If you’re anything like me, choosing the best book writing program for the job feels like a big first step toward actually writing your book.
Now, I’m not going to lie to you: Your book writing program is not the reason you have or have not written a book. A program is a tool, and like any tool, it is only as effective as the user (that’s you).
However, choosing the best book writing program is one of the many mental hurdles we can face, so there’s nothing wrong with wanting to make a good choice.
I poked around for a while and considered and used several writing tools, but instead of stepping through them all, I want to explain why I use the ones I use. I promise I’m not an affiliate of any of these, though perhaps I should look into that.
The best book writing programs I’ve found—and use all the time
Scrivener
Scrivener is a multi-featured program for writing books, screenplays, and scripts. There are similar programs out there, and some of them have a lot to recommend them. The free yWriter, for example, does have some cool features if you’re a novelist. As someone who works in multiple genres, I wanted something with more flexibility.
What I love about Scrivener
Scrivener has a ton of features that give you a lot of control over your book. The corkboard view lets you see your book as a series of notecards that you can drag and drop to rearrange. The binder lets you keep your manuscript and all of your research and notes in one place. No need for a separate note program.
One small feature that I love is that if you can see the text, you can edit it. Whether you’re looking in the binder or the corkboard or the outline, you can always click in and make changes to titles. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it’s really convenient.
I created my own character templates which I can refer to while I write fiction. You can use the split-screen mode to pull up existing text alongside what you’re working on when you need to reference it. I’ve also become fond of the full-screen writing mode. I created my own Spider-Woman backdrop and can write without distraction.
The limitations of Scrivener
The only two things that feel limited about Scrivener are that it is aesthetically only so-so and it is difficult to use it on collaborative projects.
I have made some adjustments to the editor view to make it visually easier on the eyes. You can also change the default fonts once you track down where to do it.
Because Scrivener is a self-contained program, I do not use it with my editing clients. There’s no way to track changes, for instance, and it uses a proprietary file format, anyway, so unless the client created the file in Scrivener, I’d be constantly importing and exporting.
I have used it to create manuscript drafts for ghostwriting clients, though. At the draft stage, it’s useful to keep my notes organized in one place. Once we’re ready to move into revisions, though, I export to DOCX so we can use Word.
You can get a free version of Scrivener, or you can unlock all the features for only $45. Honestly, for the value you’re getting, that’s almost free. After using Scrivener for a couple weeks, I was more than happy to give them money for this product.
Microsoft Word
For me, this is the powerhouse option for book writing and, especially, book editing. I have an Office 365 subscription primarily for access to Word, OneNote, and OneDrive.
What I love about Microsoft Word
Word has options to make it look very pretty, for one, but more importantly, it has powerful editing features. The track changes and compare features, in particular, are very useful when collaborating with an editor or ghostwriter.
As an editor, I love to work with the navigation pane open so I can see the document hierarchy and quickly navigate through it. I regularly customize my styles and use comments, and Word generally handles these things seamlessly.
With Office 365, you can access and use Word across your devices. It’s a nice feature, but not one I personally use.
Free word processors like OpenOffice and LibreOffice will definitely get the job done for you. They have a lot of the same features, including some of the more advanced features like track changes. If you were going to choose one of these, I find LibreOffice easier to customize and use. There are weird things that irk me, though, like the narrow comments column and how the navigation pane constantly collapses the headings whenever you add a new one.
What about Google Docs, you say?
Don’t get me wrong: I love Google Docs and use it almost daily. It’s great for articles, blogs, and writing proposals. I find that when you get up into the 20,000+ word range, however, it becomes clunky and slow. That’s the last thing you need as you get closer to finishing your book.
The limitations of Microsoft Word
Most people don’t notice Word’s limitations as a book writing program because they don’t get into some of the more advanced features.
For instance, the Table of Contents function is super useful because it will automatically update every time you save your book. You can make a lot of modifications, too, which at least gives you the illusion of control. However, I frequently find I want to change how items are formatted or presented and cannot. These are things that can be addressed at the layout stage if you’re working in an Adobe product, but it would be nice to have a tiny bit more control.
The other place Word irritates me is with image handling. Again, it gives you a ton of ways to deal with images, but I’m a smart guy, and I still cannot figure out the best way to include images so that they won’t get screwed up if you edit the text that comes before them.
Less than best book writing programs
There are so many programs out there for writing your book, and there may be reasons you prefer different ones than I’ve listed.
Draft, for instance, has a lot of advantages if you like a simple interface and will be collaborating with someone. I’ve heard it gets lets useful as your manuscript gets longer, however.
Lots of sites recommend HemingwayApp. This program analyzes your writing according to the terse, minimalist style of the great 20th-century American author. I’ve used it once in a while to polish my writing, and it can be very useful for beginning authors to see how their style compares to a tried-and-true modern American style.
It’s not designed for whole book manuscripts, though, so it is at best a support app.
Want me to check out another book writing program and give you my impressions? Drop me a line. Or are you ready to try your hand at writing your own book? Let’s talk about getting off on the right foot.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
