Free novel writing software??

Help!!!!

Anyone know a good free novel writing software? Something other than Word.
Would like to try write a story that's been going on in my head for awhile

Das Kitty

You're not going to get a whole lot for free.

What's bugging you about Word?

chillyspoon

That's incorrect Das Kitty; there are plenty of perfectly viable writing options out there for free (or cheaper than might be expected).

In direct competition to Word; you have:

Free traditional word processors:
- LibreOffice (Mac/Win) - open source direct competitor to Word.
- Google Docs (Web/Mobile); combined with the Google Drive PC software this can be quite powerful for arranging folder structures as well as the writing/editing process.
- Pages (Mac - comes free with the OS.. if you have a Mac of course!)

Something more fluid but still free:
- FocusWriter (Mac/Win https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/)
- yWriter (Mac/Win http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter6.html)
- CeltX (Mac/Win more script oriented than novel)
- Evernote (Mac/Win & Web)

For small money:
- Scrivener (Mac/Win/iOS - the BEST by far on this whole list for creative writing: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php)
- Ulysses (Mac/iOS)
- IA Writer (Mac/iOS)
- Writers Cafe (Mac/Win - a bit old fashioned and clunky but very capable)

Das Kitty

I use Scrivener myself.

After trying a few free options and finding them lacking, and losing my nut with Word, I bought Scrivener and never looked back.

It someone wants freeware, I have none I would happily recommend. I wanted to get a feel for what the poster didn't like about Word so I could see if I could help.

chillyspoon, do you think any of those free options are any good for novel writing?

Help!!!!

Thanks guys for all your help & suggestions. I don't really have a problem with word but was just wondering if there was something better out there. This would be the first time writing so need all the help I can get

Mr E

I'm starting a CYOA story/game for Android and Scrivener looks PERFECT for that, thanks DK!

Das Kitty

Help!!!! wrote: »

Thanks guys for all your help & suggestions. I don't really have a problem with word but was just wondering if there was something better out there. This would be the first time writing so need all the help I can get

Word is perfectly passable for getting the wordcount down. It's a pain though when you're trying to find parts, or if you want to keep versions without having a million files.

If you get Scrivener, don't do the tutorial first. It's really long and detailed and will make it seem complicated. Instead have a look on youtube. There are some getting started with the basics tutorials on there that will give you what you need. You can come back later and read the tutorial once you have some writing done.

Things I like about Scrivener:
- Versioning - you can keep unlimited snapshots of versions of what you've written and compare them to each other.
- Segregrating chapters - you have a folder for each chapter, and you can put a one line summary on each one and look at them all together.
- Compile - You can set up the whole thing to compile into a manuscript for printing/submission. You have huge control over how it ends up looking and what you do and don't want to include.
- Expanded workspace - you can use this in full screen, so you don't get distracted by anything as you churn out the words.

I will say though, that I still write all my short stories in Word.

chillyspoon

Doh I accidentally deleted my reply!

Just that I think Scrivener is ace too but I often step out into IA Writer for raw simplicity.

There are plenty of people out there who have written large scale projects in Evernote; which is free but limited to two devices. However, the web interface can be used from anywhere an is excellent. So I use the web interface on my computer and have the app installed on my phone and tablet.

For a direct (feature by feature) and free alternative to Word; Libreoffice is really the only option for desktop computers. On tablets there are several such as the excellent Polaris Office.

Das Kitty

Another resource (though not an editor) I use in my writing is dropbox. You can install it across devices and it synchs between them all. It appears on your computer like a regular drive/folder. It has a website too and you can edit /write directly in there with a web editor.

I had a buddy recently whose laptop went kaput and she lost half a year's progress on her novel. It really drove home to me (someone who's crap at remembering to back up) how valuable it is to have the auto-backup and synch with dropbox.

There are other that do the same job too, I think box.com is another, but I've only used Dropbox.

Das Kitty

I wrote some flash fiction on this a few months ago. It's brilliant for stopping the inner editing nazi.

http://writeordie.com/

beauf

Problem with Word is no one bothers to learn it. They just dive in then wonder why nothing works how they want it to. You can build a whole lot of custom tools in VBA. Nothing else really has that power. That said most people use about 10% of it.

Most people might want something simpler. As advised above.