not be easy to find, Docs access is instant to any device you use AND (this feels like cheating on a loved one) you can use Microsoft Editor IN Docs to do your spell-checking etc.
Like Word, it also offers templates for things such as screenplays, but neither as seamlessly as a specialist Screenplay program.
And Google Docs is free with every Gmail account, which is also free.
As with all of these programs and packages, it comes down to what does the job you want, and what feels right for you. For me, creative writing and written projects I do on Google Docs.
Price: Free.
Microsoft One Note
Quite possibly the most used software I have. I use it for recipes, holiday planning, history research and writing.
The layout of sections and pages in the notebook makes storing and finding information a breeze. If I’ve written a play or a story, I’ve blocked out the characters, scenes and story bible on One Note first.
And like Word… it’s free with Microsoft Office.
Price: See Microsoft Store or part of Microsoft 365 packages.
Evernote
When I started using this, probably seven years ago, this was a reasonably strong competitor to One Note. They even had specific cookbook versions, book versions and so on. We used it at work to keep track of clients and businesses and while it wasn’t designed for that in particular it performed well.
Now they’ve removed many of its best features, or at least made them available only in the paid version.
It’s still ok for the same sort of plotting I use One Note for, but not AS ok. And it’s very good for meetings, to do lists etc.
You can’t blame businesses for trying to make their software more profitable and for directing users towards their paid versions… just saying the free version is not as useful as it once was, and not as useful as One Note… but it is free.
Price: Basic is free, otherwise $8.99 USD per month
Dramatica Pro
Getting a bit dated now and from the same people as Movie Magic Screenwriter. It has a complex range of questions to help provide formulaic ways to develop a story. I imagine some people love it. For me it was more like doing an exam on a subject I hadn’t started, and a mile away from creative expression. But it still sells and we all have different learning styles so this may be for you.
Price: $129.
Contour
For Contour… as above (Dramatic Pro). Again with the questions, the formulas… and from reading a few scriptwriting books, I know that’s a way to deliver a script that is palatable for a studio but I didn’t find it helped me at all. But it may help you or others? Each to their own.
Price: $39.95 USD.
Diarium
Ok this is an odd one, but I love it. I bought it a few years ago for about $5. That’s $5 all up, not a monthly subscription. It’s a diary… that’s it. You can access it on your devices but ALSO on an app for your PC and they are linked.
It’s gone up in price since then… $9.99 USD for the PC desktop app, $4.99 for Android or iOS.
As a way to crank up the engine and get you writing if you’re out of petrol, this is very handy. It uses Tags really well so you could potentially click a tag you created for #Doctor and it would show you the entries you created for doctors’ visits.
It also links, if you want it to, to many other things accounts and platforms you have online… all your social media accounts, Strava, Trakt TV (A favourite of mine), photos you’ve taken on that day and a bunch of other stuff, including them automatically.
Journaling is a great way to re-develop the writing habit, and THIS is a great app for journaling.
Conclusion
So, that’s a LOT of software, and as I look at the corner of the page, a lot of words (5,000+).
I’m also keenly aware that it is probably just scratching the surface with dozens of other programs I haven’t used or am not aware of.
But maybe… MAYBE… just the right program can help get you writing. Maybe one of these programs will remove a roadblock or encourage playing with it which may indirectly lead to writing. It doesn’t matter how you get there; it all starts with words on the page.
And I’ve put more than a few words on this page so I reckon I’ve earned myself a bit more artful bludging. Hooroo, and may the muse be with you. Always.
