#writing program

I mean, obviously, we're biased, but you could try...us! We are a writer-owned creative writing platform designed to keep your writing space distraction-free and help you achieve your goals. We are built by writers, run by writers, and co-owned by our writers.

Novlr is free to use for up to five projects. We wanted to make a web app that was accessible to as many writers as possible, so you don't have to pay a cent to use Novlr as a writing platform.

Included, you'll find features like full-screen focus mode for a distraction-free writing environment, automatic cloud backups that let you access and edit your work from any device with an internet connection at any time, and the ability to set and track your own goals.

We're a small team, but one that is focused on continuous development and improvement. We welcome all feedback and criticism, and are always around here, via email, through our in-app chat, and in our Discord to chat about writing or Novlr as a platform.

We'd love to welcome you to our writing community!

I used Word for years. Now I need to subscribe to it.

So I swapped to Office. And used that for about 2 years. Now I need to subscribe to it or buy it if I want to keep using it because I ran out of storage.

So I swapped to Evernote. And it's still free. And I still have plenty storage. But I get locked out of my account each time they need to update the app. Also, it uses AI, which I'm not totally comfortable with.

But every other thing I look at, I either need to set up an account with (& will ultimately lose, either in 3 years or 12 when the developers take it away for one reason or another, or make it a subscription service), subscribe to, or buy.

Anyone sometimes feel like you know what your story is going to look like and you know what you want to be like but sometimes you can't put it in words.

--

The red had been sucked out of the world and replaced with yellow. Well, not in its entirety but the things Morgan thought should be red were simply… not. She didn’t like the color - it was jarring and abhorrent. She didn’t love red either, but yellow was simply worse. It screamed and pulsed for attention, radiating a texture that made her want to scrunch up her nose and turn away. She wished that it had been done differently, that the yellows had been replaced with violets or blues or greens. But no such luck. 

Perhaps she would lodge a complaint with the sorcerers. 

Some of the shifts would probably be simple enough to revert. The AED box, for example, was supposed to be red because that’s what drew the eye. In an emergency, would anyone see it? Would anyone notice? Morgan supposed she already had the answer to her question. After all, she had spied the half-removed stickers, the dirt that caked onto the corners and edges. But then, that was the kind of thing that stood out when you made a dark object so much lighter. 

But there were other things too. She had passed a newspaper stand on her way to work, and found that the dilapidated one, with the little door broken, the box void of papers and instead filled with cobwebs and weeks-old rain water, was so much more depressing now. People assumed yellow was a happy color, and Morgan couldn’t agree with that -- even if she did have a yellow name -- but she also couldn’t deny the juxtaposition was jarring. 

She supposed some things were better. Those she couldn’t use for her argument. The old lady across the street seemed to love her new bright yellow bucket hat, and a woman had found the perfect decorations to bring out the positives of her yellow backpack. 

Here’s lookin’ at you, fantasy writers!

I just discovered the program Plot Factory, a cloud-based writing program with functionalities similar to Scrivener (with a pretty interface and not nearly as steep a learning curve)

Disclaimer: It is, unfortunately, a subscription service. But all the important functionalities are FREE (with ads. I think you get 3 stories on a free account). They offer a two-week trial and the important functionalities are available with the $9 tier. IMO, the price is worth it.

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS PROGRAM.

I say this is for fantasy writers (or speculative fic writers of all stripes) because the worldbuilding capabilities are astounding. You can start, if you so choose, by creating a Universe. This includes creating laws for the world (statutory laws, laws of physics, whatever you want), various settings, important objects, etc.

Then, you create your Story. (The Universe step can be skipped if you want to go straight to the story, but what’s cool about the Universe option is that if you create a Universe and input a bunch of setting/character profiles, you can import them into any story that’s linked to the Universe - if you’re creating a multi-book series, this is a really neat thing).

From there, you can go create your Characters. Non-pro accounts come with a basic character sheet that you can customize however you want, but pro accounts come with a “comprehensive” character sheet that I am in love with. (It’s so thorough!)

Anyways, the worldbuilding elements are all well and good, you say. 

But what about the Writing Interface?

First, the cons:

If you look at the navigation bar on the right, it’s not quite as neatly delineated as Scrivener’s. You can create chapters and then scenes within chapters, but the distinction isn’t very clear, visually

It seems you’re not able to name scenes? You ARE able to name chapters, though. I just solved the scene-naming problem by making the first line of text the scene name (ex. “Scene 1: Illyon)

Now, the PROS:

The word count per scene/per chapter is nice

Chapter box notes in the top right corner! (Not to be confused with the Notes section in the navigation bar, which can include anything from research notes to ideas/brainstorming, to a cut passages graveyard)

My FAVORITE thing: see that little character icon next to the first line of text? You can set a POV CHARACTER for the chapter!! As someone who has a lot of POV characters, this is a life saver

My other favorite thing: see that little microphone button in the bottom corner? If you have a pro account, you can choose a narrator voice and have it READ YOUR STORY BACK TO YOU

It’s really easy to rearrange scenes/insert scenes into pre-existing chapters

You can set session goals!

Some other aspects of the program that are super cool:

The home screen will show you a words per day breakdown

There’s also a plot-mapping tool that I haven’t explored yet because I’m overwhelmed by everything else

You can sync to dropbox and set up automatic backups

Dark mode

There’s a built in name generator, for some reason?

You can import stories from scrivener

There are forums AND a discord server. I haven’t looked at the forums, but I’m in the server and it seems nice enough so far