Here at ProWritingAid, we're geekily interested in writing tech, almost obsessively. And in honor of the upcoming NaNoWriMo, we thought we'd do a roundup of the apps we've reviewed over the years. Links to our full reviews are throughout.
Tanmay Sonawane’s new $10 Write (Mac App Store link) brings that same philosophy to a note-taking app. With Markdown support and the capability to share texts in a wide variety of formats, Write. The status quo goes like this: I scribble down ideas in a physical notebook or in the notes app on iOS / Mac. Then I go into FocusWriter (more on that later maybe) and write Hemingway mode. That means focus mode writing only, no editing, deleting, second-guessing, obsessing, contemplating the Aristotelian ethics. Yet another free writing app for Mac is Write! Though currently, only its Windows version is available, its Linux and iOS versions are on their way for release. If you get quite distracted while writing your blog or story or even school essay, then use this tool for a distraction-free writing session.
Best apps to tame distractions
Do you get sucked away into social media when you're supposed to be writing? There's an app to take care of that, of course. Actually, there are a couple. Which one you choose depends on how distracted you get.
For those of you who need to see what you're writing without worrying about formatting or making it pretty will love Ulysses. It's a straightforward text editor that lets you write and see what you're writing without worrying about formatting. You can do that later.
Others get majorly distracted by what they're writing and lose their train of thought. Do you break the flow of writing to go back and correct a spelling error or something that doesn't sound quite right? If you need to focus on what you will say rather than what you've already said, you need ilys. You can't see what you've already written, only the last letter you typed. Not even a whole word. A single letter.
For those who get sucked away into social media and end up following rabbit holes for hours, there's Freedom.to. You can block all of your time-wasting websites, apps, social media, and even your email. And the best part…you can block everything on all of your devices. So if you've blocked Twitter on your laptop, you can't just pick up your phone and surf. It's blocked there, too. Freedom.to. forces you to focus on writing instead.
Write App Mac Review Cnet
Now for those of us who are mildly distracted, but still need to see what we've written, Write! is the perfect app. You can still edit as you go, and you can even perform some basic formatting. What it's great at is blocking out everything else on your computer screen so all you see is the word processing part.
Finally, for those who still want to see what they've written, but don't want their inner editor taking over while they're supposed to be writing, there's Rough Draft. It's like an old school typewriter on your computer screen. You can see everything you've typed, but you can't backspace and erase anything. Backspacing merely strikes through what you've written, reminding you it's a rough draft, not the finished product.
Best app for planners
Hands-down, it's The Novel Factory. You get a logical structure that helps you flesh out each part of your novel, from beginning call to action to the final conflict and denouement. You start out with your premise or what your story is about, and flesh out your story's skeleton (your story arc). You then work on creating your characters. Next, you write a short synopsis; then you flesh it out into an extended synopsis.
On it goes through creating scenes and detailed character sketches, from high level plotting to creating your story's world, and so much more. The Novel Factory is a planner's dream.
And they recently released an online version, where before you could only download a Windows version of the app. Now us Mac users can partake in its wondrous process. Mubi app for mac.
But wait! There's another fabulous app that appeals to planners a little differently. Beemgee helps you flesh out your characters and plot by asking you detailed questions about each. There are almost 40 questions to answer for each character in your story. It really helps you get down to their essence and create 3-D characters. You build plot event cards for each element in a menu to help you look at location, story lines, motifs, point of view, and much more. Then you can start creating your Step Outline, which is a detailed outline of your novel to help you make sure you've covered everything before you begin writing.
Finally, where would this article be without mentioning Scrivener? The ultimate writing tool for planners, Scrivener offers you the planning structure you love best in an electronic version. Do you love to write all of your scenes on index cards and move them around to find the best order? You can do that with Scrivener. Do you like to capture pictures and other information to help you visualize your characters, locations, settings, etc.? You can do that, too, with Scrivener. Scrivener is like a big binder full of everything you need to write your novel: research, scenes, character sketch and setting templates, synopsis and overviews for each scene, plus much more.
So again, awesome programs for planners, albeit each a different style. Your best bet is to experiment with all three to see which makes more sense to you.
Best app for pants-ers
The best app for those of you who fly by the seat of your pants depends on how distractible you are.
If you are highly distracted while writing, you need a combination of Freedom.to and ilys. You can block every website, social media, and app that sucks your attention with Freedom.to, and you'll only be able to see the last letter you typed with ilys. Talk about serious focus on writing your story.
If you're only mildly distracted, programs like Ulysses, Write! or even Scrivener again are great for just letting the words flow.
Best app for ideas
You've got to try One Stop For Writers. This writing app combines a little bit of planning in the form of templates to help you create your characters and your story's world, but it's much more.
Where its strength lies is in the 'library.' There's an 'Information Desk,' 'Thesaurus,' 'The Stacks,' and more. In fact, it can take days of roaming around the information in the library to see and experience everything.
You start at the 'Information Desk' to learn how to use the app. From there, you can go to the 'Thesaurus' with a comprehensive list for each of 13 categories like emotions, negative traits, talents and skills, symbols and motifs, and more. 'The Stacks' is where you'll find the templates and worksheets to help you create your characters and setting. There's even an idea generator.
In fact, there's so much information and knowledge in One Stop For Writers that it's worth signing up for a one-month subscription just to cruise around and see it all.
Best app for editing
OK, if you are reading this blog, you probably already know that ProWritingAid is far and away the best app for editing your writing.
Haven't tried it yet? What are you waiting for? It's free to use the online version and it will take your writing to the next level!
Conclusion
There's an app for every kind of writer. It may take a little experimenting to find the right one for your style and comfort level. And you may find that your tastes and needs change the more you write.
If you're interested in learning more about the apps mentioned above, you can find our in-depth review of each here:
Mac doc app preview. Thanks to technology and most specifically Steve Jobs, the art of writing too has gone totally hip! There’s this thing called an iPad that you’ve probably heard of a couple of million times already, (unless you’re from Mars) that has some fantastic apps for budding writers.
It’s quite natural to be bitten by the writing bug especially if writing is not just your passion but a method of self-expression which you are really not able to channelize properly because you’re getting stuck somewhere or the other. So here’s a list that’ll help you through. We compiled a few best iPad apps for writers that will not just assist you in your writing, but will also make sure you write the right way! Read on…
#1. Bear
For a more simplified writing experience, “Bear” is an ideal choice. The app is packed in several handy editing tools that help you write with complete peace of mind. There are also many impressive themes to let you bring in some cool customization into the mix.
With simple one-tap formatting and the option to export your story in multiple formats like HTML, PDF, DOCX, MD, JPG, and EPUB offer you more flexibility. Aside from being a useful writing tool, Bear is also an elegant note-taking asset. Moreover, it’s designed to work seamlessly with Apple Pencil to let you draw images and sketch your imagination.
Price: Free Download
#2. Writer
What makes this app such a useful tool is the ability to assist you in creating notes and story a lot easier. Besides, you can make the recording while writing to keep track of your progress. It also allows you to quickly snap photos and add your favorite images to the story to make it more vivid.
As the stories are color-coded, you will be able to find them and change their color—if needed. Even better, there is also an option to set future alert reminders on particular notes to remember important things.
Price: Free Download
#3. Werdsmith
“Werdsmith” motivates you to give your 100% and eventually gets the best out of you—the writer. It features five fascinating themes to keep your task completely cheered up. With a lot of formatting options, you have the needed liberty to design the story to your heart’s liking.
To have the desired result, set the rules and word goals you want to follow religiously and keep a tab on how you go about doing the task each day. It will help improve your skill. Your work is automatically backed up in the cloud and remain shielded by your Touch ID.
Price: Free Download
#4. iA Writer
Wish to enhance your writing experience and make your task more simplified? You need “iA Writer” to bolster both your writing and productivity with the required efficiency.
https://treepi756.weebly.com/blog/how-to-delete-spotify-app-from-mac. The customizable keyboard accelerates your typing making it more easy-going. You can build multiple manuscripts from a number of chapters and embed source code files as code blocks and nest text files into each other.
Price: $8.99 Download
#5. Lists for Writers
“Lists for Writers” is designed to be a very helpful toolbox. With multiple lists of prompts, plot lines, character traits, game-changing ideas, occupation and more, it not just takes away lots of burdens but also gives your story the right angle. Most interestingly, it can perfectly fit into the concept of any type of stories such as fiction, national novel writing, creative writing, a short story or an essay assignment.
Thanks to the dictionary support, you don’t have to leave the app to find out the meaning of any complicated words. There is a notepad feature to let you collect a thought-provoking list of items and edit them more conveniently.
Price: $2.99 Download
#6. TeX Writer
Find it a bit inconvenient write and compile TeX files? You need to have “TeX Writer” to accelerate your writing and make the task uncomplicated.
It has the support of both plain TeX and LaTeX. Use the smart commands, syntax highlighting and quick text selection to simply your LaTeX editing. The customizable assistant keyboard lets you easily insert special characters. Sync your file with Dropbox to keep it securely.
Price: $14.99 Download
#7. Byword
You absolutely cannot do without a text editor, dear writer! Here’s Byword, a fantastic simple, clean text editor. For $6, it’s really not a bad deal either.
Write App Mac Reviews
You can swipe or switch between word counts, embedding tools like links & images and punctuation. Byword invokes Markdown syntax that uses plain-text characters to denote formatting. You can export Markdown documents to PDF and HTML documents. Use a dark theme in low-lit conditions to give some comfort to your eyes. Features like Split View, Multitasking and 3D Touch shortcut on compatible iPhone make it quite impressive. Publish your top articles on WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, and Evernote.
Price: $5.99 Download
Mac Apps Download
#8. Story Dice: Ideas for Writers
It’s out-of-the-box ideas that make any story interesting. “Story Dice” is a fabulous creative writing prompt tool that provides ideas for the character, plot, and setting. Better still, you can use these ideas not just for writing but also for oral storytelling.
With the high-resolution graphics, it’s got an impressive design. It features more than 200 pictograms in the dictionary, a lot of still images and dice sounds to make your task of writing something very special a bit easy.
Price: $1.99 Download
#9. P writing
“P writing” is a simple looking writing app that should get your work done efficiently. You get all the required tools to write articles and design them in the preferred format. With 12 different font types, you have enough freedom to give a better look to the text.
Choose from various paper styles and turn off the watermark as per your requirement. You can also set copyright to protect your contents. Moreover, there is also an option to set the main background.
Once you have written the story, you can share your articles via several social apps like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and more.
Price: Free Download
#10. Chambers Dictionary
You’ll never be lost for words again with this app! https://treepi756.weebly.com/blog/badge-app-icon-mac. The 13th Edition consists of 260, 000 words, phrases, compounds and derived forms. New words have been explained in a better way to let you understand them easily.
The new usage of old words and their up-to-date pronunciation can significantly bolster your stockage of vocabulary. Most importantly, you can filter search results and even customize search options. Guaranteed to help you write better!
Price: $9.99 Download
That’s all, mate!
Wrapping Up
These apps can enormously help you in giving your story the preferred angle and making it more interesting for readers. Courtesy the useful toolbox, and they allow you to plot your story effortlessly. So, take the utmost advantage of these best writing apps for iPhone and enhance your skill.
As a writer, you would love to explore these special lists including the:
Have I missed to include any of your favorite writing apps in this list? Do let us know that in the comment box.
The founder of iGeeksBlog, Dhvanesh, is an Apple aficionado, who cannot stand even a slight innuendo about Apple products. He dons the cap of editor-in-chief to make sure that articles match the quality standard before they are published.