Writing Software pt. 1: Introduction

Hello writer!

Different writing software can have a big impact on your writing and editing. And each writer is unique, so there are a lot of writing software options out there. How can you know which one will work for you?

I’ve been running into this question a lot for myself recently. What software should I use for writing and editing my story? I usually like drafting with my Alphasmart Neo, but after that what software should I use for editing? What about for my fantasy world, what software works best for worldbuilding? I want to have a “series bible” that I can reference to make sure my world is consistent, but what’s the best software for that? Should I be looking at personal wiki or database software, or note-taking programs?

This is going to be my first multi-part series here on the blog, where I’ll be testing out some of the most popular software for writing, editing, and databasing your work, and giving my thoughts on what works well and what doesn’t. Of course, what works for me might not work for you, so I’m going to try to offer objective pros and cons for each software while also providing my subjective opinion on what works best for me. That way if you’re a writer like me, you can see what I like and maybe try that out yourself, but this series should still be informative even if you’re nothing like me. In this first post, I want to talk a bit about the mindset going into this series of what I’ll be looking for.

For me, one of the most important aspects of writing software is whether it has a way to sync files with cloud storage and work on multiple devices. I got a nice new desktop PC a couple of months ago, but my old laptop is pretty slow and doesn’t always play nice, and I sometimes have good ideas I want to write down when I’m not sitting at my desk with the big PC, so I like to have the option of using an app on my phone or my iPad when I can. This isn’t a complete deal-breaker, since I can always just write an email to myself and copy/paste once I’m at my desk or use other workarounds, but if a program has an iOS app that’s a big plus for me. I use an iPhone now, but I still have an old Android phone from a few years ago before I made the switch, so I’ll also try to see if the programs I review have Android apps too. Along with that, app optimization will be a consideration too. For example, is the iOS app only designed for iPhone, and when I use it on iPad it’s just stretched to fit the bigger screen? Or does it have a complete iPad app optimized for the bigger device? And if so, is the iPad app a separate purchase from the iPhone app or do you get both with one payment (or are they free)?

Another consideration is ease of use. Is the program really user-friendly, with a nice interface that’s intuitive for writers? Or is it full of technical stuff that requires hours of tutorials just to figure out what you’re doing? This can be tricky, as sometimes a more complicated program is worth learning because it can do more, while a simpler program may be more limited. To me, this is kind of a spectrum between easy to use but limited, and difficult to use but powerful. I tend to like programs a little more on the powerful side, and I can deal with an interface that’s a little bit clunky. But I do have limits, and if a program is too unintuitive or ugly I won’t use it even if it’s the most powerful thing in the world.

I tend to be really picky with software: I want it to do exactly what I want, or I’ll look for something else. That’s part of why I’m writing this, honestly. I want to explore the options and see what works best for me, and hopefully help other writers figure this stuff out. So if a program is easy to use and has an app that syncs with my PC but doesn’t have features I need, that can be a problem. I don’t know exactly where my priorities lie on this point. In some cases, I’m willing to use multiple different programs for different aspects of writing, but in other cases I like having one app that covers everything I need. I think I’ll need to assess this on an individual basis as I’m reviewing different programs to see what works for me.

Just so you know my baseline, for now my main writing software is Scrivener. Scrivener has PC and iOS apps that can sync via Dropbox, so I can have all my projects no matter what device I’m working on. I also use Notion for a “personal wiki,” and I’m trying out (and loving!) Obsidian as well. Notion syncs automatically through their own servers, while Obsidian works with Dropbox much like Scrivener. Finally, I use MyStuff2 on iOS as my personal database. I’ll go into more detail about all of these in future posts, as well as trying out other programs such as Bear, Evernote, OneNote and more. Many of these programs are designed to do very different things, and I’m sure they are all someone’s favorite program, but I’ll be looking at them specifically as a writer to see which programs are best for writing purposes.

Look forward to more posts in the “Writing Software” series, and I hope you’re having a great day!

- Michael Wolfe Price