Writing Tools

Where Scrivener adds organizational tools that rival a project management application, Ulysses removes interface elements until only the words remain. An Apple Design Award winner built for Mac, iPhone, and iPad authors who want clean, and distraction-free drafting.

Writing a novel is monumental enough without fighting your tools. This guide covers the essential software, planning tools, formatting apps, and hardware that independent authors use throughout the writing and publishing process — from blank page to publish-ready files.

Every editor accepts Word. Every publisher expects it. Every collaborator works in it. Whatever your opinions about its limitations as a long-form writing tool, Word's universality makes it mandatory knowledge for any author who works with other people. Here's what it's excellent at, where it falls short, and how to use it wisely.

Scrivener is the most widely used long-form writing application in the indie author community for good reason — it was designed from the ground up for the way novelists actually work. This guide covers every feature that matters, the Scrivener 3 Windows update that closed the Mac/Windows gap, iOS sync, and how to get past the learning curve.

Google Docs is free, requires no installation, auto-saves every keystroke to the cloud, works on every device, and handles collaborative editing as well as any tool available. For authors just starting out, it's the correct place to begin. For experienced authors who collaborate heavily, it remains the best option for that specific job.

Lacuna is a desktop book formatting application for Windows and Mac — import your DOCX, apply a professional style, export EPUB and print-ready PDF. No internet required, no files on their servers, no subscription. $139 one-time, with an unlimited free trial that requires no credit card. Built by a published author who needed it herself.

Atticus is the only mainstream tool that combines a writing environment with professional ebook and print formatting output — and it runs on Windows, Mac, and Chromebook. For Windows authors who've envied Vellum's output without access to it, and for authors who want to simplify their tool stack, Atticus is the answer.

Among Mac-using indie authors, Vellum has an almost cult-like following — and for good reason. It produces the most beautiful ebook and print formatting available to indie authors, with a free-to-format model that lets you design your entire book before spending a dollar. The catch: it's Mac-only.

Plottr is a visual story planning tool, not a writing tool. You don't draft your manuscript in Plottr — you plan it. Timelines, character arcs, plotlines, and scene cards laid out visually so you can see the architecture of your story before you commit to prose. The most useful thing in the toolkit for authors who plot before they write.