The Internet offers a lot of tools to help you with your writing. These tools range from software and applications that help organize and plan your writing to tools that edit, improve, and format your work.
Even popular AI applications are now available that can write entire articles for you at a click of a button.
This article will be your guide to some of the best software and apps writers can use to be more organized and efficient with their writing. Novelists, content writers, and bloggers can definitely benefit from most of the tools mentioned here.
1 – Scrivener
Scrivener is a Desktop and mobile app that writers can use to organize, plan and edit their writing with ease.
The Scrivener app is tailor-made for longer writing projects and works well with research-heavy writing projects.
Writers can use Scrivener to help plan and structure their drafts with tools not available in other word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
Key Features
- Familiar text editor and word processor
- Formatting Presets
- Import existing files into a Scrivener project
- Corkboard planning tool
- Powerful outliner tool
- Snapshots and auto-save
- Set word or character targets
- Cross-platform: available for iOS, Mac, and Windows
Pricing
Scrivener costs $49 for a license to use the full version of Scrivener 3. They also offer an educational license that costs only $41.65. The iOS app can be purchased separately at a lower price of $19.99
2 – SmartEdit Writer (Atomic Scribbler)
SmartEdit Writer is free software that you can use to write long-form content such as novels and research papers.
The SmartEdit Writer includes a project manager and a writer section. The project manager allows you to open an existing project or create a new one.
The Writer UI includes a document tree which you can use to divide your work into components. For example, novelists can divide their stories into separate chapters and further divide chapters into scenes.
The software also comes with a research tree that writers can use to collect research related to a particular project. Similar to the document tree, writers can arrange all their research into various sections. For example, you can have a folder for characters, a folder for the setting of your story, and another for images.
The word processor itself has many of the basic features you might find in Microsoft Word. However, taken as a whole, SmartEdit writer is a powerful tool that may fit the creative workflow of some writers who struggle using Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
Key Features
- Easy-to-use word processor
- Scenes, fragments, and notes in a hierarchy
- Research tree for collecting files related to your project
- Spell checker
- Daily word count statistics
- SmartEditor that checks for word redundancy, cliche phrasing, and more.
Pricing
The SmartEdit Writer software is available for free on the Smart Edit website. The SmartEdit add-in for Microsoft Word requires a $77 one-off fee, however, users can avail of a 10-day trial first to test our service.
3 – Gingko Writer
Gingko Writer is a unique type of writing software that uses a tree-like graphical layout. Writers can easily create an outline of their project and incrementally add more material in a structured manner.
Traditional writing software is usually linear, which makes it difficult to keep track of progress made in different sections. The longer your document gets, the more overwhelming it would be to organize everything. With its unique outline+card approach, Gingko allows you to see both the big picture and the details of your writing project.
If you’re used to organizing and outlining your writing first, Gingko will help you quickly get started. Users can drag and drop each card to different levels or branches. Every card can be expanded upon with sub-branches that can go as deep as you need to.
Key Features
- Card-outline approach to creating documents
- Markdown support
- Supports inserting images
- Tag support for searching
- Able to embed any HTML or iframe
- Export options such as Markdown, PDF, and slideshows
Pricing
The Gingko Writer app costs $9.75 per month when paid yearly and $12.75 per month when paid monthly. Users can avail of a free 14-day trial, no credit card is required.
4 – iA Writer
iA Writer is an all-in-one writing application available for Mac, iOS, Windows, and Android. The app boasts a minimalist design that allows writers to focus on the content.
Users can arrange sections of text easily with the content blocks feature. The app also comes with a built-in focus mode that allows writers to only focus on the current sentence they’re writing. Writing with Markdown also allows users to quickly format their text without having to navigate around a clunky UI that you might find in Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
The iA Writer team designed three custom fonts that work well with both the regular theme and night mode. The app’s syntax highlighting feature offers a structured view of your text and can help you look for unnecessary adjectives or redundant phrases.
While iA Writer is perfect for short-form content, managing multiple sections and chapters is difficult since the app does not have native support for them. IA Writer can sync files via iCloud or Dropbox.
Key Features
- minimalist interface
- focus mode
- content block feature
- advanced markdown editor
- Syntax highlighting
- style checker
Pricing
iA Writer is available for both macOS and Windows for a one-time purchase of $29.99. Mobile users can also download the app on the App Store and Google Play Store for the same price. Android users have the option to pay $4.99 for a yearly subscription.
5 – Ulysses
Ulysses is a writing app available for the Mac, iPad and iPhone. The app makes it easy for you to write long-form content on the go. The app also makes it incredibly easy to manage your writing time with great features such as markup-based syntax and daily writing goals.
Writers who often travel can have their work seamlessly synchronized to all compatible devices. Ulysses is perfect as an all-in-one writing tool for both short and long-form content, especially for fans of the Apple ecosystem.
Key Features
- built-in proofreader
- export to PDF, word documents, and blog posts
- seamless integration with third-party platforms such as WordPress, Ghost, and Medium.
- Goal setting feature
- markup-based text editor
- iCloud synchronization
Pricing
Ulysses is available for $49.99 for a yearly subscription. This plan includes seamless iCloud synchronization and downloads for Macs, iPads, and iPhones. They also offer reduced pricing for student users.
6 – Readable
Readable is an online tool that can help improve the readability of your writing. Their Readable A-E rating is trusted by various sectors and industries to maintain a standardized level of readability across teams.
Readable’s scores are backed by various algorithms and indexes such as the Flesch Kinkaid Grade Level, Gunning Fog Index, and SMOG.
Readable includes a tone and sentiment tool that you can use to find the right tone for your audience. The toolkit also offers keyword density detection which can help keep your writing from becoming stale and over-stuffed with repeating words and phrases.
Advanced use cases can use the Readable Pro API to integrate the Readable service into your team’s applications and CMS software.
Key Features
- Text analysis and editor
- custom dictionary
- text file analysis
- email analysis
- Readability API
Pricing
Readable’s ContentPro plan is ideal for authors, marketers, and educators who want to improve the readability of their projects. The plan starts at $4 per month and includes a 7-day free trial. The CommercePro plan is targeted at small businesses and comes with a minimum of three users. This plan starts at $24 per month.
AI Writing Assistants
AI writing assistants are an increasingly popular tool for freelance writers, digital agencies and content creators. These tools allow you to generate content at scale and free up time to work on other writing-related tasks such as research.
Content creation is a difficult job, but with the help of AI writing tools, it doesn’t have to be. With these tools, it is possible to create engaging content that will draw in your target audience.
Here are some of the best AI writing assistants available today.
7 – Jasper
Jasper, formerly known as Jarvis.ai, is a writing assistant that generates content for any type of business. It provides assistance to the content writers by getting rid of writer’s block and generating content ideas at scale.
Jarvis.ai is a new AI-powered writing assistant that helps clients create engaging, personalized, and effective content on demand. Jarvis assigns keywords to your text and then produces an optimized article or blog post in minutes. It also edits articles to make them more readable and appealing to the reader.
Key Features
- Paragraph generator and text summarizer
- multiple templates to choose from for all types of use cases
- pre-built workflows to create content using a repeatable process
- Tone of Voice options
- SEO mode
Pricing
Jasper offers a Starter plan that starts at $29 a month. The Starter plan includes 50+ AI templates and support for over 20 languages. Users can upgrade to the “Boss Mode” plan which includes a Google Docs style Editor and Compose and Command Features. Boss Mode starts at $59 a month.
8 – Rytr
Rytr is a leading AI writing assistant that helps you write better content by generating ideas, suggesting words, and making sure your sentences are grammatically correct.
The platform uses machine learning to help you write better content. It can generate ideas, suggest words, and make sure your sentences are grammatically correct. The tool can be used for a wide number of use cases such as blog writing, emails, social media ads and more.
Rytr’s Ideas feature generates content ideas based on the topic of the document or sentence you are currently working on. You can also use the Suggestions feature to generate different words for your sentence or paragraph to choose from when you need a word that’s not coming to mind. The Grammar Check feature checks for grammatical errors in your document as you type.
Key Features
- Language support for 30+ languages
- Over 18 tones to select from
- Supports 20+ use cases including blog writing, video description, email marketing, and more
- Powerful Editor that allows you to shorten and expand any section
Pricing
The Saver plan allows you to generate 50,000 characters for $9 per month. The saver plan includes access to a premium community and the ability to create your own use cases.
The Unlimited plan allows you to generate an unlimited number of characters per month for a monthly price of $29. The Unlimited plan also comes with a dedicated account manager and priority email and chat support
Conclusion
Much like any creative work, writing requires the use of tools and techniques that the writer is comfortable with. The best tools for writing allow the author to increase their productivity, organization, and efficiency during the writing process.
Which of these writing apps and software is your favorite?
Let us know if we missed any useful writing tools out there.
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