Ok here is a compilation of all the software and useful tools I’ve come across whilst writing. Some of them I’ve reviewed on here already, more coming soon.
Got an idea? Well get planning! Here’s some useful outlining, brainstorming and mind- mapping software:
Coggle
Lucidchart
Mural.ly
Blumind
MindMeister
Mindmaple
Mindomo
NovaMind
Popplet
Scapple
Tree Sheets
Visual Understanding Environment (VUE)
XMind
FreeMind
Oak Outliner
Work Flowy
The Outliner of Giants
Just want to get writing? You want a word processor:
Gedit
Google Docs
Kate
LibreOffice
Microsoft Word
My Writing Spot
NoteTab
Open Office
Quabel
Ted
Vim
yEdit
Making notes? Here you go:
CintaNotes
Evernote
KeepNote
Memonic
MS OneNote
Scribe
SuperNotecard
Tomboy
Timelines giving you a headache? Try these:
Aeon Timeline
Dipity
Preceden
Tiki-Toki
Timeglider
Timeline
TimelineJS
TimeToast
Now perhaps you want to organise those notes. Got a lot of research? Character sheets? Images? Well here’s some tools to keep all that together:
Liquid Story Binder XE
LitLift
PangurPad
Scriptito
Scrivener
Writer’s Café
Yarny
yWriter
Are you easily distracted? The following tools will keep you on track:
Dark Room
FocusWriter
JDarkRoom
Momentum Writer
OmmWriter
Q10
Writemonkey
Zen Writer
Even more productivity tools to help keep you focussed on your task:
Cold Turkey
FocalFilter
Freedom
InternetOff
Keepmeout
Nanny
Productivity Owl
RescueTime
SelfControl
SelfRestraint
Simple Blocker
StayFocusd
Strict Workflow
Time Doctor
Waste No Time
Website Blocker
So you’ve got something down? Need to edit?
AutoCrit
EditMinion
Grammarly
LyX
SlickWrite
SmartEdit
After the Deadline
All done? Perhaps you’d like some e-publishing tools:
Acrobat
InDesign
Calibre
CutePDF
Jutoh
Mobipocket Creator
PagePlus
PageStream
PDFCreator
Scribus
Sigil
Turns out I’d forgotten about screenwriters, so here goes:
CeltX
Plotbot
Scripped
ScriptBuddy
Trelby
WriterDuet
Slugline
Page2Stage
Highland
I’m feeling generous, have some more cool stuff:
750 Words
One Page per Day
Oneword
Penzu
Write or Die
Written Kitten
Focus Booster
Spaaze
AutoREALM (Map building software)
ETA: After a request I’ve added screenplay software to the list.
Skipping a day of writing.
Not having a perfect first draft.
Partaking in sinister, arcane rituals for inspiration.
Working at their own pace.
Enlisting demons and/or helpful spirits to aid them with editing.
"Stay."
"Just go."
"I hate you."
"Because I love you."
"Don't leave me."
"Leave me alone."
"I need space."
"Don't go."
"Talk to me."
"I want only you."
"You need to move on."
"Please, speak to me."
"This will end now."
"I want to forget you."
"Hate me."
"Why?"
"Lie to me."
"I can't do this."
"Tell me."
"I'm just afraid."
"Please, leave."
"You can't leave me."
"I need you."
"Don't do this."
"Just stop."
"It's over."
"Tell me the truth."
"I can't lose you."
"We're done."
"Please."
If you're a writer you're supposed to write a lot of bullshit. It's part of the gig. You have to write a lot of absolute garbage in order to get to the good bits. Every once in a while you'll be like "Oh, I wish I hadn't wasted all that time writing bullshit," but that's dumb. That's exactly the same as an Olympic runner being like "Oh, I wish I hadn't wasted all that time running all those practice laps"
fanfic writing culture isn’t “oh dang! I wanted to write about this prompt with this character but someone else already wrote it, so now I can’t”.
fanfic writing culture is always “two cakes is better than one. the more the merrier. there can ever be enough fics of this character with this prompt!”
May Prompts 🌺
Word prompts to use for doodling or writing
strawberries
adventure
golden hour
lake house
picnic
mayflower
nostalgia
homecoming
juice box
farmer’s market
morning light
birdsong
drive-in theater
island
photographs
riptide
coffee-to-go
tree house
instrument
cerulean
porch
animal shelter
lemonade
potted plant
spirit
milkshake
orchids
field
petrichor
sketching
memory lane
step 1: conceptualize fic
step 2: plot out intricate details of fic
step 3: avoid actually writing fic
step 4: eventually get bored of fic and abandon it for a new project
step 5: repeat.
If you’re having writers block…READ!!!! CONSUME MEDIA
I feel like I don’t hear that given enough as advice for writers block..just read? Watch tv? Movies? Find inspiration in media.
Writers block is a lack of inspiration, so go collect more.