Non-fiction Writing Software Mac
There is no best. If you want to take and organize notes, people use either Scrivener or Evernote. Scrivener doesn’t make collaboration easy. For actually writing, good old MS Word is fine. If you want fewer features and more collaboration feature. Now the reason that I use Scrivener is that one, it’s my go-to writing tool. I write everything inside it. But it’s also because it exports to pretty much every single format that you could need for getting your book out there, in terms of distribution. 2 replies to 'Crazy Simple Book Formatting Template for Non-Fiction Authors' static1.
It doesn’t matter if you plan to take the route with a traditional publisher or if you want to self-publish your book.
Digital publishing, sometimes called e-publishing, is where everything starts and stops now for published books.
If you are ready to write your book, you should make sure that you have the best book writing programs and tools to do the job.
In This ArticleHideWriting a book todayQuality writing countsWriting your bookThe best programs to write a bookScrivenerShaxpir
Writing checkers and editingProWritingAidGrammarlyStart writing your bookWriting a book today
A pen and paper are great tools for notetaking, and a typewriter is romantic and nostalgic.
But today, you use electronic files from the beginning to the end of the writing and publishing process.
If you check your app store for free book writing software, you will find hundreds for Mac, PC, Android, and iPhone or iPad.
The only part of the process that hasn’t changed is that you need to have the time to write.
Indie authors are having success and competing with traditional publishing companies. Some are achieving bestselling author status.
You only need to take a quick look at the bestselling books on Amazon to see that many self-published authors are in the top 10 for a variety of genres. In particular, for ebooks and Kindle Unlimited readers.
If you are ready to start your book project, there are a lot of ways you can publish.
But before you start, make sure you have all the tools you will need to do the job.
Best invitation design software for mac. Choosing the best book writing programs will help you stay organized and focussed and help you to write a better book.
Quality writing counts
A lot of people have a great book idea.
Writing and publishing a book with today’s technology is easy. All you need is a great idea and the writing time to finish your book.The reality of writing fiction books or a nonfiction book is that only good writing and outstanding books stand a chance of selling.
If you are new to writing and electronic publishing, it is a good idea to work on practicing your writing before you start your book project.
It is not that successful authors today need to be professional writers. But writing good books requires competent grammar and writing skills.
There are a lot of resources and tools available now for a new book writer to help you learn and improve your writing skills.
It might seem odd today to recommend that you read a book. But On Writing by Stephen King is still a great place to start for all new writers.
Writing your book
It starts with a few chapter titles. Then, once you’ve written between forty and eighty thousand words, you can say, “I wrote a book!”
Then the process of carefully preparing your manuscript for publishing begins. For most writers, it means finding an editor and a competent proofreader. It might also require the services of a book formatter as well.
All that is for later, though, because first, you have to write your book.
No one writes a book on the kitchen table with a pen and paper anymore. And the days of sitting down at a typewriter are long gone.
The tools that an author needs today are electronic and digital. Most are very easy to use. But as with anything new, you might have a short learning curve at first.
The two essentials for a serious book writer are a multi-layered word processor and editor designed specifically for writing a book or novel and a first-class spelling, grammar, and writing checker.
The best programs to write a book
Word processors like Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or Google Docs are excellent for writing letters, articles, and essays. But writing a book is a long and complicated process.
When you write a book, you need to be able to work on individual parts of your story.
You will need to have notes or perhaps mind maps about your characters, events, and your story timeline. This is much more than simple word processing can do.
At times, you might need to reorder scenes or even chapters or make changes to your plot. Scrolling back and forward through one long text editor or word processor document is a painful process.
With a good tool, you can easily drag and drop your chapters or scenes into a different order.
The best and most productive way to write a book and stay focused is to use software that is made specifically for the purpose.
Here are some of the best book writing program suggestions for you. All of them will help you in the writing process and later, in publishing a quality book.
Scrivener
Scrivener is one of the most popular premium creative and book writing tools. For many authors it the best program to write a book.
It is feature-rich with all the writing tools an author needs. It is tailor-made for very long writing projects.
Scrivener has everything you need to write a book.
It has an outliner, corkboard, side by side viewing, word count targets, and a full-screen editor for distraction-free writing along with print, export, and publishing tools.
It has all the tools that a writer could ever need. About all that is missing are writing prompts and instant cures for writer’s block.
Scrivener offers a 30 day free trial period. But only days that you use the software are counted. If you use the software every second day, your free trial period will run for 60 days.
Scrivener is available for download for both Windows and Mac. There are also iOS apps for iPhone and iPad.
Shaxpir
Shaxpir is an online book writing program.
It comes with all the features you need to write a book.
But it has one significant advantage. You can use the program for free to get you started.
There is a premium version available on a monthly subscription basis. Your choice will depend on what you need.
Here is a quick look at the differences between the two choices.
You can find out more about Shaxpir in this quick one-minute video tour.
Other choices:Writing checkers and editing
When you finish writing a book, you are going to need grammar software programs and editing tools. These will help you to improve your writing.
While intense editing and proofreading will start after you finish, you still want to make sure that what you write is as perfect as possible after each writing session.
The best way to do this is to use a premium writing checker that will help you find ways to polish your writing style, grammar, and consistency.
There are many free online grammar checkers, such as the Hemingway Editor. But most are not suitable at all for working on a long document.
There are only two I use and would recommend for working on a manuscript. These are ProWritingAid and Grammarly.
ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid calls itself a personal writing coach, grammar guru, style editor, and writing mentor.
From my experience with using it, I can certainly say that it is not an exaggeration.
Most grammar checkers can find passive voice sentences, incorrect prepositions, and plurals.
But ProWritingAid goes so much deeper into analyzing long-form writing.
There are twenty-five different in-depth reports that will give you so many suggestions as to how you can improve your text.
You can read about all the features in our review of ProWritingAid.
It also has a very big advantage of being compatible with Scrivener.
There are a lot of free and premium grammar checkers. But ProWritingAid is the only one that has all the tools that are essential for authors.
There is a free version available for you to try.
But if you are serious about learning how to write a book, you will probably choose the reasonably priced premium version with all the tools you need.
Grammarly
Grammarly is, by far, the most popular online grammar checker.
It’s my second choice for authors, but you won’t go wrong. It is, though, better at helping correct online writing such as for a blog post or social media entries.
I use it a lot, but only for short-form writing such as short stories and checking that what I write and post online is as accurate as possible. You can read my full review of Grammarly.
It works exceptionally well with the WordPress editor when you use the Chrome extension. For bloggers, it is almost always the best choice.
You don’t have a lot of time when you have a deadline to publish an article or blog post. So it’s always reassuring to have it on hand to help make sure that your text is error-free.
Again there are free and premium versions available.
Start writing your book
Yes, there is a lot of free writing software available online now to help you with many time-consuming tasks.
But if you are serious about writing your book and writing it well, a small investment in the best book writing programs you can find is a small price to pay.
If you decide to use Scrivener and ProWritingAid together, you will have the best two tools available for the long, and enjoyable, task ahead of you.
All you need now is your brilliant book idea, and the passion and energy to turn it into a fantastic story.
If you’re writing a novel, it’s important you have the right tools to help you stay organized and write your book efficiently.
There are a few things you’re going to want to make sure you have:
- A word processor you can write and save in
- Software or a processor that allows you to make notes, comments, or jot down ideas for your book
- A way to organize your manuscript with an outline, plot, or storyboard, so you can quickly see the “big picture” of your story while you’re working on it
- Grammar checkers and software that will help you improve your writing
With these systems in place, writing a novel will be a whole lot easier.
The Best Novel Writing Software
Here’s our list of the best novel writing software tools we recommend.
1. Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is one of the oldest word processors out there, and it is still widely used for writing books. Word has a lot of features to offer, and with a new suite of productivity features added regularly, this software makes writing more accessible to the average writer.
Furthermore, Word has been around for so long that most people are already familiar with using it. If that’s you, it’ll probably be a lot easier and better to keep using Word than switching to another program because it takes time to learn new software. You can use headers to organize your chapters, use the navigation pane to navigate through them, and create templates that you can use repeatedly with multiple manuscripts or projects.
You can collaborate with co-authors and editors, reorganize your draft in outline view, use it as a brainstorming tool, and even go distraction-free when you want to. You can even format and publish an eBook using a Microsoft Word template for free.
Most editors still prefer Word documents for manuscripts, so it’s a great tool to use for writing because it makes tracking and reviewing changes and comments really easy.
You can buy Microsoft Word on Amazon here.
2. Scrivener
Scrivener is an advanced writing software created with serious novelists and nonfiction writers in mind. It has a collection of templates for both fiction and nonfiction writing. Both Mac and PC users can use Scrivener. You can export books easily to other digital platforms like Kindle, Kobo, and iBooks which is handy because it’ll save you time when it comes to formatting your manuscript.
This software is made for writers, and you can tell. It’s easy to drag and drops sections, create outlines and scenes, and you can even develop sub-files so that your manuscript is organized. It is also super easy to keep track of all your research and notes with a project binder.
For more complicated work, you can split the screen, work in outliner views, or use the corkboard view and move index cards to plot your storylines.
You can buy Scrivener for $45 for Mac or PC here.
3. Ulysses
Ulysses is a tool that creates a document out of fragments and makes it a complete story. It has a feature that inserts words with automatic synchronization, and any programmers would probably love this function. This tool lets you work anytime and anywhere you want.
You can download its 14-day trial here. Check product pricing here.
4. Google Docs
Google Docs is a simpler version of Microsoft Word. It’s a barebones, simple word processor that does not offer much regarding formatting and outlining. While it is simple, it is quite a capable word processor for those writers looking for free writing software. Its features offer that it can share files and content and communicate via comments too. You can even access previous versions of your work to review all the changes that have been made to your book file.
However, if you want to use Google Docs as your main writing software, you’ll want to make sure you enable Google Docs for offline use so you can still write without internet access.
5. Evernote
Evernote is an application for storing, creating, and searching through notes in a very sophisticated way. You don’t need to type everything manually and you can access all your notes in any of your devices. It even allows you to search the handwritten words and you can share it with your friends and family.
It is a very powerful tool for writers, researchers, and anyone who wants to organize lots of notes and research.
You can start using it for free and you can always upgrade if you want their extra fancy features. You can check their plans here.
6. Grammarly
Free Fiction Writing Software
Grammarly is one of the best-known grammar correctors used by millions of people. You can install it in any web browser, and it’ll automatically let you know when there are any errors in your grammar, spelling, or other typos in anything you write online (including email, websites, and other documents).
It can detect errors such as grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, contextual spelling, and writing style. Grammarly is free. You can upgrade to a premium plan that supplies language enhancement hints to increase your writing knowledge and skills. The premium version also includes a plagiarism checker software tool that’s pretty awesome as well.
To get started, just download the software extension and install it in your web browser in a few seconds.
You can sign up for Grammarly here.
7. Dramatica
Dramatica is the writer’s tool that can tell you things about your story you didn’t tell it. This tool helps solidifies character interactions, plug plot holes and helps complete your story in a way that it will resonate with your audience.
You can download your free demo here. You can also check the full version here.
8. AutoCrit
Novel Writing Software Mac Free
AutoCrit is a writer’s tool that’s built for storytellers. It gives you recommendations for improving your manuscript and your writing. This is a genre-specific tool that can customize your results when you select one of seven fiction styles.
You can start your free trial here. You can check pricing here.
Free Writing Software For Mac
If you liked this post, here are some other articles you might love: