Writing Tools
Software #
Disclaimer: I don’t personally use all of the software on this page. I’m pretty disorganized and just have a Google Drive along with rigourous folder housekeeping.
Notes & Productivity #
- Simple Note | This is what I use because Evernote is a laggy piece of sh*t
- Obsidian | Venture-capital funded and open-source
- Mindforger | A really geeky notes program
- Nulis Tree Editor | Make lists, categories and flashcards
- Freemind | Mind mapper
- Aeon Timeline | Timeline and tracker (paid)
Blogging and Web publishing #
Content Management Systems #
A CMS is used to provide a pleasant UI for authoring and publishing content. They can handle multiple authors, comments, themeing, etc.
- Publii | Open-source static site CMS with WYSIWYG editor
- Draft | Cloud-based; offers version control and reviewer service
Wikis #
Some people use personal wikis to keep track of worldbuilding, for running a writing group, a D&D campaign, or anything that involves collaboration. Unlike a CMS, the theme and design aren’t flexible.
- Bookstack | Self-hosted wiki with a modern UI, PHP backend
- Wiki.js | Similar to Bookstack but uses Node.js instead
- You Need a Wiki | Turns a Google Drive into a wiki-like format
Static Site Generators #
SSGs convert plaintext to HTML. Authoring is typically done with Markdown, although you can use AsciiDoc for some. You can find a lot in the web development field. These are specifically meant for bookish texts.
- Bookdown | Create textbooks from Markdown. Popular for academia and R users
Novel Writing #
Scrivener is considered the commerical industry leader, but these free tools are capable for most needs.
Text-to-speech #
Looking for a natural voice option to read your writing out loud?
| On | App | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile | NaturalReader | |
| iOS | Voice Dream Reader | |
| Android | Ivona | Ancestor of Amazon Polly |
| Local | xVASynth | Use voices from your PC games such as Skyrim and Overwatch. Obviously for PERSONAL USE only. |
| Cloud | IBM Watson | |
| Cloud | Amazon Polly | 5 million characters free/month for 12 months (a novel would have maybe 400,000 characters+) |
| Cloud | otter.ai |
Interactive Multimedia #
- Twine | Create nonlinear CYOA stories.
Experimental & AI #
- Cut-ups | Scramble words in a sentence.
- TextSynth | AI generates text from a prompt. Uses the outdated GPT-2 model.
- Dreamily AI | AI writer completes the thought.
- QuillBot | Paraphrasing AI
- Grammica | Proofreading, plagiarism checker and other text utilities
Scripts #
- Convert Markdown to Shunn Manuscript | For short story submissions. Requires Pandoc.
Hardware #
Keyboards #
AlphaSmart keyboard | Distraction free “dumbboard” with a low-tech screen and no internet connectivity
E-ink #
Tablets and devices with e-ink screens instead of traditional LEDs.
- Supernote | I really want to buy one of their tablets one day.
- Fujitsu QUADERNO | Another eNote product
Got any tools? Feel free to make suggestions in the comments.