A couple of years ago, I was on a mission to find the best writing program or software for me. I had a list of strict and soft requirements, an aversion to spending too much money on a given product, and a go-getter attitude.
DISCLAIMER: I am not being paid for my opinions. All opinions stated in this post are just that. Any products I’ve used, I purchased with my own money for the sole purpose of using them in a recreational manner. I am not a paid or unpaid sponsor or affiliate of any of these products.
I’ve tried many, many different software, scouring the Google pages and devouring the results. And while many of them worked, I had forgotten one huge detail about my style of writing: I have ADHD, which for me means that I don’t stick to one program/software/thing for very long. I’m constantly chasing the dopamine trail for the next big thing, confident that this will finally be it, what I’ve been searching for! But after a few weeks, months, or even years, I go back to Google and search again.
The truth is, there isn’t one perfect software for me. There may be one for you (and that’s awesome!) but I thrive on variety, which means my writing tools are fluid and ever-changing. It’s taken a few years to really accept this about myself, but now I don’t beat myself up about using a software for only a limited amount of time, since it was fun while it lasted.
Let’s start with my list of strict requirements. Things I really couldn’t live without:
- Cross-platform capability
- Automatic backup options (whether that was a proprietary or 3rd party option, I didn’t care as much)
- Good for the budget
Next, we have my soft requirements. Things I want but ultimately could live without if I otherwise liked the product enough:
- Non-subscription based pricing
- The ability to auto-format an em dash (Yeah, I’m one of those people)
- Real-time collaboration features
- Dark mode
Now that we’ve settled on the requirements, let’s get into the Subscription-based options (in no particular order):
- Microsoft Word – Ah, the tried and true Microsoft Word. Many a person has used this at least once in their life, probably in school. While I use Word plenty, I don’t actively write in Word. I just need the .docx file at the end of the day. It’s not a bad word processor, if you pay for Microsoft 365 and get the desktop application. Word Online is the only way to achieve online collaboration, but Word Desktop is the only way to achieve dark mode. Online may have changed since I last used it, but the bad taste in my mouth at how slow it ran still lingers, steering me away.
- Novlr – Out of all the subscription-based products I’ve tried, this one has to be my favorite. There’s a user-friendly interface, allowance for automatic em-dashes, backups to Google Drive or DropBox, but no online collaboration. It does offer an online/offline mode, two different kinds of dark mode, and nice fonts. Pretty distraction-free as well!
- The Novel Factory – Runner up to Novlr. I used this for a long time and really loved it. Besides writing, you can also plan out your projects with a “cork board and note card” type interface as well as a character builder. It offers great organizing of all your items and has a great feature that allows you to put in query submission information to keep track of it per project. ALL of it is exportable, yes, ALL. So everything you put in, you can take away from the website into a RTF, DOC, or DOCX, which is amazing.
- Dabble – I tried Dabble and enjoyed it until I ran into a sync issue and lost some work. Granted, this was many years ago and I’m sure the product has improved. I was also trying to move back and forth between different computers, so it’s entirely possible the sync issue was my fault. Similar to other writing software, Dabble features a plot grid, character profiles, world building tools, and more. Their roadmap features collaboration, beta reader workflow, and editor workflow, which would be really amazing to have.
- Novelize – Not bad, really, but there were a lot of options that I didn’t need and didn’t want to pay for. As a web-based program, you can write anywhere you have internet access. There’s options to outline, write, or organize your novel with different “modes” as they call it. It also has plugin support for Grammarly and ProWritingAid (that’s new since I tried it!) but you must have a subscription to those programs to use them in Novelize.
- Plot Factory – There is a free version with limited features. One thing this software offers over others is the ability to dictate into the software, which is pretty neat! There is a limit to how many words you can narrate on the Free and “Hobbyist” plans. Real-time, online collaboration is available but only to the highest paid plan. Otherwise you can organize and write your novel with ease.
- Prices here – Scroll down towards the bottom of the page
- Prices here – Scroll down towards the bottom of the page
- Campfire Blaze – I used to have Campfire Pro, and this it’s upgraded sister. It seems amazing in concept. I really do recommend this if you’re doing any type of world building or researching. It’s a subscription-based product with a limited free tier. It’s a great all-in-one that’s easy to use, has a lot of functionality, and cool themes/aesthetics. But every time I try to use it, I am overwhelmed by the amount of things there are. The customization is practically endless. A really nice feature is that you all of its features are separated and you can pay only for what you need.
- Prices range from $2/mo for the Manuscript feature to $16/mo for all features. There’s also an option to pay for a lifetime license to “the tools you need.”
- Prices range from $2/mo for the Manuscript feature to $16/mo for all features. There’s also an option to pay for a lifetime license to “the tools you need.”
- Novel Crafter – I enjoyed this software, but I did not use it for long. Nothing against the software, but I think in my quest to find “the perfect writing product” I was swept up into the next big thing, and unfortunately, Novel Crafter was left in the dust. It has a lot of great features and many tiers of paid subscriptions so that you can choose which one works best for you. The lowest tier even offers two types of collaboration: Viewer and Editor. You can have dark mode included in all subscription tiers, and even write on the go on your phone! I might give this a try later on at some point, to get a better sense of the software.
- First Draft Pro – To be fair, I only ever used the free trial for this one, but I had every intention of buying a subscription. This software has synchronous co-authoring capabilities, which is specifically what I was looking for at the time, as a good friend and I were planning on co-writing a book. Because life gets in the way, we ended up barely starting the project and then put it down (Deedee, it’s still going to happen one day!), so I never ventured beyond the free trial, but this was the software I have in mind for when we pick up the project again. There is a free tier, so I may give this a try sometime later on.
- LivingWriter – When I first tried this product, it had a free version, but that does not seem to be the case anymore. I enjoyed the product initially, with it’s “at a glance” features to easily reference characters, notes, descriptions, and the like so that you’ve got everything you need at your fingertips. But similarly to Novel Crafter, I ultimately moved on from the product.
I tend to shy away from subscription-based products for writing. Nothing against the product itself, for I’ve enjoyed my time with all of them, but I swing widely between feast or famine with my craft. This means I’ll write a billion words in a couple of weeks and then not touch the project for six months. Okay, “a billion” is a bit hyperbolic but you get the meaning. I didn’t want to be paying for a product I wasn’t actively using.
Which subscription-based writing products are your favorite? Next month, we’ll dive into the Free options I’ve tried out.
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