writing planning websites

The Best Way to Outline Your Novel

With our friendly online story plotter (including our novel planning templates).

The perfect cross between an online plotting tool and a step-by-step written course on characters, world-building, and plot outlines.

Forget about not knowing where to start, getting stuck in the middle, or doing massive rewrites later. With this story-planning tool in your hands, your chances of completing your novel will quadruple. 

How it Works

Interesting characters, rich worldbuilding, plot outline, we don't give you answers. we simply ask all the right questions., getting started the easy way, no installation, secure & safe, access anywhere, may the muse be ever with you, manage your ideas, free forever.

Beginning To End

Manage your stories, make us care, cast your characters.

Unique, Proven Method

4-act structure, with you all the way, guided creation.

God Is In The Details

Comprehensive worldbuilding, we love you too, what our fans have to say.

Frequently Asked Questions

You might be wondering..., is novelchick free.

NovelChick is free to sign up, manage your unlimited ideas,  and brainstorm. You can also create a story, one hero, and one world article in the free plan.

Everything beyond that point — unlimited characters, plot notes, world articles, and detailed act outlines — is available as soon as you upgrade your account. You can control your subscription from within the platform.

Is NovelChick For Me?

NovelChick works best for writers who:

• Don’t know how to go from idea to full plot
• Are tired of writing by the seat of their pants and getting nowhere
• Need help with their character, worldbuilding, or plotting skills

If you want to write a popular book that sells well—then NovelChick is precisely for you.

Will NovelChick Help Me Complete My Novel?

Yes. When you know in advance where your novel is going and why, you’ll find it easier to complete the first draft, and you’ll need fewer revisions to make it all flow together.

Can I write my entire novel in NovelChick?

Not quite. NovelChick is a novel planning tool, not writing software. We focus on giving you the best tools to plot your stories with success.

When I'm Done Writing My Outline, What's Next?

You can export your complete outline, characters, and plot notes into an editable Word document with one click of the mouse. The resulting file will be your constant guide as you write the first draft.

Will You Help Me If I Get Stuck?

Yes! You can always reach us through the website chat/email in the bottom right corner, or through the support ticket system. We’ll do our best to help you hatch and grow your novel.

Who's behind NovelChick?

More Questions?

Let's do it, ready to plot your novel.

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Home » Writing » 50 writing websites and online resources

Sites for notes and writing

6. evernote.

This bookmarking tool is a great way to collect moments of inspiration and ideas for your story together in one place, where they can be filed and organized, ready to be put to good use. It might be a ‘how to’ article you want to read, a quote that reminds you of one of your characters, or an image that would be the perfect setting for your next scene. Inspiration strikes in the most unexpected places, but as Evernote is available on almost every platform, you can collect notes wherever you are. You can choose to have one notebook that you throw everything into, or you can set up separate notebooks to help you organize your thoughts and ideas as you go. If you’re working on a novel, why not set up separate notebooks for each character or each chapter?

7. Scrivener

While some writers prefer to stick with the traditional pen and paper or word processor, for others, technology can be a game-changer. Scrivener is a powerful writing tool that allows you to organize your notes, research, and writing all in one place. You can create separate documents for each chapter, scene, or character and easily move them around as needed. You can also set word count goals and track your progress, making it an empowering tool for both planning and writing your work.

8. Storyist

Another popular writing app is Storyist , which offers a wide range of features for novelists, screenwriters, and playwrights. From corkboard view to character and plot development tools, Storyist helps you bring your stories to life in an organized way. It also has a distraction-free writing mode, making it easier to focus on your writing without any distractions. Plus, with its built-in formatting tools, you can easily export your work into a professional-looking manuscript when it’s time to self-publish.

9. Calmly Writer

For those who prefer a clean and minimalist interface, Calmly Writer is a great option. This writing app allows you to focus on your writing without any clutter or interruptions. You can also save your work as you go, making it easy to come back to where you left off. And with its auto-save feature, you don’t have to worry about losing your work in case of any technical issues. It’s available on both desktop and mobile devices.

10. Ommwriter

For writers who need a tranquil and calming environment to get their creative juices flowing, Ommwriter is the perfect writing app. With soothing background music, minimalistic design, and customizable backgrounds, this app offers a meditative experience for writers. It also has a “focus mode” that allows you to hide everything on your screen except for your writing, helping you stay in the flow and avoid distractions. Ommwriter also has a mindfulness timer that reminds you to take breaks and practice self-care while writing.

Writing community resources

In the realm of writing, the adage “It takes a village” is extremely true. Having a community as a writer isn’t just important—it’s essential. While writing is often seen as a solitary endeavor, there’s nothing like the support, inspiration, and feedback from fellow wordsmiths. It’s about belonging to a group that gets the highs and lows of the creative process and turns struggles into shared successes.

Here are a few of our favorite sites to find your village.

11. Catapult’s Don’t Write Alone

The blog Don’t Write Alone was created by the team at Catapult, a publisher and magazine dedicated to nurturing and enhancing writers’ talents. Founded in 2005, Catapult showcases a diverse range of literary works and is now sharing its vast knowledge. The platform offers a huge collection of content, including insightful interviews, detailed essays on the craft of writing, and explorations of the writer’s life. Its mission is to offer comprehensive support and inspiration to writers at any stage of their journey.

12. Gutsy Great Novelists

Are you a novelist seeking motivation, accountability, and encouragement? Look no further than Gutsy Great Novelists , a free online community just for you. With the tagline “where serious creative writers gather to finish their novels,” you can’t really go wrong. Award-winning novelist Joan Dempsey founded this platform to help writers feel less isolated. Members get access to critique groups, lots of online resources, and events and classes that will keep you on track until your novel is complete.

13. Lambda Literary

For writers and readers alike, Lambda Literary is a community-driven organization that champions LGBTQ+ literature. With a mission to elevate voices and stories that have been historically marginalized, this platform offers various resources for writers, including workshops, literary events, and publishing opportunities. It also hosts an annual writing retreat for emerging queer writers, providing a safe and supportive space for creative expression. Sign us up!

15. Writing.com

Writing.com is one of the largest online writing communities out there. It’s a super supportive environment for writers of all levels—and you have a portfolio to store and share your writing. You can also join various groups based on your interests or genres, providing opportunities for networking and collaboration with other writers. Plus, Writing.com regularly hosts contests and challenges to help improve your writing skills and gain recognition for your work. Whether you’re seeking support or looking to expand your audience, this community has something for everyone.

16. Reddit’s r/WritersGroup

If you’re a Reddit fan, you probably already know about r/WritersGroup . This subreddit serves as a testament to the strength of community in the writing process, offering a space where writers from all walks of life can share their drafts, seek advice, and provide constructive criticism. Whether you’re battling writer’s block, seeking feedback on a new chapter, or just in need of inspiration, this is your go-to sanctuary.

17. She Writes

Created by women, for women, She Writes is a supportive community that celebrates their diverse voices and experiences. With more than 32,000 members and 350 groups, it’s the largest online community of women writers in the world! With forums and tons of articles, this platform provides a safe space for women to share their work and receive feedback from other writers. 

18. SFF Chronicles

For science fiction and fantasy writers, SFF Chronicles is a valuable resource for learning, connecting, and honing your craft. With forums dedicated to discussing the latest trends and tropes in the genre, as well as sections for feedback and critique, this is your virtual writing workshop. It also hosts contests and interviews with established authors, if you’re seeking insight and inspiration.

19. The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Imposter syndrome is hard to battle alone. Step into the Insecure Writer’s Support Group , where those whispers are drowned out by the resounding voices of support, encouragement, and understanding. This haven is dedicated to writers at any stage of their journey, providing you with resources, advice, and, most importantly, a community that gets it. Conquer your insecurities by reading their blogs and monthly newsletters, joining their social media groups, and joining their pitch event to find an agent or publisher (every January).

20. Underlined

Formerly known as Figment , Underlined is a website that provides story starters, writing inspiration, and advice from published authors . You can also join a community of aspiring writers, share excerpts of your work, and provide feedback to each other—all valuable parts of the creative life.

Sites for improving your writing

Now that you’re equipped with a plethora of platforms to connect and expand your creative horizons, it’s time to take your writing to the next level. Improving your craft is a continuous, evolving process—whether you’ve just penned your first poem or are on your tenth novel.

Here are the resources you need to refine your skills, find your unique voice, and perfect the art of storytelling. From grammar guides to story structure tips, these sites offer the tools you need to elevate your writing.

21. 750 Words

As with any skill, the best way to improve your writing is to practice, practice, practice. The website 750 Words provides a daily nudge to get your creative juices flowing. Based on The Artist Way ‘s morning pages , the goal is to write 750 words (roughly three pages) every day, without any distractions. By just writing without an agenda and without judgment, you’ll make writing every day a regular productive habit and steadily build your confidence.

22. Helping Writers Become Authors

The Helping Writers Become Authors site, created by award-winning author K.M. Weiland, offers practical tips and advice on story writing, from structure and plot to character identity and dialogue. It’s a great, regularly updated resource to take you from writer to professional.

23. Grammar Girl

Get a grip on the quirks of language and the rules of good grammar with this entertaining and useful podcast based on the hugely popular blog by the same name. Top listened-to Grammar Girl episodes include “Affect Versus Effect” and “Active Voice & Passive Voice.”

24. Coursera

Looking for a more structured approach to learning? Coursera offers online courses on writing, from writing your first novel to academic writing . With options from top universities such as Stanford and Wesleyan, you’ll have access to expert instruction and peer feedback to hone your skills.

25. Masterclass

Masterclass brings together some of the biggest names in writing, like David Sedaris , Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman , for online video courses on pretty much any aspect of writing you’re looking to learn. With a subscription, you’ll have access to their wisdom and techniques for crafting powerful stories that captivate your readers.

26. Critique Circle

Join a community of writers, both published and aspiring, on Critique Circle to get feedback on your writing and provide critiques for others. With tools for tracking your progress, finding beta readers, and connecting with fellow writers, this platform offers valuable resources for improving your craft. Plus, the supportive atmosphere encourages growth and development as a writer.

27. Now Novel

For those looking for a more structured approach to writing, Now Novel offers personalized coaching and guidance throughout the writing process. From outlining and character development to editing and publishing, their team of experts will provide valuable feedback and support to help you bring your story to life. Whether you’re just starting or need help revising, Now Novel offers a community and resources tailored to your specific needs as a writer.

Resources for characters and plot

We’re betting you have more than one favorite character from more than one book. Characters like Elizabeth Bennett, Albus Dumbledore, and Bilbo Baggins live on in our minds long after we’ve turned the final page. Your characters should become like old friends that you know inside and out to add depth and humanity to your story. These are the resources you need to make it happen.

28. Writer’s Digest’s Character Development Sheets

Subscribing to the Writer’s Digest mailing list gets you access to this free worksheet designed to flesh out each of your characters. Working through a series of questions, you’ll develop their key hopes, fears, and skills, their personality quirks, how they might act in different situations, and how all of this will be revealed to the reader throughout your story.

29. The Write Practice’s Characterization 101

This free course from The Write Practice guides you through seven key steps to creating memorable characters, covering important character archetypes, character motivations, how not to introduce a character to your story, and much more.

30. The Novel Factory’s 150+ Character Questions

Building on the idea of character development sheets, The Novel Factory offers a comprehensive list of over 150 questions to help you fully flesh out each character in your story. From physical appearance and background to their biggest secrets and flaws, this resource will help you create well-rounded and dynamic characters that readers will connect with.

31. TV Tropes

Ever come across a character or plot twist that seems oddly familiar? That’s because many writers use common tropes and archetypes in their stories. TV Tropes is a user-edited wiki page that outlines these common patterns and themes found in media, providing examples and analysis for each one. It’s a helpful resource for understanding how to effectively use, subvert, or avoid these tropes in your writing.

32 Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions

Need some guidance in creating a fictional world for your story? This list of 123 questions from Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America can help you think through all aspects of your world, from its physical laws to its social structure and cultural customs. By taking the time to fully develop your world, you’ll make it feel more immersive and believable for readers.

33 Reedsy’s Plot Generator

When you’re stuck on where to take your story next, Reedsy’s plot generator can help spark new ideas. Simply select a genre and hit “generate” to receive a random plot outline that you can use as a starting point for your own story. It’s a fun tool for getting unstuck and exploring new directions for your plot.

Resources for editing and reviewing

In addition to proofreading for spelling, language, and grammar errors, two other forms of editing should form part of your review process. Developmental editing, which is editing for the structure, flow, and consistency of your story, and substantive editing, which is concerned with clarity, accuracy, and reader comprehension.

When your manuscript or first draft is complete, let it sit a while before reviewing. It also helps to have a second and third set of eyes on your work. Even better, if your budget allows, hiring a professional editor can give your story the polished finish it deserves.

34. Grammarly

Available as a Google Chrome extension or device app, Grammarly works across your web pages and documents as you write to help you catch common writing errors. It highlights and fixes grammar, punctuation, and contextual spelling mistakes. The premium version can also suggest alternative vocabulary choices.

Remember not to rely on online spell checks alone to proofread your work. Always give your text a thorough check yourself, too.

35. ProWriting Aid

ProWriting Aid takes your writing beyond mere spell checks, offering a holistic approach to improve your writing style, tone, and clarity. What sets it apart from Grammarly is its in-depth focus on your writing’s overall readability and engagement level. It provides detailed reports on style, overused words, sentence length variation, and even readability scores, making it invaluable for writers looking to polish their manuscripts to perfection. While Grammarly excels at real-time grammar and spelling corrections, ProWriting Aid is the go-to tool if you’re looking for comprehensive feedback on your structure and style.

36. Hemingway Editor

As the name suggests, Hemingway Editor is an online editing tool and website that will help make your writing clearer, bolder, and more direct—just like the author it’s named after. Simply copy and paste your text into the tool to check for overly complex sentences, overuse of adverbs, and the passive voice. It will also highlight instances where a shorter word could serve the same purpose.

Every writer needs a good editor, and Reedsy only works with the best. Their hand-picked, experienced, professional editors can review your story development, structure, consistency, and style, helping to perfect and polish your manuscript. Reedsy also offers a tool to easily write and format a book , the same way a professional typesetter would. (You can print from their tool with Blurb, too!)

Artificial Intelligence for writers 

AI gets a bad rap, but in our digital age, its emergence is nothing short of a revolution in creativity. Whether you’re battling writer’s block, seeking the perfect synonym to elevate your prose, or plotting a novel, AI-powered writing assistants can offer a wealth of resources at your fingertips. These innovative tools are not doing the writing for you—they’re about enhancing your creativity and offering insights and suggestions that might not have crossed your mind.

38. Sudowrite

Using artificial intelligence, Sudowrite offers suggestions and ideas to help you improve your writing. It can generate plot twists, character names, and even entire paragraphs based on the information you provide. While it’s not meant to replace human creativity and imagination, Sudowrite can be a helpful tool for sparking new ideas and breaking through writer’s block.

Claude has emerged as a dynamic counterpart to ChatGPT, due to its ethical and safer approach to AI. What sets Claude apart is its focus on nuanced, open-minded text generation—working to understand context and intent before replying. It can help you with brainstorming, research, structural analysis, line edits, critique, and even productivity—with writing sprints, prompts, word count, and positive reinforcement. It’s not replacing creativity, but supporting you from blank page to final polish.

40. Jasper.ai

Jasper is another AI-powered writing tool that can assist with plot development, character creation, and even research for your story. Jasper also has a feature that allows you to collaborate with other writers in real time, making it a useful tool for team projects or brainstorming sessions. What’s great about Jasper is that it has a document feature, so you can write, edit, and save your work like you would in Word or Google Docs, rather than chatting back and forth with AI.

Resources for promoting and marketing

Once your masterpiece is polished and ready to shine, the next thrilling chapter of your author’s journey begins: promoting and marketing your book. This can seem like a Herculean task, especially in a world flooded with content. But with the right tools and strategies, you can cut through the noise and get your book into the hands of eager readers.

We’ve lined up the best resources to transform you from a writer into a savvy marketer!

41. Wattpad

Use this storytelling platform to connect with writers and readers around the world, build an audience, and even get discovered. On Wattpad , you start by sharing a story, and then if you build a big enough fan base, you may have a chance to work with entertainment companies and publishers looking to feature your work. Just remember, some publishers won’t print work that appears online, so be sure to do your research before uploading your entire novel!

On this writing and reading hub, you’ll find stories, articles, and inspiration that are curated to your taste and written by people like us. Want to share your own writing, photos, or videos? You can do that on Medium —and potentially earn money. The platform lets you see how your stories are performing and what kinds of readers like your writing. It also offers tips for starting a newsletter, submitting to publications, and curating your work.

43. Kindlepreneur

Kindlepreneur is a treasure trove of resources for authors, especially those venturing into self-publishing. From book marketing and advertising strategies to optimizing your Amazon sales page, author Dave Chesson has got you covered with his helpful blog posts, videos, and courses. He also offers free downloadable templates and worksheets to help you plan and execute your book marketing strategy.

44. NY Book Editors

Need help proofreading your manuscript or marketing your book? NY Book Editors provides editing and proofreading services, as well as an extensive blog full of helpful advice for writers. They also offer a free guide to writing the perfect query letter to help you attract agents or publishers—and plenty of other useful publishing and marketing information.

45. Agency Query

If you want to get an agent or a publisher, use Agency Query to build your list of potential agents and publishers. The website also provides features like tracking the status of pitches sent out to agencies, keeping notes on each agency’s submission requirements, and more.

46. The Creative Penn

The Creative Penn is a website run by bestselling author Joanna Penn . It offers a wealth of information on how to, “write, publish and market your book—and make a living with your writing.” Penn also has a vibrant YouTube channel and podcast where she shares advice for authors, helpful if you are a visual or auditory learner.

47. Publishers Weekly

Stay up to date on the publishing industry and get insider tips from publishers, editors, and literary agents with Publishers Weekly . This website offers news, reviews, job postings, and other helpful resources for writers. They also have a dedicated section for independent authors if that’s you.

48. Storiad

Storiad is a tool designed to help you promote and market your book through social media, website creation, book trailers, and more. They offer various packages for authors at different stages of their careers, from beginners to established writers. Storiad can also help you create a professional author website with built-in marketing tools.

49. BookBub

BookBub is a popular platform that lets you promote your book to millions of readers through daily email newsletters, targeted ads, and featured deals. You can submit your book for consideration or use their blog for free marketing advice and trends in publishing. BookBub also offers webinars, courses, and other resources for writers.

50. Author Marketing Club

Author Marketing Club is a community of authors helping each other promote their work through free and paid book promotion tools, tutorials, webinars, and more. They also offer a powerful search engine that allows you to find relevant blogs, websites, and book promotion sites to submit your work for exposure. Joining this club can help you reach a wider audience and get more readers interested in your writing.

How Blurb can help

From collecting inspiration to the final finishing touches, there’s a whole world of tools , websites, support, and advice out there to help you with every stage of writing your own story and making your own book. You have all the tools you need. Now write!

And when you’re ready to publish and share your work with the world, Blurb can help. Our self-publishing platform allows you to turn your manuscript into a professional-quality book, whether it’s a novel, memoir, poetry collection, or any other genre. With customizable book formats and design tools, as well as tons of options for distribution, we make it easy to bring your writing to your fans.

So what are you waiting for? Start creating and sharing your stories with the world today. We believe in you!

Blurb is your platform designed to turn the dream of publishing your book into reality. Whether you’re crafting a photo book, a novel, or a poetry collection, we’ve got the tools and support to help you professionally design, self-publish, promote, and sell your work.

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Novel organization for serious plotters

Approachable simplicity. Unparalleled customizability.

Hiveword has helped writers organize their novels since 2011. The free account offers the essentials such as scenes, characters, and plotlines while the Hiveword Plus upgrade provides powerful customizability that grows with your needs.

“Measure twice, cut once.” This old carpenter’s adage can be applied to many things including creating a novel. Planning your novel before you write can prevent you from meandering and wasting time. No more dead ends. No more painting yourself into corners. Organizing your story with Hiveword can help you prevent these fates.

Whether you favor index cards, the Snowflake method, or your own process, Hiveword is there for you. Hiveword provides the components that all stories have (characters, scenes, etc.) plus extension points such as tags so that you can mark those components as you see fit. For example, you can mark scenes as TODO, First Plot Point, Twist or whatever you’d like. Mix and match all of these things to achieve the perfect degree of organization for you.

Know Where and When

Which scenes have Bob as the POV character in Paris? Where was the villain last seen? Hiveword’s powerful scene filtering feature allows you to answer all of these questions and more in an instantly understandable way. You can also easily sort your scenes in this filtered mode.

Untangle Plotlines

Managing plotlines can be an exercise in frustration. Prevent that frustration and save time by leveraging Hiveword's plotline management tools. Intuitive visuals make it a breeze to see at a glance how your main plot and subplots weave through your scenes.

Infinite Possibilities with Hiveword Plus

Upgrade to Hiveword Plus to unleash the ultimate in novel organizer customizability. Track anything you can imagine from spells to starships. A Hiveword exclusive!

Create Your Own Things

Track your novel's religions, clans, companies, countries, weapons, spells, or anything you want along with any number of fields to describe them. Your new types will appear in Hiveword like they were there all along. Magic!

Add Your Own Fields

Augment the standard Hiveword types such as scenes, characters, settings, etc., with your own extension fields. There's no limit to the details you can track. Here, a normal Hiveword item can have magical properties.

Attach images to your characters, settings, custom types, etc., in a convenient in-page popup. You can also have unassigned images that are not attached to a story in any way. You can tag your images for simple categorization and use the powerful image filter to see all of your images in one place.

Like the image upload feature, you can have any number of notes for stories, scenes, characters, etc. The same great features exist such as the in-page popup, a powerful filter, and tags for categorization.

Writer's Journal

Many authors use journaling to log their thoughts, brainstorm, or simply free write to get the juices flowing. Sue Grafton does it. Many others do, too. Hiveword Plus makes journaling easy. You can have multiple entries per day and you can tag them for reference.

Search Everything

Find things fast! The search feature sifts through all of your data with Google-like speed and lists the results by category such as characters, settings, etc.

Track and Search Your Research with Bookmarks

Tired of making browser bookmarks for web pages that you can never find again? With Hiveword's bookmarks you can

• Link to anything on the web
• Attach bookmarks to characters, settings, etc.
• Use tags for easy categorization
• Include notes
• Optionally give them a name
• Filter by various attributes
• Search bookmarks by name, tags, and notes

But here's the best part:

Hiveword's search will also search the web page itself!

You'll quickly and easily find your references when you need them with Hiveword's bookmarks.

Turn the lights down to give your eyes a break in low light (or any time!).

All Hiveword accounts include the following features:

• Unlimited stories
• Unlimited scenes
• Unlimited characters
• Unlimited settings
• Unlimited items
• Unlimited plotlines
• Unlimited tags
• Scene board
• Powerful scene filtering
• Plotline visualization
• Character name generator
• Location name generator
• Private workspace
• Data export (no lock-in!)

Login or Register

Hiveword , Writer's Knowledge Base , and Knockout Novel are trademarks of Zecura, LLC Copyright © 2011 - 2024 Zecura, LLC    All rights reserved.

When You Write

10 Best Story Planning Software

This is not an article for pantsers unless you have decided to repent and start planning your stories, and you’ve landed here.

You’re welcome, lost child. Welcome to the 10 best story planning software available in 2024.

Before most established authors sit down to start writing a bestseller, there are tons of things they have to mark off on their checklists. The prewriting stage involves a lot of thinking, plotting, researching, organizing, and polishing up their ideas.

The invention of story planning and writing software has removed some of this burden from writers and they can easily turn to an app to help them sort out their story planning stage.

That’s what this article is all about, Plottr (our overall best) and 9 other of the best story planning apps. But, before we get to that, let’s look at the reasons why story planning apps are must-haves for any writer.

Why you need Story Planning Software

1. speed and organization.

Most often, writing is a slow process, even slower when you do not plan the story well. Some writers prefer planning their story on a piece of paper, but that is a stone-age and inefficient way of going about it.

I agree with those who say that it feels legit writing using pen and paper, but planning software is faster and more organized. Not only do these apps save you time and energy, but they also inspire new ideas, especially the ones with mind maps.

2. Writing and Planning on the Go

Story planning apps such as Story Planner App are available on mobile devices (i.e., tablets and smartphones), allowing you to work on your manuscript and improve your writing anywhere, anytime.

While waiting for the bus, you can use websites and apps that help improve your prose. Something as simple as Lose the Very can improve your vocabulary in just moments. From there, you can go straight into your word processing app and practice what you’ve learned.

3. Constructive Feedback

Planning apps like Story Planner play the role of a virtual task manager and provide feedback that helps you keep track of what scenes you plan to write next. 

Having this type of automated feedback is more efficient than having a person play this role because the apps are never late and they never forget (Well, unless there’s a glitch or an error in their code).

4. Some of these Apps Improve Your Writing

Some apps are designed to help through every stage of story writing—from planning to the final draft of your novel.

These apps come with specific tasks that can also help improve your overall writing. You can improve in various areas of your writing such as grammar, vocabulary, character development, formatting, et cetera.

10 Best Story Planning Apps

Best Overall

Plottr is a visual story plotting tool , a book planning software for writers that allows you to set up your story’s timeline, outlines, and set some other features before you begin the actual writing of your story.

This is the go-to app for a lot of writers who are looking to simplify the planning stage of their novel writing.

Plottr enables you to drag and drop scenes and plot lines. It also enables you to keep all the notes—related to the story you’re writing—in one place, create places, characters, and bits of backstories.

This tool allows you to visually organize your story or novel and link up different elements of that story (i.e., link your characters and places to your scenes), using colors to coordinate storylines.

And, when you want to see the progress you’ve made with the outline, Plottr automatically generates a neat outline of your story so that you can review, edit , or keep it if you’re satisfied.

Plottr Pros

• Easy to use (comes with tutorials and demos)
• One-time payment for the version bought
• Highly customizable

Plottr Cons

• No online version or cloud syncing
• No space for writing the actual draft
• World-building and tagging could be better

Pricing: Lifetime—$99 (1 Device), $149 (3 Devices), $199 (5 Devices). Annual—$25 (1 Device), $45 (3 Devices), $65 (5 Devices).

2. Plot Factory

Plot factory is an online tool that is perfect for co-authors or writers who want to collaborate on a book-writing project.

It’s a story planner that enables writers to plan, organize, and write stories, especially in the fiction category.

Plot Factory is an online, subscription-based platform, which—apart from planning your story— allows you to narrate your stories, collaborate with other writers, and export our stories as ePub files, ready for self-publishing.

So, as far as helping you with the planning stage, Plot Factory also has templates for creating outlines, helps you with world-building and creating characters, allows you to track word counts, and many other things relating to the planning and organizing stage of your story.

From that brief description, you can see that Plot factory is more than a story/novel planning tool. It’s focused on a lot of things and that it’s the right software for you if you’re looking for something that offers more features for advanced stages of the writing process.

In brief, these are the features you get when you subscribe to Plot Factory: Outline templates, Distraction-free plotting, templates for creating characters, templates for creating universes, word counts and statistics, name generator, narration, and sharing.

Plot Factory Pros

• Convenient plot templates
• Exports ePub files for publishing
• Affordable and has a free plan
• Works on many Operating systems (since it’s an online tool)

Plot Factory Cons

• Not available as a desktop app
• Its world-building capabilities are not convincing

Pricing: Basic (free), Hobbyist ($9/month, $90/year), Enthusiast ($14/month, $140/year), Novelist ($19/month, $190/year).

3. Scrivener

Scrivener is more than an outlining software… it’s exactly what literature and latte say it is: a ring-binder, scrapbook, and typewriter.

Scrivener is the go-to app for novelists, screenwriters, journalists, non-fiction writers, academics, translators, and other kinds of writers.

Scrivener—which is available on macOS, Windows, and iOS—helps writers organize their book by putting all their research, notes, and writing in one place.

It’s a great tool for all writers (whether fiction or nonfiction writers), but it’s for outlining nonfiction works and it’s easy to use.

And, it’s a good app for both plotters and pantsers , and if you’re a plotter, Scrivener is the tool you’re looking for—it lets you have everything in one window, your current writing in one window, and an overview of your manuscript in the adjacent window.

Here are the pros and cons of plotting features:

Scrivener Pros

• Scrivener’s “household” license allows you to install Scrivener on any supported device
• Lifetime payment

Scrivener Cons

• Has a steep learning curve

Pricing: macOS and Windows are charged separately but cost the same (Standard Licence costs $49 and educational license costs $41.65), iOS costs $19.99, and a discounted Scrivener bundle for both macOS and Windows that gives you separate licenses for each platform costs $80.

4. The Novel Factory

The Novel Factory is one of the few apps on this list that have in-depth features and can be used throughout the entire novel-writing process.

This is a gold mine for a new fiction writer in need of outlining software that can guide them through the plotting process.

For seasoned writers, the Novel Factory is just the tool they need to increase efficiency, but for new writers, it comes with loads of useful templates, learning resources, and intuitive interactive features, features that simplify the plotting process.

With The Novel Factory, you get the following features:

• You get to keep and organize all of your novel’s notes in one place. The software has features for notes on plot, characters, locations, and many others.
• You also get the “Roadmap feature,” which is a step-by-step writing guide and takes you from premise to final manuscript.
• Plot Manager, which helps you build the story’s plot from basic building blocks. It comes with time-saving plot templates for popular genres.
• Subplot manager, which you can use to make columns for plot threads, themes, characters, etc.  The subplot manager also allows you to cross-reference notes with particular scenes.
• Freeform notes board. This new and improved notes section allows you to add text notes, images, links, etc.
• An in-depth character management tool for fleshing out your characters and creating character questionnaires, background, their voice, and other things.

This software was developed with both beginners and seasoned writers in mind.

The Novel Factory Pros

• Has a desktop app for windows that runs offline
• Excellent plot and scene management
• Thorough guidance.
• Automatic saving to the cloud.
• Tracking and statistics features.

The Novel Factory Cons

• The writing feature isn’t very intuitive
• Not compatible with Macs. No desktop version for Mac.

Pricing: Basic ($7.5/month, $75/year), Standard ($20/month, $198/year), and Premium ($60/month, $600/year).

5. World Anvil

This is an interesting option right here.

World Anvil is an online world-building platform that lets you create and manage the world for your story.

The platform allows users to plan their novel using a set of worldbuilding tools that enable them to create, organize and store your world setting.

It has wiki-like articles, interactive maps, historical timelines, novel-writing software, and many other tools that a writer needs to run an RPG campaign or write a novel.

World Anvil comes with over 25 world-building templates, a template for every aspect of your world.

The world-building template set is an extensive and inspiring set, which enables you to create characters, cities and settlements, record strange languages, and furnish new civilizations among other things.

World Anvil Pros

• Easy to use
• Has an excellent free version
• Inspiring templates

World Anvil Cons

• The free package comes with limited storage
• Doesn’t work offline

Pricing: They have three packages namely Journeyman, Master, and Grandmaster. Journeyman ($5/month, $14.50/3 months, $25/6 months, $50/year), Master ($6.50/month, $19/3 months, $34/6 months, $58/year), Grandmaster ($12/month, $34/3 months, $62/6 months, $105/year).

6. Story Planner App

Story Planner is a great app for outlining your writing and stories. This app has features that help you organize your characters, add details to your locations, tweak your plots, and build your scenes.

It simplifies the planning stage by helping you create scenes, build them up, organize them by dragging and dropping, and coloring each plot.

Plus, Story planner lets you sync your projects via iCloud, and export your projects to Scrivener, Final Draft, .doc, .txt, .rtf, and .pdf.

Story Planner Pros

Story planner cons.

• Only available on iOS and macOS

Pricing: iOS ($5.99), macOS ($9.99).

This is another novel writing software that is designed to simplify the entire novel-writing process.

The Bibisco team knows and posits that words are like bricks and writing a novel is like building a house.

That’s why they made an app to help you be the architect and the carpenter of your novel. The Bibisco, which is available on Mac, Windows, and Linux, is a combination of a word processor, organizer, and a creativity guide.

As an Outliner, there’s a lot of things you can do with bibisco. You can create a novel structure, define premise, and create narrative strings and geographic, temporal, and social settings.

Bibisco also enables you to design characters, the story’s location, and other elements crucial for the development of your story.

Bibisco Pros

• Creative features for developing characters, locations, and other elements.
• Simple design, Easy to use, and hence has a gentle learning curve
• Has a low-restriction free version a 30-day money-back guarantee

Bibisco Cons

• No mobile application

Pricing: Bibisco has a free version, but for its paid plan, which is called “the supporter’s edition,” the author of Bibisco suggests that you should “name a fair price” starting from 18€+VAT.

This is a totally different app from the first five on this list, not only is it versatile as a planning software but its visual presentation is in its own category.

It’s the variety of the planning features that amazes me. It has features like Fishbone, Logic Chart, Matrix, Timeline, Brace Map, and Org Chart.

All these features are designed to help the user visually organize related aspects, ideas, or events, and those are just a few of the tool’s capabilities. XMind also has features that offer in-depth comparative analysis and enable the user to track milestones and schedules.

The app lets you do all these things using clean, intuitive, and modern interfaces on your laptop and mobile devices, anytime and anywhere.

• Good variety of mapping features
• Unified pricing plan for all supported systems (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android)
• Google Drive, Dropbox, Confluence, Google Sheets, and Lucidchart integrations.
• Speed could be improved
• Marking or labeling customized branches can be tiresome.

Pricing: Has One plan for 5 Macs/PCs and 5 iOS/Android personal devices, $39.99/6 months, $59.99/year.

Coggle, the second-best mind mapping tool on this, is the app you use when you’re trying to test possible relationships between different story ideas.

With Coggle you try to examine potential relationships between elements of your story, there is a difference: Coggle has a “free-forever” package.

Coggle allows you to create powerful flowcharts, process maps, and other visual representations. It also allows you to color-code paths, drag-and-drop as many images as you like to your diagrams, add text labels, link branches, and create loops to create a comprehensible timeline,

Coggle Pros

• The mind maps look great

Coggle Cons

• Doesn’t have an auto-sort/arrange feature
• Limited customization options, font colors, and shapes

Pricing: Free Forever (free), Awesome Package ($5/month), and Organization ($8/month).

10. Google Docs

I doubt that Google Docs is what comes to mind when you think about outlining software, but almost everyone is using Google Docs to write something.

People share short story drafts on Google Docs, freelance writers share samples with potential clients on Google Docs, and writers from different parts of the world collaborate using this tool.

And, it’s a free app!

So, it might not be the standard outlining software that everyone’s talking about, but it’s a legit word processor that enables you to craft neat outlines, allows you to work with teams, and helps you track changes made to your outline.

I didn’t forget the autosave feature, did I? Oh, sorry, so yeah, with Google Docs you don’t have to waste valuable time pressing “ctrl+s” or clicking “save” on the “file” drop-down menu.

Google Docs Pros

• Simple, clean, intuitive interface
• Great collaboration features

Google Docs Cons

• Online tool, editing only possible online.
• Not a comprehensive outlining tool
• Size of a document affects performance. Slow when processing large documents

Pricing: Free.

What to Look for in a Story Planning App

Writing a novel-worthy story takes a lot of effort and time, it doesn’t make sense to use an app that makes the writing more stressful than it already is.

To lessen the planning burden, good planning software should have some or all of the following characteristics:

When looking for a story planning app, you have to look for one that helps you keep notes about your characters, a record of events, a timeline, and/or mind maps, all in the same place.

With all these things in one window, you need an app that is clean and intuitive enough for you to find your way and tidily organize your writing.

Elegant Visual Presentation

Good planning software ought to have features that aid in telling the story before you start writing it.

Take, for example, Coggle and XMind, they come with features that help you arrange the timeline visually and colorfully.

Auto-Save and Cloud Storage Options

An auto-save function means that you won’t lose your work if the program suddenly malfunctions, the file will be stored and saved securely.

But, you also need the app to save your work on a cloud drive. In case that your computer’s processor gets fried or the drive stops working, there’s no way of retrieving the data unless you’re a super geek (which you’re obviously not).

So, you need software that stores your files on Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, or other cloud storage platforms.

It’s perfectly okay for you to be a pantser, but it’s not okay for you to be a plotter whose planning involves scribbling a bunch of lines on a piece of paper.

You need dedicated story planning software such as Plottr , and if you’re using novel writing software like Scrivener , then you don’t necessarily need a dedicated app for planning your story because you can plan, outline, and write using the same program.

So, what are you waiting for? Start planning that bestseller now!  

Recommended Reading...

The ultimate editing and proofreading checklist for writers, mindmup alternatives: which mind mapping tools should you use, freemind vs. freeplane – which one should you use, scapple alternatives: similar mind mapping tools you should try.

Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

© 2024 When You Write

Best story writing websites in 2022

What are the best storytelling websites? We’ve put together a selection of writing sites offering writing tips, help with plot and character, book publication and promo resources and more.

• Post author By Jordan
• 27 Comments on Best story writing websites in 2022

Need writing resources? Here are some of the best story writing websites. We’ve updated these resources to include writing tips, story plotting resources, publishing and book promo help, and more.

Fiction writing websites – categories

Writing tips and insights from authors, community and writing critiques, help creating plot and structure, advice on creating characters, worldbuilding and creating story settings, writing tools for planning stories, creativity, inspiration and writing prompts, editing and evaluating your writing, insights from and help finding agents, story and book publishing help, help promoting your writing, writing genres and genre-specific insight.

• Further writing resources and roundups

Let’s dive in and explore some of the best writing resources on the web. Use the links on the right (if on a desktop device) to go to the section that interests you:

The websites in this section aren’t so much story writing websites as resources offering a peek into authors’ writing process , inspiration sources and advice:

The Paris Review

The Paris Review’s ‘Art of Fiction’ series includes interviews with celebrated authors and editors.

Interviewed luminaries include Toni Morrison, Ernest Hemingway, Ray Bradbury and others. See, for example, Faulkner on why believing you can rewrite better is positive motivation for an artist.

The books section of NPR offers many interesting interviews, podcasts (with transcripts) and book picks.

The New York Times By the Book

The New York Times is an excellent website for writers generally due to the caliber of its writing. The ‘By the Book’ section of this writing website offers illuminating author interviews.

Read Ocean Vuong on bringing books to lunch dates , ‘just in case’. Although the NYT is paywalled, it’s one of the more worthwhile (and cheaper) sites to subscribe to.

Writers & Artists

UK writing platform Writers & Artists has many blog articles and interviews. Their ‘advice’ section is particularly helpful for writers.

See this article by author Michèle Roberts , Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Roberts shares how to get over writer’s block.

The Writer Magazine

Founded in 1887, The Writer magazine offers many illuminating interviews with authors. Here, for example, author Emma Straub talks character development , writing routine, the writing process, and more.

Additional resources

Is there another website whose author interviews you love? Please share your favorites in the comments below. Read advice from eight Nobel-winning authors here .

Writing groups are a fantastic way to develop your story (as our Group Coaching writing course alumni attest). Here are places to get feedback on your writing:

We’ll toot our own horn here: Now Novel’s critique groups are home to first-timers and experienced writers alike. Members who earn our ‘top critiquer’ badge frequently and consistently give thoughtful, considered writing feedback. We’ve regularly featured in Reedsy’s list of top writing communities and other best-of roundups.

Read our article on how to give feedback that rocks here .

Develop Your Story With Support

Finishing writing is hard – get help and stay accountable to your goals.

The writing platform Medium is described as an open platform ‘where readers find dynamic thinking’.

You’ll often find interesting thought pieces, such as Katie Lawrence’s piece on writing a bestseller here , as well as readers’ engaging comments.

Absolute Write Water Cooler

Absolute Write is a free writing forum and community. Here, writers share tips on subjects from writing software to approaching agents and editors.

See the full list of writing forums , spanning basic writing questions, how to deal with having stories turned down for publication, and much more.

The /r/writing Subreddit

Reddit is the more verbal of all the social platforms, and thus a natural fit for writers. The /r/writing subreddit currently has over two million members, and there are daily discussions about writing tools and software, and weekly critique and self-promotion threads too.

Creating the plot and structure for a story is hard without a framework. The fiction writing websites below offer plot frameworks, ways to understand story structure, and tips for writing page-turning stories.

To get brainstorming stories right away, start with Now Novel’s browser-based story outlining tool , the Now Novel dashboard.

The Nashville Film Institute provides a useful breakdown of Dan Harmon’s ‘Story Circle’ plot structure template , which itself is derived from Joseph Campbell’s classic The Hero’s Journey story structure concept .

UC Berkeley teaching resources

UC Berkeley has a portal with resources for teachers that includes a wonderfully clear summary of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey . The resource includes deep dives into the hero’s journey in myth and film. Explore various ways this story pattern recurs in different media.

Screenwriting tricks for authors

Author and screenwriter Alexandra Sokoloff’s blog offers many tips on plot and story structure. See a plot structure series Sokoloff wrote for NaNoWriMo on three-act story structure, beginning with the inciting incident .

The Plot Whisperer

Author Martha Alderson offers plenty of advice on how to plot and structure stories on her Plot Whisperer blog.

See, for example, ‘ 15 tips to create a compelling plot for your story ‘.

Aerogramme Writers’ Studio

Although Aerogramme Writers’ Studio has been taking a hiatus since around 2020 from posting new content, there is still a trove of useful story plotting and structure info on this story writing website.

See teacher and author Kenn Adams’ breakdown of the ‘story spine’ , a simple, eight-step ‘fill-in-the-blank’ process to find the core focus of a story.

Plot generator

This plot generator tool churns out some pretty wild plot ideas (‘Bernadette is a killer fuelled by homophobia, who watches teachers and shaves them’.) You may find useful plot tidbits in the midst of the absurdity.

The Learning Network on the NYT

Another helpful part of the New York Times (apart from the author interview section linked above) is its learning network.

See for example 1000 writing prompts for students in this article. These could be interesting questions to ask your fictional characters, too.

The secrets of story structure by K.M. Weiland

Author K.M. Weiland’s blog has many helpful articles on story craft. Her fiction writing website includes multi-article guides such as ‘The Secrets of Story Structure’ here .

ChatGPT by OpenAI

This AI writing generator is a helpful tool for finding writing prompts, synonyms, creating permutations of lines and ideas, and more. See our article on 10 helpful uses of AI writing tools where we explore the tool’s uses and limitations.

Learning how to create characters in an ongoing process of writing, learning more about the psychology of goals, motivations, desires and conflicts, and reading great character studies. Read our best articles on creating characters , and find useful character creation resources below:

Writers Write

Writers Write, originally founded by Amanda Patterson, has many articles on character development. Read this blog post for 350 ideas for character traits .

Ian Irvine’s character how-to’s

Author Ian Irvine has a great selection of character-building advice here , which he has condensed from Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias .

Random motive generator

Random generators are hit and miss, but this character motive generator can give you some ideas for the motive part of goal, motivation and conflict.

See more tips on creating clear goal, motivation and conflict for your characters in this extract from our monthly writing craft webinars with Now Novel coach and HarperCollins-published author, Romy Sommer:

This person does not exist

This AI-driven image creation tool composites a massive sample of images to create images of humans who do not (in theory) exist, generating characterful new people from visual data . Try refreshing the page a few times, then write a paragraph of description imagining who the person in front of you is.

Live Write Breathe

Author Janalyn Voigt offers plenty of writing advice on her blog, including this characte-building worksheet .

Worldbuilding is vital for creating believable settings that feel lived in and plausible. Read our best articles on creating settings and find worldbuilding resources for stories below:

Azgaar’s fantasy map generator

Countless fantasy novels begin with front pages showing fictional maps. Create your own with Azgaar’s fun, free browser-based fantasy map generator .

TED-Ed is the American media organization TED’s (of TED Talks – ‘ideas worth spreading’) platform for educational materials. Among the resources shared, you’ll find this rap from YouTube creator Flocabulary on why setting in stories matters .

TV Tropes offers many succinct wiki-style pages on film, TV and book tropes (motifs or devices that recur in popular culture and literature). See a post on the ‘standard fantasy setting’ that also links to TV Tropes’ page on urban fantasy.

The British national archives

If you are setting your story in England in a specific historical period, the national archives are a great resource for finding information. The collection spans 1000 years plus, including subjects such as the military, census records, famous wills, photographs of famous prisoners and more.

Writing a story set in another non-fictive country? Google for digital archives that may supply texture and detail for your setting.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has many useful worldbuilding resources. See, for example, Patricia C. Wrede’s comprehensive list of fantasy worldbuilding questions .

Planning stories and creating outlines in advance is one way to ensure that you stay on track and don’t get stuck while drafting.

Read ways to use Now Novel’s story outlining tools and find more tools for planning stories below:

Several Now Novel members have mentioned that they use this well-known desktop-based writing software in tandem with Now Novel’s own online story brainstorming tools, as each compliments the others set of features. Read more about Scrivener’s features .

Although exclusive to Apple devices, this is a popular writing app that includes features such as word count tracking, as well as folders where you can organize writing project snippets by material integrated into your manuscript, material in review and process work or scrapped ideas.

Milanote is note creation tool pitched to story-boarders working in film, advertising and novel-writing as well . Like Evernote, it has a web clipper for saving snippets of articles you read to notes.

One stop for writers – timelines

In addition to offering helpful writing advice on their blog at Writers Helping Writers , Angela Ackerman and co provide a story tool with a timeline-creation tool that you may find useful if the sequence of events in your story is important.

Trello is a flexible browser-based project-management tool with a board-based interface (similar to Milanote) that you can use to organize scene summaries (much like our own Scene Builder, which is more story-oriented). Here’s an article from Trello’s blog on ways to use it to organize your story or story research.

How do you find a story idea ? The resources below include writing prompts, resources for finding story inspiration and more:

The Write Practice blog

The Write Practice has many helpful articles for writers on their blog, including this selection of writing prompts .

The Marginalian

The Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings) is Maria Popova’s fantastic blog about writers, inspiration, creativity and more. See for example how she unpacks complex ideas about inspiration from Ursula K. Le Guin .

Positive Writer

Bryan Hutchinson offers helpful personal accounts relating to writing and inspiration, such as how creative journaling helped his writing process .

Advice to Writers

Jon Winokur’s writing website offers ‘writerly wisdom of the ages’ in daily quotes, such as this one:

I’ve tried to figure out what good writing is. I know it when I read it in other people’s work or my own. The closest I’ve come is that there’s a rhythm to the writing, in the sentence and the paragraph. When the rhythm’s off, it’s hard to read the thing. Sebastian Junger, quoted by Jon Winokur.

Encyclopedia Mythica

Myths, legends and fables have always been fantastic sources of inspiration for new stories. Encyclopedia Mythica is a helpful wiki all about mythology and famous mythic figures.

Reedsy Plot Generator

Reedsy has a fun tool for generating plot ideas by genre that may help you find initial inspiration for something you can alter and make your own further.

Nonsense Generator

This is another idea generator tool that churns out absurd sentences. More silly than serious, you might find an image that strikes you all the same. Example generated: ‘Two-finger John set a treehouse on fire’.

Bookfox (formerly The John Fox) has many articles with writing prompts and inspiration. Here’s a list of how 50 authors prepare to write and get inspired.

Resources for editing stories will be more important to you perhaps if you are nearer the end of your manuscript. Find out about Now Novel’s editing services here and keep reading for helpful editing tools and resources:

Chicago Manual of Style’s shop talk blog

The Chicago Manual of Style is a trusted style and editing manual. Their ‘shop talk’ blog has helpful tips on grammar, style and punctuation. Also find articles such as this on using Word vs Docs to edit your manuscript.

ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid is ‘an AI-powered writing assistant’ that checks writing for style and grammar issues. See their article on why they’re a good choice of editing plugin to use with Now Novel .

Hemingway App

Hemingway is a simple, browser-based editing tool for checking paragraphs for issues such as sentence structure, reading level, and grammar.

Grammarly is another style and spelling checker that is widely used.

Oxford grammar practice resources

Practice your grammar online with these basic, intermediate and advanced lessons from Oxford University Press.

Grammar Girl

Grammar Girl is a resource that’s part of Mignon Fogarty’s ‘Quick and Dirty Tips’ network. It’s a useful resource for brushing up on grammar. Read about the different types of nouns and their uses , for example.

Once you’ve finished writing a book and edited a draft so it is good enough to send off, where do you find help writing synopses or lists of agents open to submissions? Here are some helpful resources around representation and querying your manuscript:

Writer’s Market guides

Writer’s Market publishes useful annual guides on the publishing industry. You’ll find query letter templates as well as guides to getting agency representation packed with actionable advice.

The Query Shark

Janet Reid’s blog Query Shark provides excellent insight into the parts of query letters that work and pique interest.

Association of Authors’ Representatives

Many agents belong to associations such as the AAR. These agent listing platforms provide a useful way to search for agents interested in your genre and whether they are open to unsolicited submissions or require referrals.

Querytracker

This platform provides a useful list of agents as well as individual agent profiles where querying authors comment their experiences and whether or not they received full or partial manuscript requests. It’s helpful to determine which agents are active and which tend to be more responsive to queries in a specific niche.

Agent and publishing coach Rachelle Gardner

Agent and publishing coach Rachelle Gardner offers plenty of useful advice on writing and publishing, such as this article on whether or not you should write to market .

Curtis Brown Creative’s blog

Curtis Brown Creative, a London-based literary agency established in 2011, offers plenty of advice from agents and agent-represented authors on their blog. Founder and director Anna Davis offers some excellent advice on preparing to submit to agents .

Guide to literary agents

Writer’s Digest’s ‘Guide to Literary Agents’ blog section touches on querying, the importance of perseverance in getting published, and more.

NY Book Editors

NY Book Editors have an excellent blog – the linked article on writing query letters gives plenty of good tips as well as helpful examples of strong openings and more.

Poets & Writers agent database

Poets & Writers magazine has a helpful database of literary agents where you can find agents’ contact details, the genres they’re interested in representing, and further details such as their respective agencies’ websites.

Nathan Bransford’s blog

Nathan Bransford, an author and former agent at Curtis Brown, writes a blog where he offers tips such as how to write a query letter .

Evil Editor

Evil Editor breaks down synopses and explains pitfalls writers should avoid.

Publishing is a vast subject area, from choosing between indie and traditional publishing to understanding market, Kindle store categories, what the publishing process is like, and more.

Watch a video extract from our monthly webinars below where Romy Sommer explores paths to publishing. Then keep reading for useful publishing websites:

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly is a great resource for all things publishing-related, including weekly information on recent book deals that will help you abreast of what’s happening in publishing.

Writer Beware (the SFWA)

Writer Beware , a subcommunity of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, offers a great resource on dubious publishing tactics and would-be agents and other pitfalls to keep aware of.

Publishers Marketplace

Publishers Marketplace is another useful publishing resource (particularly for US-based writers), including information on agents, their commission rates, recent book deals and more.

Jane Friedman

Jane Friedman’s blog focuses on the publishing industry and helping authors navigate processes such as starting out as an unpublished author. See her beginner’s guide to getting published .

The Creative Penn

Joanna Penn’s blog includes podcasts and interviews with specialists in a range of niches, including book publishing and promo. See for example this podcast interview on going wide with publishing consultant Mark Leslie Lefebvre.

Publishing Perspectives

This publishing portal offers news on recent writing prize winners, news round-ups about events in the book industry, and more.

Hawes Publications

This useful internet resource keeps an updated list of brief plot summaries (loglines) describing popular releases, a two-sentence plot summary or blurb . Reading over succinct summaries could help you tighten your own elevator pitch or logline.

Writing Cooperative

Writing Cooperative is home to many useful resources for writers, such as this list by Austin Hackney of 128 publications that pay for short stories.

BookBub’s blog often features helpful articles on publishing matters, such as this article ‘ 50+ Publishing Resources You Should Know About ‘ by Diana Urban.

Reedsy offers a comprehensive directory of publishers that have been vetted, including data such as location, size, what genres they publish, and whether or not they are indie and open to submissions.

Kindle Publishing Guidelines

If you’re planning to indie publish a book on Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing has a handy knowledge base with information on everything from cover image guidelines to enhanced typesetting tips.

Book marketing is something many authors find challenging. Reading the right resources and putting time into promoting your work (or rather, building relationships with future readers) is key to selling. Find useful resources for book promo below:

Penguin UK’s blog

Penguin’s blog has many articles offering succinct tips, such as this post on ways to promote your book (including video on what a book publicist does).

NetGalley is a book promo platform devoted to helping build your ‘street team’ – readers who may receive advance copies in exchange for honest reviews.

Smith Publicity

Smith Publicity is a book publicity agency that offers helpful guides to doing book promo. See these 110 tips for marketing your book.

Whitefox, a company offering publishing consultancy and other services relating to publishing and distribution, offers helpful tips on book promo on their blog. See this round-up, where nine book industry insiders give advice for creating pre-publication buzz.

Scribe Media

Scribe Media offer, among other services, book launch preparation and assistance getting media exposure. Read their helpful post on thirteen ways to get more exposure for your book .

Dave Chesson at Kindlepreneur

Dave Chesson provides useful introductions to book promo (pertaining to selling via Amazon’s Kindle store), such as this guide to choosing the right categories for giving your books maximum visibility.

The Book Designer

The Book Designer, in the same stable as Self Publishing School, has several helpful articles related to book promo, such as this one on how to get reviews for indie-published books .

Self-Publishing School

Self-Publishing School offers various tips on book publishing and promo, and this is a helpful round-up of free and paid sites where you can promote your latest publication .

There are many internet resources that provide insight and help specific to different writing genres. Find resources for romance, fantasy, mystery, crime, sci-fi, historical and more below:

Writing romance

Find our best romance articles here and extra romance writing websites below:

Write for Harlequin

Harlequin has long been a big name in romance publishing. On the ‘Write for Harlequin’ blog, the publisher frequently shares editors’ wish lists such as this summary of stories sought in the historical romance subgenre .

The Mills & Boon blog

Mills & Boon is another big name in romance publishing, and their blog features many interesting romance subgenre and trope discussions, such as authors on why they love writing the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope .

Diana Gabaldon’s blog

Diana Gabaldon, author of the successful romantic historical Outlander series, has an active blog where she shares interviews from the archives, news and more. Here’s an interview where Gabaldon speaks on writing an honest romance book that will ring true regardless of setting, time period, and how much (or little) autobiography it contains.

She Reads Romance Books

Review communities dedicated to specific genres are a great way to delve into the minds of readers in your target market and see what makes readers love the books they do. This romance-focused site offers round ups of the best romance books over the years and more.

Nicholas Sparks’ blog

Some of the tips on romance author Nicholas Sparks’ blog may read a little pat, but in the ‘advice to writers’ section of the author’s website there is this good advice:

Over time, quality work will lead to an audience for your work. In the end, readers always choose. Nicholas Sparks, author’s website.

Romance Writers of Australia

This Australian romance writers’ organization offers a fun ‘three things I learned writing …’ series where romance authors discuss three things they learned while writing their published books. It’s full of motivating lessons from romance writing such as ‘anything is fixable’.

Romance Writers of America

The RWA likewise has an archive of helpful articles on romance writing . Articles range from industry news to tips for building your newsletter.

Writing fantasy

Read all our most popular fantasy-writing articles here , and more on the genre below:

The SWFA’s blog

This has been mentioned already above in a different context, but in addition to its excellent guides and resources, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America also offers articles by guest contributors on topics such as walking the line between good style and too much fantasy jargon and slang .

Ursula K. Le Guin archives

The ‘about writing’ archives on Ursula K. Le Guin’s website are a great selection of the late fantasy and science fiction author’s musings on fantasy-related and more general writing topics. Here’s a good open letter on plausibility in fantasy with interesting discussion of the way Tolkien uses settings.

Neil Gaiman’s blog

Author Neil Gaiman’s career has spanned an eclectic range of genres and formats, from dark fantasy to sci fi, graphic novels and screenplays. The author’s blog is full of interesting insights into fantasy, such as an appreciation post for Sir Terry Pratchett or this essay on where Gaiman gets his ideas .

The Speculative Literature Foundation

The Speculative Literature Foundation is ‘a global nonprofit dedicating to promoting literary quality in speculative fiction’. Resources the organization offers include lists of grants for fantasy and sci-fi writers as well as interviews with speculative fiction writers and deep dives into writing matters .

Fantasy author Brent Weeks

The fantasy author Brent Weeks offers plenty of excellent advice on fantasy worldbuilding , magic systems, writing fight scenes and more on his personal blog.

Writing science fiction

Another complex speculative genre, science fiction has many fantastic writing organizations and story writing websites dedicated to the genre:

Neal Stephenson’s writing advice

Although not a separate story writing website, speculative fiction titan Neal Stephenson’s writing advice on the TED-Ed blog is simple and golden.

Galaxy science fiction magazine archives

Galaxy was a science fiction magazine published from 1950 to 1980 and is thus an interesting time capsule for SF writers. You can read stories by Ray Bradbury in its pages (including his story ‘The Fireman’ which later became his cult novel, Fahrenheit 451 ).

Philip K. Dick on androids and humans

One of the most influential sci-fi authors of all time gave a speech titled ‘The Android and the Human’ at the Vancouver Science Fiction Convention in 1972, available to read here .

Asimov Online

Isaac Asimov, one of the so-called ‘big three’ science fiction authors, is the subject of this internet archive of sci-fi resources , essays and more.

Arthur C. Clarke at 100

On the centenary of Arthur C. Clarke’s birth, Adam Roberts reflects on this ‘big three’ sci-fi author’s legacy and works such as Rendezvous with Rama (1973) and 2001: A Space Odyssey for The Guardian .

Tor, a speculative fiction publishing company, runs a blog featuring interesting science fiction reads such as this article by author Adam Oyebanji on how science ‘nudges fiction towards new frontiers’.

Locus Magazine

Billed as ‘the magazine of the science fiction and fantasy field’, Locus’ fiction writing website has speculative fiction publishing news, reviews, interviews, lists of sci-fi and fantasy conventions, and more.

Writing crime and mystery

The crime and mystery fiction writing websites below include writing organizations, useful crime-writing and mystery resources, and more:

Mystery Writers of America

The Mystery Writers of America writing organization describes itself as ‘the premier organization for mystery and crime writers, professionals allied to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and folks who just love to read crime fiction’. See their list of vetted publishers of crime and mystery .

The Crime Writers’ Association

Another crime-writing organization based in the UK, member benefits include co-promotion of new crime novel releases, monthly crime fiction -devoted newsletters, and more.

International Thriller Writers

The International Thriller Writers organization like the CWA has a debut authors program , whereby you get extra help with launching and promoting your debut in return for membership.

Agatha Christie archives

This website devoted to the seminal mystery author’s life and work includes interesting information such as this article on how Christie wrote , along with bibliographies, reading lists and more.

Louise Penny’s author site

Mystery author Louise Penny offers tips and encouragement for getting published on her personal author site.

Crime Reads

A crime and mystery-writing website, Crime Reads offers blogs on mystery topics such as the ‘fine art’ of writing riveting plot twists .

Sisters in Crime

Founded in 1986 to advocate for women crime writers, Sisters in Crime offers writing webinars, resources for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, and more.

Jungle Red Writers

This blog helmed by seven women who write crime has many interesting reads, such as Hannah Mary Mckinnon’s article on embracing research .

Elizabeth Spann Craig

Cozy mystery author Elizabeth Spann Craig blogs about writing mysteries and also has an well-curated writing guide roundup she shares via Twitter called ‘Twitterific Writing Links’.

Criminal Minds blog

The premise of this story writing website is simple: ‘Each week, we respond to provocative questions about crime fiction, writing, publishing and life.’ Read crime and mystery Q&As .

Crime by the Book blog

Crime by the Book is ‘the result of one girl’s ongoing exploration of crime fiction from around the world’. You’ll find crime book reviews, recommended reading lists and more on this portal dedicated to the crime genre.

Crime Fiction Lover

This crime-focused writing site offers crime novel reviews, author spotlights and interviews, a virtual book club and more.

Author Bryn Donovan’s blog

Author Bryn Donovan offers helpful tips for mystery and crime writers, such as this list of 25 case-solving clues you could use in a story.

The unsolved mysteries subreddit

Reddit is full of interesting topic threads with deep dives and articles shares. A good subreddit or community for mystery authors is the Unsolved Mysteries subreddit .

Here, members discuss unsolved cases and their theories about what happened. [Note that stories may share disturbing elements relating to unsolved police cases].

Writing children’s and YA fiction

Writing for younger readers entails writing to specific reading age norms, knowing what is age-appropriate and more. Find useful writing websites for YA and kids’ lit below:

The Atlantic

The Atlantic is not dedicated to YA and kids’ lit, but has a helpful article here where YA authors share their best tips on writing for and about teens.

The YA Bookshelf

The YA Bookshelf is a useful website for YA book reviews and resources. See their roundup of YA book blogs , for example.

Hannah Holt’s blog

Children’s writer Hannah Holt has an interesting deep dive into YA author stats (though published in 2017, it has all kinds of insights into YA author advances, average submissions until being published and more).

So You Want to Write

So You Want to Write has a comprehensive guide to writing YA by YA fantasy author Mackenzie Belcastro.

John Green Q&A

It’s great when authors give concise answers to complex questions. YA author John Green’s writing FAQs on his website answers interesting questions such as ‘how do you write about adolescents when you aren’t one?’

Vlogbrothers

Writing for younger readers necessitates using platforms younger readers love well and meaningfully. See John and Hank Green’s vlog on YouTube for ideas of how to create meaningful video content for your YA readers.

Sarah Webb’s children’s writing tips

Children’s author Sarah Webb shares great advice for writing for children on her author site.

Michael Morpugo’s teaching resources

Sir Michael Morpugo, one of the best-loved children’s authors and author of War Horse , shares inviting question and quiz resources for parents and educators to go with his books via the author’s website. An inspiring ed-tech format to use with your own children’s writing.

Interview with Maurice Sendak

The Guardian has many fantastic articles mixing essay with interview, such as this biting and fascinating conversation with Maurice Sendak , author and illustrator of the beloved Where the Wild Things Are . His statement ‘I refuse to lie to children’ is an interesting maxim for writing for younger, truth-seeking readers.

The Federation of Children’s Book Groups

This helpful resource for children’s book writers and readers includes interviews with authors, information on the Children’s Book Award, and more.

Writing historical fiction

Writing historical fiction naturally involves research due to stories being based on real events. Here are some of he best internet resources for researching and writing historical books, including museum archives with digital collections and universities’ subject specialist research guides.

British Pathé archives

British Pathé is a fascinating resource for historical footage and photo collections. See, for example, their outline of key events from WWII.

The National Archives (UK)

The National Archives is a vast archive spanning 1000 years of UK history. The searchable collections have many photo albums and articles, on everything from coronations to crime and punishment in specific eras.

The Smithsonian Institute

Across the Atlantic, the Smithsonian Institute offers vast archives of research materials to do with American history, from conservation biology to art history.

National Archives of Australia

Writing books set in Australia? The National Archives of Australia provides research guides for subjects such as first peoples and colonial history, foreign relations, military history and more.

USC Latin America resource guide

The University of Southern California offers a useful, organized guide to resources on Latin American history and archives from this region as well as the Caribbean. Google ‘.edu’ and the area you’re interested in and ‘resources’ to find similar librarian-developed research resources for historical fiction.

Yale’s European history library guide

Yale University has a fantastic library guide to historical research resources about Europe . Includes resources for general Western European history and medieval, early modern and modern Europe.

The Historical Novel Society

Founded in 1997, this organization is devoted to historical fiction and offers a quarterly magazine, information on historical fiction conferences, member directory and more.

A Writer of History by M.K. Tod

Historical fiction author and blogger M.K. Tod shares many interesting historical fiction discussions and interviews on her blog. For example, this deep dive on behind-the-scenes facts from WWII .

Africa is a Country

Africa is a Country (the title is ironic) is a fantastic resource for nuanced journalism and contemporary, left-leaning analysis of African culture and politics, reviews of books about African and diasporic issues, and more. A good research resource for studying African issues and debates.

English Historical Fiction Authors

This history writing blog began in 2011 and shares all kinds of interesting micro history accounts by historical writers from various periods of British history.

Queen Anne Boleyn blog

This site devoted to historical fiction and named after the famously executed second wife of Heny VIII has many interesting blog articles. See, for example, where history authors weighed in on casting decisions and the question of race and representation in adapting historical stories for film and TV.

Jane Austen’s World

This blog offers thought-provoking deep dives into Austen’s writing , the Regency period (such as social customs of the time) and more.

Further writing resources

Mcsweeney’s internet tendency.

A long-standing humor site that publishes biting satire and parody, such as ‘If people talked to other professionals the way they talk to teachers’ by Shannon Reed . A good regular read for aspiring humor writers.

Quora is often a very useful resource when you have a specific writing-related question you’d like to crowd-source answers for (for example, ‘ What is plot development? ‘).

Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds

Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds blog is full of interesting and profanity-laden articles about the writing process [not for the expletive-squeamish] and now features guest articles on topics such as ‘five things learned while writing a book’.

Writer’s Digest

Writer’s Digest is one of the longest-standing writing sites on the web, with WD having been founded long before the interne in 1920. They offer fiction and non-fiction writing resources, a very broad section on getting published and more.

National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo has a simple premise: Challenging writers to try produce a book draft in a month. Anyone who has written or attempted to write a book knows this is no time at all, but many authors use the write-a-thon as an exercise to see how much they can churn out of a manuscript within 30 days.

Writer Unboxed

This story writing website founded by Kathleen Bolton and current editorial director Therese Walsh offers an engaging blog and also published a writing manual , Author in Progress in partnership with Writer’s Digest. The manual is billed as ‘a no-holds-barred guide to what it really takes to get published’.

Literary Hub publishes a wide variety of material, but their ‘craft and criticism’ section is perhaps the most immediately useful. Read this article by author Vauhini Vara on how to keep a long project alive (with advice from writer and Emeritus Professor of English Tobias Wolff).

What are your favorite literary writing websites? Let us know in the comments below. Start writing a book with structured support and a caring community’s help.

Related Posts:

• Writing a fantasy novel: 34 must-visit websites
• Publishing a novel in 2022: 10 useful insights
• How to get your book published: Detailed 2022 guide
• Tags writing resources , writing websites

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

27 replies on “Best story writing websites in 2022”

Always great content on here! Really impressed at how in depth this list is. Bookmarking it for later.

Thanks so much, Ben.

Great content and we are really impressed with the way of presentations

This was such an awesome article. So awesome in fact I’ve featured it on my top 15 best articles on writing – ever! http://reflectionsfromaredhead.com/the-best-articles-on-writing/

Thank you, Janine! Have shared your post on social media.

That is quite an extensive list. Thank you very much for this comprehensive blog post.

Take a look at Writelight as well.

Thank you for the suggestion, Artem.

Hello, I Like your blog, I wanted to leave a little comment to support you and wish you a good continuation. Wish you best of luck for all your best efforts. Bonobology | Romantic Story

If this list gets update sometime, some sites for Writer Podcasts and Book Cover resources would be good addition.

Hi Adrijus, great suggestions. It’s on my list!

Happy to share some if needed.

P.S. Do you take guest posters on? 🙂

Hi Adrijus, we do when it’s good content relevant to aspiring authors primary challenges (e.g. craft, organization, publishing process, etc.) The best thing to do is submit a pitch to help at nownovel dot com via email including topic and title suggestions and we’ll see if there’s fit.

Thanks for asking.

Sounds good. Thank you!

Hi Bridget, you have done a great work here. I’m really impressed.

This was such an awesome article. You can also publish your story on https://highlightstory.com

Thank you! I’m not sure I’ll check out all these resources, but I’ve already found some useful ones for me. I find great support in writers’ blogs and the block with general tips is very useful for me. In addition, I want to share some interesting articles: https://stacitroilo.wordpress.com/2019/07/19/author-inspiration-writing-links-83/ I read this blog regularly as yours and find many useful ideas.

Thank you, Anna. Thanks for sharing helpful resources you’ve come across too.

[…] Novel: “Story writing websites and resources: 200 of the best,” a comprehensive resource divided into useful categories including everything from plot […]

Some of your links need to fixed. One’s like Deborah Bruch’s Plot Analysis Worksheet leads to a “Forbidden” access page, and you have Reedsy leads to the previous option of Nonsense Generator. You have a shit ton of great links, some just need to be cleaned up a bit.

Thank you, JD. Will do – this one hasn’t had some attention in a while. Thank you for reading our blog.

i love writing stories guys

That’s great, Larric – keep writing them 🙂

Nice collection Jordan! I also have a blog where I share my writing tips for story/book writing.

Hi Pauline, thank you for sharing that. I had to remove your link to your site as there is a lot of advertising on-page and the content that I read had several confusing paragraphs and would benefit from editing. Readers could thus see the site as spammy (a reason we don’t run third-party ads on this blog). I would suggest looking at those aspects if you want your readership to grow.

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Plot Factory

Online story planner.

Best-in-class story planner and writing app for Planners & Pantsers alike.

Table of Contents

• Defining the Terms
• What Type of Writer Are You?

The Elements of Story Structure

Visualizing the process, recommended resources.

• Try Plot Factory

Are you a planner or discovery writer?

What exactly is a planner, and what is a discovery writer?

A pure discovery writer is a rare animal, but they certainly do exist. JF Penn and Stephen King are examples. A pure discovery writer is someone who dives into the narrative straight away. They may have a main character profile previously developed, or they might begin with only the ending in mind. Sometimes a discovery writer will start with a climactic scene envisioned and no idea how the characters will get there.

Perhaps the author has the beginning in mind, but knows nothing of where the story will go from there. One form of discovery writing involves heavy world building in advance of the actual narrative process. In this case, the story itself emerges from the conflicts and/or needs of the world. But the bottom line with discovery writing is that the process of writing the narrative is the main guiding force of the plot. Discovery writers will do stuff like kill off a main character without premeditation. Wham! One minute the character is alive. The next, they're not.

Story planners or outliners are writer's who map out the plot first. Jim Butcher and James Patterson are examples of planners. At the extreme end of story planning, the writer will craft an outline with as many words as the final, finished story. Once the outline is finished, all that remains is to fill in some dialogue and word craft.

In advance of beginning the narrative, a story planner will map out plots and subplots. A story planner will decide on devices and fully develop characters and settings in advance. The actual writing of the narrative is the frosting on the cake for a true planner.

The reality for most writers will shake out somewhere in between extreme planning and extreme discovery.

How do you know if you are a planner or a pantser?

To a certain extent, the only way to completely nail down your style is to start writing. But you don't have to go into the process blind. After all, writing a book is simply a steroid-injected extension of your natural decision making and creative processes. Do you make important life decisions with your head or your heart? Are you a list maker or do you prefer sticky notes? Are you a file cabinet person or a pile person?

When you go on vacation do you prefer to have every detail planned in advance? or do you like to play things by ear? Does spontaneity give you anxiety? Does structure feel like a prison?

Don't get me wrong. Your optimal method for organizing and writing a story may not line up with how you like to organize the rest of your life, but knowing how you like to attack a challenging project will give you a good place to start. The most important thing is to start. Before you do that, we need to cover the basics of story structure.

At the most basic level, almost all stories will include the following elements:

The Opener or Hook : This element can also be known as "The Who" or "The Status Quo." This is the time in the story to introduce the main character and their motivation, challenge, goal, or quest. The stakes (physical or emotional) must be high enough to justify the rest of the story.

The Inciting Event : This is the catalyst that forces the main character out of their status quo and into the action of the story. This is also where you introduce the antagonist (person, mindset, force, entity, etc.) to your protagonist. If you are having trouble with the inciting event, you've most likely started your story in the wrong place.

Series of Crises or Rising Action : This is the section of the story where the protagonist is hit with conflict after conflict in order to ratchet up the tension. The most common generality during this section is that each of the crises should progressively grow worse until it feels overwhelming or nearly overwhelming for the protagonist.

Climax or The All is Lost Moment : This is the point in the story where it appears that your protagonist has lost or failed. Don't confuse this moment with the ending or the resolution. If the story ends here, readers are going to be upset, and for good reason.

End or Resolution : Ends come in a few general categories. The protagonist either loses, wins, or loses and wins by sacrificing one thing for another or failing to win in the way they had intended in order to win in another. The end is also the moment in the story where loose ends are tied off and teasers are provided for the next book (if a part of a series).

We won't take the time to go into any sort of detail on the most common story structures, but here are links to solid descriptions of several.

The Hero's Journey - Joseph Campbell's Theory of the Monomyth

In Medias Res - Literally Translated as "Into the Middle of Things"

Classic Three Act - The Historically Most Widely Used Model for Narrative Fiction

Seven Point - An Expanded Version of the Classic Three Act Model

James Scott Bell's Two Pillars - A Fresh Take on a Time-Tested Structure

Fichtean Curve - A Series of Escalating Crises

So what does planning a story actually look like? Here, at Plot Factory, we actually offer a few ways to do that. We've provided some screenshots on how you might plan your stories with us.

The Snowflake Method

This method leans heavily to the planning or outlining side of things. If you know you need some planning, but you aren't sure how much, the Randy Ingermanson Snowflake method is ideal, because it begins with very simply summaries and expands in complexity as far as you need to push it.

The Beats Method

This method allows for a more discovery-driven approach. Beats writing is flexible and adaptable on the fly, so it is perfect for writers who like to plan as they go or want the room to improvise when inspiration strikes.

The most important thing to remember throughout your discovery process is to keep writing. Never let confusion about how to structure your story prevent you from writing. Inevitably, your writing odyssey will meander and evolve as you discover the best story planning process for you. Some writers will find a heavy focus on character development to be most helpful. Others enjoy world building above all else. You may want to attempt short fiction based on central characters as an early discovery process. Feel free to create an outline, throw it away, and start over. Sure, reading books about story structure is recommended. But remember, doing the writing is the essential piece of progressing toward your own unique process.

• https://blog.reedsy.com/snowflake-method/
• https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/
• https://www.jamesscottbell.com/styled-7/styled-5/index.html

Did you enjoy the article?

If you found this article useful, we think you'll love how Plot Factory helps authors plan, organize, and create stories. Our service caters to both hobbyist authors and professionals.

If you would like to know more about what we do, check out our home page !

How to plan a novel in Milanote

Follow this step-by-step guide to learn the modern process of planning a novel in Milanote, a free tool used by top creatives.

Starting a novel can be an exciting but daunting experience. It's the beginning of the creative process—where your mind is overflowing with ideas, inspiration, and plans. This guide will help you organize everything in one place so you can begin writing with confidence. You'll brainstorm ideas, collect inspiration, research your topic, dream up unique characters and create an outline for your story. At the end you'll have a solid foundation that will speed up the entire writing process.

In this guide you'll learn how to plan and organize your novel...

• 1. Set up your plan Create a place to plan your novel
• 2. Research Collect articles and data
• 3. Brainstorm Generate ideas & characters
• 4. Moodboard Organize inspiration & references
• 5. Outline Map out the sequence of events
• 6. Character profile Create vivid, believable characters

1. Set up your plan

Traditionally, your ideas and plans might be scattered across various sticky notes, to-do lists, spreadsheets, and documents, making it hard to keep track of everything and get a bird's-eye view of your project. A central project plan combines these artifacts into one easy-to-access place. It will evolve over the lifespan of your novel but usually includes:

• Inspiration and moodboards
• Character profiles
• To-do lists
• Comments and feedback from others

Create a new board to plan your novel.

Create a new board

Drag a board out from the toolbar. Give it a name, then double click to open it.

Choose the Novel Plan template.

Choose a template 

Each new board gives you the options to start with a beautiful template.

2. Research

Whether you're writing a sci-fi thriller or historical fiction, research is a crucial step in the early writing process. It's a springboard for new ideas and can add substance and authenticity to your story. As author Robert McKee says "when you do enough research, the story almost writes itself. Lines of development spring loose and you'll have choices galore." When you bring your research into one place and see things side-by-side, new ideas and perspectives start to emerge.

First, open the Research board

You’ll find the board for collecting research on your Novel Plan board. Double click the Research board to open it and get started.

Double click the  Research  board to open it.

Save links to articles & news

Wikipedia, blogs, and news websites are a goldmine for researchers. It's here you'll find historical events and records, data, and opinions about your topic. We're in the 'collecting' phase so just save links to any relevant information you stumble across.

Drag a link card onto your board to save a website.

Install the  Milanote Web Clipper

Save websites and articles straight to your board. 

Save content from the web

With the Web Clipper installed, save a website, image or text. Choose the destination in Milanote. Return to your board and find the content in the "Unsorted" column on the right.

Collect video & audio

Video and movie clips can help you understand a mood or feeling in a way that words sometimes can't. Try searching for your topic or era on Vimeo , or Youtube . Podcasts are another great reference. Find conversations about your topic on Spotify or any podcast platform and add them into the mix.

Embed Youtube videos or audio in a board.

Embed Youtube videos or audio tracks in a board

Copy the share link from Youtube, Vimeo, Soundcloud or many other services. Drag a link card onto your board, paste your link and press enter.

Collect important images

Sometimes the quickest way to understand a topic is with an image. They can transport you to another time or place and can help you describe things in much more detail. They're also easier to scan when you return to your research. Try saving images from Google Images , Pinterest , or Milanote's built-in image library.

Use the built-in image library. 

Use the built-in image library

Search over 500,000 beautiful photos powered by Unsplash then drag images straight onto your board.

Allow yourself the time to explore every corner of your topic. As author A.S. Byatt says "the more research you do, the more at ease you are in the world you're writing about. It doesn't encumber you, it makes you free".

Collect research on the go

You never know where or when you'll find inspiration—it could strike you in the shower, or as you're strolling the aisles of the grocery store. So make sure you have an easy way to capture things on the go. As creative director Grace Coddington said, "Always keep your eyes open. Keep watching. Because whatever you see can inspire you."

Download the  Milanote mobile app

Save photos straight to your Research board.

Take photos on the go

Shoot or upload photos directly to your board. When you return to a bigger screen you'll find them in the "Unsorted" column of the board.

That's a great start!

Research is an ongoing process and you'll probably continue learning about your topic throughout your writing journey. Reference your research as you go to add a unique perspective to your story. Read the full guide on Organizing research for your novel to learn more.

3. Brainstorm

You have an idea for a story. It's just a spark at the moment, but you can't stop thinking about it. Now is the time to harness your creative energy and turn your idea into something real. And brainstorming is the perfect technique for the job.

Brainstorming is a classic creative technique for generating new ideas quickly. You can use it to dream up new characters, settings, or even explore themes you want to include in your book.

First, open the Brainstorming board

You’ll find the board for brainstorming on your Novel Plan board. Double click the Brainstorming board to open it and get started.

Double click the Brainstorming board to open it.

Start with your central topic

What's the central idea or concept for your story? This is your starting point. It might be just a rough idea at the moment or a topic that you want to explore, but this process will help you see how far you can take it. Add a note that describes your concept in 1 to 2 sentences to get started.

Add a note to describe your central idea.

Drag a note card onto your board

Start typing then use the formatting tools in the left hand toolbar.

Your initial idea doesn't need to be something groundbreaking, you'll transform it over time. As Steven Spielberg says "All good ideas start out as bad ideas, that's why it takes so long."

Add as many ideas as you can

Now it's time to get creative. Start adding any ideas that relate to your main concept. Think about different parts of your story, locations, characters, or even the history of your topic. Explore every thread until you fill the board. Don't worry about evaluating your ideas yet, that will come later.

Add a note for each idea.

Add inspiring imagery, motion & sound

Sometimes it's easier to communicate an idea with an image or video, especially if it's a mood or style you're trying to express. Gather reference imagery, videos, and sound and add them into the mix. Images can help define things like fashion, character attributes and emotions, scenes, and more.

Use the built-in image library.

Drag images from your computer onto the board.

Upload a image or document  

Click the "Upload file" button or just drag a file onto your board. You can add images, logos, documents, videos, audio and much more.

Finally, organize your ideas into themes

Once you've explored tangents and shared feedback, the next step is to make connections. This is where you see the magic of brainstorming.

Start by grouping similar ideas to uncover patterns in your thinking. Add a title to each group so it's easy to scan. You might find your ideas fall into groups like story, location, characters, or scenes, but there are no rules about how you do it.

You're done brainstorming

Now that your brainstorming session is complete, you have some strong ideas and you should start to see your initial concept coming to life! Remember, just as creativity and inspiration is constantly evolving, so are ideas. Come back and add to the brainstorm when inspiration strikes. Read the full guide on brainstorming ideas for a novel to learn more.

4. Moodboard

During brainstorming, you imagined the different parts of your story. It's time to start collecting inspiration with a moodboard (or "inspiration" board). It's a technique used by designers, filmmakers, and photographers but works just as well for creative writing.

Moodboards can help you visualize any aspect of your project. You can use them to figure out how a character or location could look. Or they could be centered around the era or the emotion you want to capture. You can create a moodboard for each of these separately or mix them all into one board. There are no strict rules.

First, open the Moodboard

You’ll find the board to make your moodboard on the Novel Plan board. Double click on the Moodboard to open it and start adding your inspiration.

Double click the  Moodboard to open it.

Collect existing material

Start by adding any existing material you have—this could include images you've saved to your computer as inspiration. Just drag and drop them onto your board.

Drag files from your computer.

Upload a file or document  

Add inspiring imagery.

The imagery you bring into your moodboard is what helps you express the feel of your story. Images can help you define things like tone, emotion, or a feeling you might be struggling to capture as you're writing. Use Milanote's built-in image library or search for visual elements from around the web. Don't worry about organizing the images just yet, that step will come later.

Save images from other websites straight to your board.

Roll over an image (or highlight text), click Save, then choose the destination in Milanote. Return to your board and find the content in the "Unsorted" column on the right.

Transform your board from messy to organized

Once you have all your inspiration in one place, the next step is to arrange your ideas to create the perfect composition. Try combining different elements together. This is where you'll start to see new ideas appear. Perhaps the combination of two unrelated images will trigger an exciting new storyline.

Resize your images to add hierarchy.

Resize images

Drag the corner of an image to resize it. Double-click the corner to return it to its original size.

Crop images.

Crop images

Double-click an image and press edit to crop or rotate it.

You’ve finished the moodboard!

Now that your moodboard is complete, you have a powerful visual reference for your story and hopefully a bunch of new ideas. Remember, you can create multiple moodboards to explore different aspects of your story at any time. Read the full guide on making a moodboard to learn more.

Next, we'll start outlining your story.

A novel outline is often described as a roadmap or blueprint for your story. It helps you see the big picture and plan the sequence of scenes, characters, and ideas that will become your novel. It's a simple, flexible technique to help all types of writers stay organized.

This method is perfect for 'visual' writers—those who prefer to see the big picture as a sequence of events. Think of it as the modern, digital equivalent to the corkboard or wall of sticky notes, but much easier to manage.

First, open the Outline board

You’ll find the empty Outline board on the Novel Plan board. Double-click it to start adding the mapping out your story.

Double-click the  Outline board to open it.

Map out the key scenes

Start by laying out the major scenes or events you know so far. These might be the key turning points, locations, or plot twists. Don't worry too much about the order or details yet, just get the main parts out of your head. This is a quick flexible way to brainstorm the centerpieces of your story.

Add a Column for each key scene.

Drag a column onto your board

Name it, then drag any relevant notes or images into your column

Add high-level details

Next, add a sentence or a short paragraph for each scene. There are no rules for how much detail to add, do what works best for you. Think about what's being communicated in this scene, the location, and the characters involved. This will help you consider where characters are introduced and how this scene connects with the next one.

Add a note to describe the plot points.

Get the sequence right

Seeing your story at this level lets you make connections between themes and concepts you might otherwise miss if you went straight into writing. Re-read your outline so far. Look for scenes that feel out of place. Perhaps your transitions need some tweaking or a character appears without a proper introduction. Highlight areas that need more work and move scenes or plot points around to get the sequence just right.

Drag plot points around to get the sequence right.

Add imagery or video

While imagery probably won't make an appearance in your novel, this is a great technique for kickstarting new ideas. Experiment by adding images or movie clips that relate to your scenes. If you're the type of writer who creates moodboards, now's the time to see if you've already got imagery that could help evoke the feeling you're trying to capture. Try saving images from Google Images , Pinterest , or Milanote's built-in image library.

You're done!

Now that you've finished a draft outline, you can start writing, confident that your story has a strong foundation. If you want to learn more about this stage, read the full guide on how to outline a story or start with one of 5 outline templates .

6. Character profile

One of the most integral parts of any story is crafting relatable and vivid characters. As writer Ernest Hemingway said, “When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.”

The character profile is a popular technique for developing genuine personas for your story. It will help to shape a narrative as well as provide a handy reference point for their personality traits, backstory, goals, flaws, and challenges.

First, open the Character profile board

You’ll find the first character profile board on the Novel Plan board. Double click on the Character board to open it and get started.

Double click the  Character profile  board to open it.

Start with basic characteristics

A character might start as a bundle of random ideas, traits and plot points from your game concept, so it’s important to bring everything together in one place. You can begin to shape the character and make them original. Consider the emotional connection between your audience and your character, and work towards the desired outcome. You may find that switching the age and gender of a character can lead to very different responses from your reader.

Add notes to describe your character.

Add an image to represent your character.

Click the "Upload file" button or just drag a file onto your board. You can add images, logos, documents, videos, audio, and much more.

Build their backstory

Your character's backstory describes the journey they have taken up to this point. It allows you to explore their fears, weaknesses, and motivations and to define their purpose. You can explain the character's methods and evaluations—why they act the way that they do, the choices they make, and how it drives the individual forward. Are they making progress towards their goal, or making things worse?

Add a note to describe their backstory.

Drag a note card into your board

Start typing then use the formatting tools in the left-hand toolbar.

Give them quirks, faults, and flaws

Your character should come from an authentic place. That means that the character probably has some contradictions that make them a little out of the ordinary. If a character is too simplistic, it can feel cliched. Character flaws such as overconfidence, impatience, or recklessness can add new dimensions to a hero and make them feel more relatable.

Add a note to describe their quirks and flaws.

Add visual references & examples

Even if you're writing a novel, visual references and inspiration can help bring your character to life. There are lots of fantastic sites where you can find great visual inspiration for free, like Pinterest or Google Images . You can also create a character moodboard at this stage to help explore all aspects of their appearance. See our guide on creating moodboards for a novel to learn more.

Organise & refine

Once you have everything you need, it's time to organize your content into logical topics. There's no right or wrong way to do this. The goal is to make your character profile easy to scan and reference as you're writing the story.

Use Columns to group related content

Create the rest of your characters

It's important not to fall into the trap of giving just one character too much responsibility for the drama in your story. Work on additional characters that compliment and contrast the traits of your main character. You can repeat the above process to develop a whole cast of characters that help bring your novel to life.

Use the  Character Relationship Map template

You're all done!

Hopefully, this guide has helped you stay organized while building a solid foundation for your novel. If you're just starting a new story, use the Novel Plan template below to get set up in minutes.

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Blog • Perfecting your Craft

Last updated on Feb 07, 2023

The Best Novel Writing Software of 2024 (+ 5 Free Programs)

So, you’ve just started writing a novel — which means you’re figuring things out as you go. You probably have a flock of Google Docs to wrangle, you’re always scribbling on napkins, and you have no idea where anything is. Know what you need? Some good ol’ fashioned (well, more like new-fashioned) novel writing software.

Luckily for you, we’ve come up with this list of the best, most affordable pieces of novel writing software in 2024. All of these will help you stay organized and inspire you to keep writing until the very last page! You can jump to each review using the ToC on your left, but here's a quick rundown of these writing programs and how much they cost:

• Reedsy Book Editor   (word processor, formatting, and conversion) — free
• FastPencil (word processor and exporter) — free
• Bibisco (story planning and word processor) — free
• Evernote (word processor and organizational tool) — free
• FocusWriter  (writing productivity tool) — free
• Freedom (site blocker and time management tool) — $6.99/month
• Scrivener (story planning and word processor) — $44.99
• Milanote  (story planning and organizational tool) — $12.50/month
• Novlr  (word processor and grammar/style editor) — $10/month
• WriteItNow (chapter planning and word processor) — $59.95
• AutoCrit  (advanced editing program) — $10/month
• Ulysses (story planning and word processor) — $5.99/month

If you want to cut straight to the chase and find out which is the right writing app for you, we recommend taking this quick 30-second quiz.

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Otherwise, let's head for the reviews! In the spirit of thriftiness, we're starting with your free options.

Reedsy Book Editor

💰 Price tag: Free software ✅ Features: Format as you write, track changes, export files that are ready for instant distribution, choose between “classic” and “romance” themes

Though modesty should forbid us from crowing about the Reedsy Book Editor ( RBE ), we've seen first-hand how this writing app has totally changed how many authors write and publish their novels. While some writers like programs brimming with bells and whistles (tools to research, structure, and outline your book) and others prefer software that's free from those distractions, the Reedsy Book Editor offers a happy medium between these poles.

Definitely more than a blank piece of paper, the RBE's functions are super user-friendly and geared toward a single goal: creating a beautiful book. This is a production tool that typesets as you write , turning your manuscript into a fully-formatted book or ebook that can compete with traditionally published, professionally formatted books.

In "Writing Mode," you can insert chapter breaks, scene breaks, images, and endnotes. It comes with a spell-checker that offers an automatic proof as you write — and a goal reminder system that you can toggle on if you find that you're falling behind on your writing schedule! You can view previous versions of your manuscript, in case you removed a passage you now want to re-add. When you've completed your book on the RBE (congratulations!), you can export a distribution-ready EPUB or PDF file.

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💰 Price tag: Free software ✅ Features:  Easily navigable dashboard, drag-and-drop chapters, collaborative editing, multiple layout preview options, publication setup

FastPencil is essentially Google Docs for the professional (or aspiring) author. This online platform cannot be downloaded and is therefore only usable if you have WiFi. However, its nonexistent price tag more-or-less makes up for the inconvenience of not being able to work on planes, outdoors, etc.

FastPencil’s simple, streamlined interface allows users to set up a writing project, invite collaborators, and communicate entirely through the app if they wish. Two people can also upload mutually accessible “Assets” for reference during the writing process, and devise “Tasks” for each other to complete. Remember PalmPilots and other personal digital assistants? FastPencil is like a 21st-century, writing-oriented version of that.

Once your book is done, you can preview it with distinct layout templates for different genres — such as “Business,” “Memoir,” and “Dragon” (designed for YA fiction). These templates are pretty basic, but they'll give you a solid idea of what your published book will look like.

Finally, you can export your manuscript under “Publication Setup.”

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💰 Price tag: Free software (Community Edition) ✅ Features: Overview screen for story “architecture,” separate section to construct characters, scene-by-scene word processing, distribution analysis for each story element

If you find most desktop writing programs unwieldy and overwhelming, then the minimalist interface of Bibisco might just solve all your problems. This is especially true if you're a plotter rather than a pantser , as Bibisco is that rare breed of free story planning  software, with plenty of virtual outlines and notecards to help you out.

With the free “Community” version of Bibisco, you can navigate among six different screens to organize and expand upon the elements of your novel. The architecture screen (above) is perhaps the most unique part of this software, with notecards for your premise, setting, and fabula. Here you can create narrative threads and articulate how they connect to one another, then flesh them out using your “scene” notecards.

Indeed, the name of Bibisco's game is breaking down your work into bite-sized, manageable pieces. Of course, this approach may make it difficult to envision your manuscript as a whole , especially as you can only write scene-by-scene — a feature which may frustrate users who are accustomed to writing in one long, all-inclusive document.

Still, Bibisco is a good choice for any author who's tired of busy interfaces and wants to prioritize productivity. And if that sounds like you, don't miss out on this next piece of book writing software ... 

💰 Price tag:  free “basic” plan, $9.99/month for “premium,” $14.99/month for “business" ✅ Features: writing templates, web clipper function for easily storing research, the ability to sync across multiple devices

If only the process of writing a book involved just sitting down and  going . Although sure, to an extent, this may be true. But most of us need to find the right way to capture and organize our ideas before our fingers start flying over the keyboard — or risk running out of steam. Evernote is great for the writer who needs to declutter a space (or their mind) before they can make real headway on a project.

Some of their great organizational features include their writing templates — some of which are user-created, and others are created by Evernote themselves. If you spot a chapter outline, a storyboard template, or character development profile you enjoy, you can save it and come back to it each time. The web clipper function is also popular amongst writers — especially for genres like sci-fi or historical — as you can use the clipper to save pertinent facts or articles you come across online, and save them right into your Evernote folders. 

At its core, Evernote excels as a brainstorming tool. This is why its syncing ability is also key — if you're out and about, you can drop ideas into your Evernote app and continue working on them at a later point.

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FocusWriter

💰 Price tag: Free software (you can tip, though!) ✅ Features:  A beautiful blank page for you to write your novel

FocusWriter isn’t novel-specific software per se, but it will help you rocket-boost your productivity. And of course, it's completely, permanently free — no limited-time trial, no payment with a warranty, no “premium upgrade” — so you may as well try it out!

This software is exactly what it sounds like: it helps you laser-focus your efforts onto writing , and nothing else. You can still format your manuscript and check your word count and daily writing goals via offscreen tools, but the default state is simply a blank page. You can also use full-screen mode so the only thing you see is the page in front of you — just like writing IRL.

For authors who struggle to concentrate on their work more than anything else, FocusWriter is a dream come true. You might also consider combining it with app-blocking software, like the next entry on this list, to achieve maximum productivity.

And that rounds off our section on free writing software! Now let's get into your options for paid programs.

💰  Price tag: $6.99/month or $20/year, free 7-session trial ✅ Features: Website and app blocking, advance block scheduling, customizable block lists and whitelisting, optional “Locked Mode,” session history, syncing across devices

Writers who procrastinate uncontrollably, get ready for a game-changer: Freedom.  This is by far our favorite time management software due to the crisp user interface, the thoughtfully designed features, and the crucial fact that it works — unlike that fickle mistress, human willpower.

Freedom allows you to block specific apps, sites, or the entire Web for any amount of time. You can schedule your blocks in advance and sync across all your devices, so you can't have a last-minute, Netflix-based change of heart. And if you're prone to mid-work moments of weakness, simply put Freedom in Locked Mode! This completely prevents you from disabling it until that time is up.

Yes, Freedom might be a difficult adjustment for someone unaccustomed to any kind of discipline, self-imposed or otherwise — but hey, we're writers. We all need a little tough love sometimes to get us going. In that sense, there's no novel writing software more effective than Freedom.

💰  Price tag: $44.99 license fee, free 30-day trial ✅ Features:  Corkboard planner with virtual index cards, planning templates, integrated outlining system, customizable full-screen interface, split-screen function, import and export capabilities

Scrivener is one of the most storied (no pun intended) programs in use today. It markets itself as a “typewriter, ring-binder, and scrapbook all in one,” and comprises tons of helpful features . But perhaps Scrivener’s greatest benefit is the freedom it enables: with so many sections that you can arrange to your heart’s desire, the program lets you write however works best for you.

With Scrivener, you can do as much or as little planning as you want, so you don’t feel pressured to stay within certain constraints. You can shuffle your notes, outlines, and even chapters around wherever you need. It also has one of the most generous trial periods on offer — you can use it free for 30 days, but they don’t have to be consecutive. (When you do decide to pull the trigger, make sure to apply a discount !)

The only potential catch with Scrivener is that some authors might find it a little too liberating. It doesn’t provide much novel-specific instruction, as some other programs do. But it’s still an excellent organizational tool with a great interface. Whether or not you choose Scrivener just depends on how much guidance you feel you need.

💰 Price tag: $12.50/month or $119.88/year, free “basic” plan ✅ Features: Easy drag-and-drop interface, flexible notes board, "moodboard" for inspiration, web clipper to save research and inspiration from the Internet

As all authors know, writing isn't always linear, because thinking itself isn't linear. Too often, straight-laced writing apps can't match up to the messy, chaotic, and wonderful way in which writers brainstorm and develop their stories — especially when they're just starting to take shape.

That's where this software comes in! Milanote is a super-versatile app that allows you to organize your research, ideas, characters and outline in one single place. Its visual workspace lets you clearly connect your thoughts, create mind maps, and develop moodboards. And for those who really struggle to get started, Milanote's amazingly detailed templates (see above) could be just what you need to hit the ground running.

In other words, Milanote is ideal for the initial planning stages of your novel. Not to mention it's incredibly easy-to-use, so authors can concentrate on the important stuff — their writing — rather than trying to figure out all the complexities of the app.

💰 Price tag: $10/month or $100/year, free two-week trial ✅ Features: Flexible word processing, mechanical and stylistic notes, goal-setting and progress tracking, learning courses

When it comes to writing apps that really push you to improve,  Novlr is pretty darn effective. A relative newcomer to the novel writing software scene, Novlr has been climbing the ranks since 2017, with constant improvements being made based on user feedback.

In terms of actual writing, Novlr features a clean word processor which users can customize as they please. For example, there's “Evening” mode for those who prefer a darker color scheme, and “Focus Mode” to help with concentration. Making even the smallest formatting change, such as font size, will automatically update the entire text — convenient for writers who like to keep their aesthetics fresh.

Then when it's time to edit, the Proof Reader function at the bottom of the screen offers suggestions re: punctuation, adverb use, passive voice, and more. And for authors hoping to boost their productivity as well as their prose, a quick trip to the Dashboard reveals tons of useful features: a place to set your writing goals, an analytics tab for progress, and so on.

The one thing Novlr noticeably lacks is templates for story elements like plot, characters, etc. This may be a dealbreaker for writers who require (or simply prefer) that kind of structural guidance. But for seasoned writers looking for a sophisticated, web-based writing tool — and who don't mind paying for access to it — Novlr could be just the program for you.

Or you can check out the Reedsy Book Editor — a sophisticated, web-based tool that's 100% FREE (and not just for two weeks, either).

💰 Price tag: $59.95 license fee, free demo (doesn’t save your work) ✅ Features:  Chapter outlines, element sheets, editing tools including readability score and repetition finder, prompts and other tools for story inspiration

WriteItNow ’s no-frills design facilitates that all-too-elusive endeavor for authors: to simply write . Its interface is pretty basic, with a planning toolbar and a sidebar to keep track of the actual writing. But don’t let its minimalism deceive you: WriteItNow also offers a variety of unique resources, especially for editing your manuscript.

After you’ve written a chapter or two with WriteItNow, not only can you check things like spelling and word count, you can also run editorial “Critiques” via the Editor Tools tab. The program will point out any repetitive phrases, unnecessary “padding” words, and even clichés you might have used — helping you polish your writing in the same way a professional copy editor might.

Another one-of-a-kind feature in WriteItNow is the “Create Idea” function. You can select a character and type of idea — in a maneuver reminiscent of choosing personality traits on The Sims — and the program will spit out creative prompts for you to integrate!

This program may seem a bit on the pricey side, but the license fee does cover both Mac and PC. In any case, WriteItNow absolutely lives up to its name in terms of helping writers get their work done. (And as every veteran writer knows, you can’t put a price on that.)

For book formatting software, check out this post on Vellum .

💰 Price tag:  $10/month for the “basic” plan, $30/month for “professional,” $80/month for “elite,” or $1 for a two-week trial ✅ Features:  “Professional” plan entails genre filtering, an array of editing options for pacing, dialogue, “strong writing,” word choice, repetition, and direct comparisons to bestselling works

While other pieces of novel-writing software help you organize, develop, and even self-edit your story, they don’t include the in-depth editorial functions that AutoCrit does. This is the program to use if you already have a decent draft ready to edit. (Or if you’re a micromanaging kind of writer who likes to edit meticulously as you go.)

AutoCrit tests your work for all the factors above, and even individual elements within those factors. So for example, after selecting “word choice” as your focus area, AutoCrit allows you to narrow it down even more. Do you want to check for generic-sounding descriptions? Improve your sentence starters? Work on personal phrases? You can achieve all that and more with AutoCrit.

The program also boasts an appealing modern interface, and decent prices considering the range of editing possibilities. Some writers might be reluctant to shell out for an editing program — but those writers probably don't know how hard it is to self-edit . When you think of it that way, AutoCrit is an amazing service: it helps you edit your manuscript with the perspective of a professional, all by yourself.

💰 Price tag: $5.99/month or $49.99/year ($4.17/month) ✅ Features: Typewriter mode, themeable editor, distraction-free interface, ability to set writing goals, ability to sync between multiple devices.

Ulysses is lauded for its sleek, clean, "distraction-free" interface. Some reviewers claim that this writing app gives you just the right amount of customization options in terms of appearance — without offering so many different options that it tempts you away from the actual goal of writing.

It does, of course, offer up a number of different functions that will appeal to authors. For instance, you can set daily writing goals , and even keep tabs on your progress so you can see when there are dips or spikes in your productivity. You can also organize your file into various groupings — for instance, you can just have one group called 'Works in Progress,' or you can set multiple subgroups like 'Characters Names' within 'Fantasy Novel Ideas' within 'Works in Progress,' etc., etc.

At the end of the day, Ulysses is something of a digital typewriter. You will find various features that may help you along the way, but the software is built such that when you arrive to it, you get to work right away.

Remember...

No novel writing software is actually magic — that is, none of it is going to write your book for you. But with the right tools to lend you some focus, structure, and a dash of inspiration, you might just be able to get ‘er done all by yourself. 🙌

[updated: 08/10/2020 UTC]

Iain Wood says:

06/03/2019 – 14:51

You missed out wavemaker.. Https://wavemaker.co.uk

Comments are currently closed.

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Your Story Starts Here

Pluot is the intuitive character and story planning app for writers. Download today.

Unleash Your Writing Potential

Plot scenes.

Build the conflict and outcome of each scene in your outline and easily reorder your scenes through drag-and-drop.

Develop Characters

The heart of your story. Complete detailed character profiles with over 70 attributes available.

Create Locations

The setting for your scenes. Describe your locations and provide their history and residents.

Construct Storylines

Define the plot points of each storyline in your outline, including the inciting incident, midpoint, climax, and resolution.

Create custom items

Vehicles, magic wands, organizations, create whatever your story requires!

Link Story Elements

Create interconnected outlines by linking scenes to your created characters, locations, storylines and custom items.

Attach character, location, storyline and custom item images to help visualize your story.

Weekly Writing Challenge

Each week, you'll find a new writing prompt in the app to flex your creative writing muscles. Submit your story and receive feedback from other users!

Import and Export

Import JSON files and export your outlines to text and Microsoft Word files when you're ready to write!

Available in 20+ Languages

Distraction-free outlining.

Frequently Asked Questions

Pluot is designed for writers of various genres, including novelists, screenwriters, playwrights, animators, graphic novelists, video game writers, Dungeon Masters, and more. It provides a comprehensive plot planning and story outlining tool with detailed character worksheets, scene creation, location management, and storyline development.

Absolutely! If you subscribe to Pluot Pro, you can easily backup your outlines to the cloud and seamlessly sync changes across multiple devices.

If you're not a Pro subscriber, you still have the option to export your outlines to a JSON file, which can be imported on another device. However, please note that this method is not intended for actively working on an outline across multiple devices.

Yes, you can export your outlines to a JSON file for transferring data between devices or to a plain text file when you've completed your outline and are ready to start writing!

With Pluot Pro, you also have the option to backup your work to the cloud, allowing for quick and convenient transfer between devices.

Currently, Pluot is exclusively available on Android and Chromebook devices. However, there may be plans to develop iOS and web versions in the future. Stay tuned!

If you'd like to support the ongoing development of the app, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave a review on the Google Play store listing . Ratings and reviews play a crucial role in the growth of the app, and I value feedback from users like you.

Additionally, there is a crowd-sourced translation project available where you can contribute to improving and adding translations. Your help in this endeavor is immensely appreciated.

Lastly, spreading the word about Pluot would be fantastic. I am incredibly grateful for the positive reception the app has received so far, and I would love for more people to join in its continued growth. By the way, there's also a Discord community where you can connect with other Pluot users!

Ready to plot?

Try it out today!

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Character plans

These plans are designed to help you develop your characters. We offer plans to help you interview your characters, define their needs, and generally get to know them better. Understanding your characters will help you write authentic stories and create characters your readers care about.

• Time to complete
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• Development stage

Launch Story Planner Helper

Have a story in mind but don't know where to start? Story Planner Helper can point you in the right direction.

Launch helper

Detailed character profile

This character profile is lengthy but it will certainly help you get to know your character better.

Try this plan

Character sketch

This character sketch plan is by Karen. S. Weisner, who devised ‘First Draft in 30 Days’.

Character blueprint

This simple plan prompts you for the basic details you need when creating characters.

Jeff's Character Plan

A great set of one-word prompts to help you get to know your characters.

Short character profile

This profile is useful to define key details about minor characters.

Proust Character Questionnaire

Imagine you are your character and answer this famous personality questionnaire.

Character arc

A plan to describe how your characters change.

Character archetypes

An archetype is character type that repeats regularly. These archetypes are based on Jung’s work.

Character qualities (Syd Field)

A quick way to define the qualities needed in a strong central character.

Snowflake Method character plan

A character plan by the creator of the Snowflake Method.

Story Planner

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Taylor Swift’s ‘Poets’ Arrives With a Promotional Blitz (and a Second LP)

The pop superstar’s latest album was preceded by a satellite radio channel, a word game, a return to TikTok and an actual library. For her fans, more is always welcome.

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By Ben Sisario

Taylor Swift was already the most ubiquitous pop star in the galaxy, her presence dominating the music charts, the concert calendar, the Super Bowl, the Grammys.

Then it came time for her to promote a new album.

In the days leading up to the release of “The Tortured Poets Department” on Friday, Swift became all but inescapable, online and seemingly everywhere else. Her lyrics were the basis for an Apple Music word game . A Spotify-sponsored, Swift-branded “ library installation ,” in muted pink and gray, popped up in a shopping complex in Los Angeles. In Chicago, a QR code painted on a brick wall directed fans to another Easter egg on YouTube. Videos on Swift’s social media accounts, showing antique typewriters and globes with pins, were dissected for clues about her music. SiriusXM added a Swift radio station; of course it’s called Channel 13 (Taylor’s Version).

About the only thing Swift didn’t do was an interview with a journalist.

At this stage in Swift’s career, an album release is more than just a moment to sell music; it’s all but a given that “The Tortured Poets Department” will open with gigantic sales numbers, many of them for “ghost white,” “phantom clear” and other collector-ready vinyl variants . More than that, the album’s arrival is a test of the celebrity-industrial complex overall, with tech platforms and media outlets racing to capture whatever piece of the fan frenzy they can get.

Threads, the newish social media platform from Meta, primed Swifties for their idol’s arrival there, and offered fans who shared Swift’s first Threads post a custom badge. Swift stunned the music industry last week by breaking ranks with her record label, Universal, and returning her music to TikTok, which Universal and other industry groups have said pays far too little in royalties. Overnight, TikTok unveiled “The Ultimate Taylor Swift In-App Experience,” offering fans digital goodies like a “Tortured Poets-inspired animation” on their feed.

Before the album’s release on Friday, Swift revealed that a music video — for “Fortnight,” the first single, featuring Post Malone — would arrive on Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern time. At 2 a.m., she had another surprise: 15 more songs. “I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you,” she wrote in a social media post , bringing “The Anthology” edition of the album to 31 tracks.

“The Tortured Poets Department,” which Swift, 34, announced in a Grammy acceptance speech in February — she had the Instagram post ready to go — lands as Swift’s profile continues to rise to ever-higher levels of cultural saturation.

Her Eras Tour , begun last year, has been a global phenomenon, crashing Ticketmaster and lifting local economies ; by some estimates, it might bring in as much as $2 billion in ticket sales — by far a new record — before it ends later this year. Swift’s romance with the Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been breathlessly tracked from its first flirtations last summer to their smooch on the Super Bowl field in February. The mere thought that Swift might endorse a presidential candidate this year sent conspiracy-minded politicos reeling .

“The Tortured Poets Department” — don’t even ask about the missing apostrophe — arrived accompanied by a poem written by Stevie Nicks that begins, “He was in love with her/Or at least she thought so.” That establishes what many fans correctly anticipated as the album’s theme of heartbreak and relationship rot, Swift’s signature topic. “I love you/It’s ruining my life,” she sings on “Fortnight.”

Fans were especially primed for the fifth track, “So Long, London,” given that (1) Swift has said she often sequences her most vulnerable and emotionally intense songs fifth on an LP, and (2) the title suggested it may be about Joe Alwyn, the English actor who was Swift’s boyfriend for about six years, reportedly until early 2023 . Indeed, “So Long” is an epic breakup tune, with lines like “You left me at the house by the heath” and “I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free.” Tracks from the album leaked on Wednesday, and fans have also interpreted some songs as being about Matty Healy , the frontman of the band the 1975, whom Swift was briefly linked to last year.

The album’s title song starts with a classic Swift detail of a memento from a lost love: “You left your typewriter at my apartment/Straight from the tortured poets department.” It also name-drops Dylan Thomas, Patti Smith and, somewhat surprisingly given that company, Charlie Puth, the singer-songwriter who crooned the hook on Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again,” a No. 1 hit in 2015. (Swift has praised Wiz Khalifa and that song in the past.)

Other big moments include “Florida!!!,” featuring Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine, in which Swift declares — after seven big percussive bangs — that the state “is one hell of a drug.” Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, the producers and songwriters who have been Swift’s primary collaborators in recent years, both worked on “Tortured Poets,” bringing their signature mix of moody, pulsating electronic tracks and delicate acoustic moments, like a bare piano on “Loml” (as in “love of my life”).

As the ninth LP Swift has released in five years, “Tortured Poets” is the latest entry in a remarkable creative streak. That includes five new studio albums and four rerecordings of her old music — each of which sailed to No. 1. When Swift played SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles in August, she spoke from the stage about her recording spurt, saying that the forced break from touring during the Covid-19 pandemic had spurred her to connect with fans by releasing more music.

“And so I decided, in order to keep that connection going,” she said , “if I couldn’t play live shows with you, I was going to make and release as many albums as humanly possible.”

That was two albums ago.

Ben Sisario covers the music industry. He has been writing for The Times since 1998. More about Ben Sisario

Inside the World of Taylor Swift

A Triumph at the Grammys: Taylor Swift made history  by winning her fourth album of the year at the 2024 edition of the awards, an event that saw women take many of the top awards .

‘The T ortured Poets Department’: Poets reacted to Swift’s new album name , weighing in on the pertinent question: What do the tortured poets think ?  

In the Public Eye: The budding romance between Swift and the football player Travis Kelce created a monocultural vortex that reached its apex  at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. Ahead of kickoff, we revisited some key moments in their relationship .

Politics (Taylor’s Version): After months of anticipation, Swift made her first foray into the 2024 election for Super Tuesday with a bipartisan message on Instagram . The singer, who some believe has enough influence  to affect the result of the election , has yet to endorse a presidential candidate.

Conspiracy Theories: In recent months, conspiracy theories about Swift and her relationship with Kelce have proliferated , largely driven by supporters of former President Donald Trump . The pop star's fans are shaking them off .