Open-source Software for Writing

NiQuinn

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Just to be clear, these are not a universal must have. I'm just going to put down software that I use (or started with before). Doesn't mean that you have to use it too. Feel free to try it if you want. These are just something I find are useful to me and have helped me a great deal in keeping my story organized. Albeit, I'm a veritable mess. Also, don't ask why I use so many software/apps. It just works for me.

yWriter : yWriter is a word processor which breaks your novel into chapters and scenes, helping you keep track of your work while leaving your mind free to create. It will not write your novel for you, suggest plot ideas or perform creative tasks of any kind. yWriter was designed by an author, not a salesman!






Bibisco : bibisco is a novel writing software that helps writers to develop characters,design novel structure,organize chapters and scenes,analyze the novel.










Trello : Trello Is the Fun, Flexible and Free Way To Organize Plans, Projects & More. Go From Idea To Action In Seconds With Trello’s Intuitively Simple Boards, Lists & Cards. Connect Other Apps. Access From Anywhere.






Miro : Miro (formerly RealtimeBoard) is the most intuitive visual collaboration platform for teams, trusted by over 2.5 million users worldwide. Use Miro as a robust digital whiteboard to brainstorm ideas, or manage an entire project on a single board with your distributed team.



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Jotterpad : JotterPad is a plain-text word processor mobile app that is designed for writers and novelists.








Besides those, I write chapters at Google Docs. That one hardly needs an introduction. Jotterpad and Trello are mostly on the go stuff for when I think of an idea and need to write it ASAP. It has offline features that are incredibly useful. Once you connect, it saves stuff you wrote to cloud.

How about you guys? Any software you use that you want to share here?
 

Paraknight

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This is actually quite nice. It would be great if there's few more apps out there for mobiles. Since I write all of my chapters on my device.
 

zeryn

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These are good to know, thanks. I personally only use Google Docs. Though, if I do another novel in the future, I will most likely use a program to actually plan out my story, so that I don't cause my self to get lost in the sauce.
 

lnv

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I just use libreoffice with a grammar plugin. I've tried all kinds of software and haven't been to happy one way or another... (not that libreoffice is bad, it's good just I have some picky needs). Yup, just like every terrible writer, I blame the tools.

I've been really tempted to write my own software...
 

NiQuinn

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I just use libreoffice with a grammar plugin. I've tried all kinds of software and haven't been to happy one way or another... (not that libreoffice is bad, it's good just I have some picky needs). Yup, just like every terrible writer, I blame the tools.

I've been really tempted to write my own software...
I'd say go for it if you know how. I mean, Bibisco and yWriter were started by a single individual who thought that the writing software they're using was lacking in some way. HOWEVER, if it's gonna eat your time and you'll end up not having the opportunity to actually write your story, then what's the point?
 

lnv

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I'd say go for it if you know how. I mean, Bibisco and yWriter were started by a single individual who thought that the writing software they're using was lacking in some way. HOWEVER, if it's gonna eat your time and you'll end up not having the opportunity to actually write your story, then what's the point?

Generally, when I do stuff I like to double up. Aka, learn new technology while at same time accomplish things I need. For example, I wanted to learn Vue and also annoyed how long it took to make litrpg stats for my chars. So I doubled up and created a generator. That is killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

Actually, I already wrote a large part of the writing software, but I ended up dumping it and plan to start from scratch (Mostly because the technology used behind it doesn't have much of a future. That doesn't mean the software is bad, it works for the most part, but it is useless if I can't double up it's usage )
 

Sabruness

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bibisco looks interesting, especially for fleshing out characters.

I mostly write in wordpad because it's simple, easy and always available.
 

Ai-chan

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Try Writeway or Focus Writer.

Writeway is very similar to Scrivener, but with a few features less and not having cloud support. It used to be quite pricy but the programmer has retired and offered the software for free. The programmer originally developed it for his wife, who was an author because she was dissatisfied with existing softwares.

Focus Writer is a distraction-free word processor. If you have a problem staying in focus and keeps looking away from your document to play with youtube or surf the net, then use Focus Writer. The first few minutes will be kind of torturous because you want to surf the net, but as you type, and the sound of typewriter slowly brings you into a lullaby, you will end up losing sense of time. The next thing you know, you've written a fully fleshed 5000 words chapter in 3 hours. If you write in notepad because you like the simplicity, then this is the upgrade you want.
 

Lone_Crane

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Most of these aren't open source (LibreOffice is though), just free. I like yWriter, have used it before. Writeway looks useful. There's also Atomic Scribbler and Quoll Writer, both free, the latter open source as well. Similar to Scrivener like the above mentioned, but fewer features. Personally, I use Scrivener and think it's the best and well worth the money, but to each his own. I've used all these other ones before except for Writeway. They're all pretty similar, just a matter of what works best with your workflow.

One thing I didn't like about Atomic Scribbler was there's no comments feature like you have in Scrivener or Word or LibreOffice, where you can highlight text and write comments. I use that feature a lot so not having that was a dealbreaker for me. It's been a little while since I've used it so I don't know if such a feature has been added or not. Also I don't remember if Quoll Writer has that or not because I haven't use that one in years. Looking at the screenshots though, it looks to have been significantly updated.

A couple new ones (for me) I just found are Manuskript and Wavemaker. I haven't tried either of these yet, but the Storyline feature in Manuskript looks cool. I will give that a whirl.


Manuskript storyline feature
 

NiQuinn

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Most of these aren't open source (LibreOffice is though), just free. I like yWriter, have used it before. Writeway looks useful. There's also Atomic Scribbler and Quoll Writer, both free, the latter open source as well. Similar to Scrivener like the above mentioned, but fewer features. Personally, I use Scrivener and think it's the best and well worth the money, but to each his own. I've used all these other ones before except for Writeway. They're all pretty similar, just a matter of what works best with your workflow.

One thing I didn't like about Atomic Scribbler was there's no comments feature like you have in Scrivener or Word or LibreOffice, where you can highlight text and write comments. I use that feature a lot so not having that was a dealbreaker for me. It's been a little while since I've used it so I don't know if such a feature has been added or not. Also I don't remember if Quoll Writer has that or not because I haven't use that one in years. Looking at the screenshots though, it looks to have been significantly updated.

A couple new ones (for me) I just found are Manuskript and Wavemaker. I haven't tried either of these yet, but the Storyline feature in Manuskript looks cool. I will give that a whirl.


Manuskript storyline feature
The thing with Manuskript that stopped me is their warning of always backing up your work. I do backup my work but the warning makes me hyper conscious and discouraged about using it for now. It does look really good though. I've had it bookmarked for a while but still not wanting to use it yet.
 

NiQuinn

ฅ/ᐠ ̳ .ᆺ. ̳ ᐟ\ฅ ~~ᴺʸᵃᵃ
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A couple new ones (for me) I just found are Manuskript and Wavemaker. I haven't tried either of these yet, but the Storyline feature in Manuskript looks cool. I will give that a whirl.
By the way, Wavemaker is pretty cool. Never saw it before until you mentioned it. Now I'm considering being a patron of the Patreon. It's a pretty nice software. Thanks for mentioning it.
 

Lone_Crane

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By the way, Wavemaker is pretty cool. Never saw it before until you mentioned it. Now I'm considering being a patron of the Patreon. It's a pretty nice software. Thanks for mentioning it.
Oh really? I will check it out then. I hadn't tried it yet.
 

Lone_Crane

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Oh and for timelines, if you want to get deep into that, try Causality. The timeline feature is free (the writing feature is paid for full functionality) and is the most robust timeline app I have seen.



Atomic Scribbler screenshot:

 
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