PART 2: Some thoughts on writing websites and software, from someone who’s tried a lot of them.

Welcome back to my talk on all the different writing software I’ve tried out. Today, we’re going to cover the Free options I’ve tried.

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.

But first, let’s go over our requirements list again. Let’s start with strict requirements:

• 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 soft requirements. Things I want but ultimately could live without if I otherwise liked the product enough

Here are the Free options I’ve tried thus far (Mostly in no particular order):

• Google Docs – I’m sure most people have heard of Google Docs, the trendy, hip sister to Microsoft Office. It’s first on this list because it’s what I’ve used the most throughout my writing journey as an adult. It’s online, real-time collaboration is something I have not been able to match in any other software I’ve tried. It’s whole suite is free, generally speaking, for the average user, but you can pay to upgrade your Google Drive storage for a decently cheap subscription. Some time ago you had to rig the system to allow the formatting of a proper em dash, but now it’s automatic. The only reason I’ve switched to something else is because Google Docs doesn’t handle long documents very well. It can be slow, laggy, and struggle to load the text when you scroll up or down, especially on a mobile device. But I still keep all my backups of chapters, novels, research, etc. in Google Drive. Google Docs is my old reliable, a tried and true software that I’ll probably always use in some capacity.
  
• The Quill – Currently this product is free because it is in Beta form (no current timeline of when it will become a paid product). You don’t need to make your own account as you can use Google, Facebook, and others to log in, but you will need to use the same 3rd party account each time to continue previous works. I stopped using this because although it fulfills most of my requirements, the price is that you can only use Times New Roman as your manuscript font. Too many school papers has turned me off on Times New Roman.
  
• Zoho Writer – When I found Zoho, which is a whole office suite like Microsoft but free for individuals, I was incredibly jazzed. But like Microsoft Online, the real-time collaboration was just not up to par when I used it. But since I’ve used it, they’ve implemented a bunch of new, exciting features, like the ability to lock or mask portions of a document and a focus mode. Zoho Work Drive is their version of OneDrive or Google Drive and does come with a free plan, with options for different paid tiers with more storage and features.
  
• ApolloPad – Similar to The Quill, this product is currently in its Beta phase, with no current timeline on when it will become a paid product. There are a lot of cool features included for storyboarding, plotting, characters, etc., but at the time I tried it, I only needed a good word processor, as I was trying to use Campfire Pro for my worldbuilding needs.
  
• FocusWriter – A distraction-free word processor with fun backgrounds! But this did not have enough features for me at the time of trying it.
  
• NovelWriter – This free, open-source program runs on Linus, Windows, and MacOS. I downloaded it, tried it for a day, and realized that I already had the same thing in using Bibisco (we’ll talk about them in my next article, stay tuned for Part 3!). It’s built off markdown and plain text files, which means there currently are no export options other than markdown, HTML, Open Document, and PDF.
  
• DropBox Paper – Oh, DropBox Paper. The best for info dumping your research without organization but not good for actually writing a book. It’s too freeform, if such a thing is possible. It has great online collaboration though!
  
• Novelist – Ultimately, I looked into Novelist because of its optimized for a smartphone. I wanted something to run on my BOOX Palma, which didn’t really work, but that’s not Novelist’s fault (somethings just shouldn’t be run on an e-ink machine). It offers a rich text editor, backup and restore options, templates, and more, all free!
  
• Reedsy – I used Reedsy pretty heavily. Honestly the only reason I stopped is because the dopamine wore off and I got bored. But there’s nothing wrong with the product. You’ve got spaces for notes, outlines, and your actual draft. It could be a little more robust with its features, but for a free software, it’s pretty dang good.
  
• Ellipsus – I wanted to like Ellipsus. I wanted to pretty badly, but I found it confusing to use. It’s for collaborative writing but it’s not in real-time (at least it wasn’t when I tried it), instead it uses a “draft and merge” system that I just couldn’t figure out. Currently in its Beta phase and will be moved to a paid product at a later time.
  
• Calmly Writer Online – I used this a little. There’s no login, you simply go to the website and begin typing, which is nice for those of us that hate having to log in to use a site. You can export the doc or print it once you’re complete. There’s the ability to “save” and it connects to Google Drive, but that’s it. Otherwise, you’ll lose your work (I think, I don’t know for sure). I’m sure there’s a way for that to not happen, I just don’t know what it is. What I dislike about it… zero formatting. Granted, you can export to a .docx and do all your formatting, but that defeats the purpose of a universal software.
  
• Obsidian – This is markdown editor + “second brain.” I really like Obsidian, but it’s not really formatted for long documents. It reminds me of a not-so-complicated Zettelkasten system. Thoughts can link together to the next thought, and so on, but you’re not limited to the Zettelkasten where it’s supposed to be just one thought at a time. There are community plugins which will let you do all sorts of things in Obsidian. It’s really a great piece of software, but it’s not for me when it comes to writing a novel.

Phew, that was a list! There were even some I didn’t include because unfortunately, they don’t exist anymore (RIP). Next month, we’ll wrap up this discussion with the One-Time Purchase options I’ve tried and reveal what I’m currently using.

What’s your favorite free writing software?