Want to write like a pro? These 7 tools are my secret to keeping my creative juices flowing

I’ve been writing for over 30 years. When I first started, I worked from a legal pad and a pen, trying my best to forge my way the best I knew how. I can still remember sitting backstage for Tartuffe (the title character didn’t enter until Act 3, Scene 2, so I had plenty of time on my hands) and writing my first attempt at a short story. Even before that, way back in high school (when we had to carve on stone tablets and use an abacus), I was already attempting to write a new musical based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

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Neither of those projects ever came to completion (although if Fee Waybill of The Tubes would contact me, I think we could make some magic), but they remind me of those tireless attempts at putting words to the page to make art.

Fast forward to today, and I now have a pretty cool stack of tools I use as an author. Of course, the collection of tools I use might not work for everyone, but I’ve created a list of apps (some of which I use) that can help you get started, keep you writing, and get your work ready for submission.

Here we go.

1. Novlr

I almost added Scrivener because it is used by so many. However, the problem with Scrivener is that it has a steeper learning curve. Novlr, on the other hand, is user-friendly and designed to foster good writing habits. 

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Novlr has a distraction-free interface and all the features you could need for getting your novel written. Novlr includes drag-and-drop paragraph reordering, a sidebar for notes and goals, Livingwriter Boards for an overview of your writing and plot devising, an AI Outline Generator, smart text and auto-suggest, manuscript outlines, goals and stats, plot and outline boards, and much more. 

Think of Novlr as your kitchen-sink writing tool that can help you create from start to finish (you can even export your manuscript into various formats for publishers or even Amazon). Novlr’s UI vastly simplifies the process of getting up to speed with the platform, and once you’re accustomed to the creative process, you’ll find your writing reaches a new plateau.

Novlr can be used with a 14-day free trial, or you can pay $144 per year or $14.00 per month.

Best for: Writers who need help planning, outlining, organizing, and monitoring their work.

2. Msty/Ollama

As I’ve mentioned on several occasions, I use AI for one purpose — research. I’ve had to really depend on it recently while writing my first sci-fi novel because there are concepts about space travel I needed to understand. For that, I didn’t want to use an AI service from a third party who could use my queries for less-than-benevolent purposes. Because of that, I use a combination of Ollama and Msty as a local AI I can query without worrying that any information will be used by a third party. 

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I’ve found Msty and Ollama to be a great option for this very purpose. Chances are pretty good that, at some point, you’re going to need to research something for your novel. When you do, give this combination a try. Both can be installed and used for free on Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

Best for: Writers who want to use AI for research but don’t trust their queries to a third party.

3. LibreOffice

At one point, I wrote all of my first drafts with Google Docs because my editor used it as well, and it made sense to collaborate with that service. Eventually, I switched to my publisher’s editor, who did not use Google Docs, which caused considerable issues with formatting when we collaborated. Then, AI came into play, and I grew concerned that Google would use my books to train its LLMs. Those two reasons sent me back to LibreOffice, and I haven’t regretted the decision since. 

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LibreOffice has everything I need to write my manuscripts and even has features that help make the process easier (such as creating custom styles). LibreOffice has all the features you need, such as track changes and comments (which your editor will thank you for). LibreOffice can be installed and used for free on Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

Best for: Writers who need a powerful word processor and want to walk away from using the cloud.

4. Standard notes

I don’t typically use tools for organizing my books. I keep notes within my LibreOffice documents (at the bottom) for reference, but for the most part, everything lives in my head. However, I do have a “To Be Written” list that has been crucial for my process. That list used to live in a Google document, but I’ve since migrated it to Standard Notes. The reason is that I much prefer adding a new note when inspiration hits me, instead of just tacking it on at the bottom of an already-too-long file. 

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With Standard Notes, I can sign in from any platform and have all of my notes in sync. And because I can add tags to notes, I can link ideas for different story series, so when I search for a tag, all the related notes appear. Once you add Standard Notes to your creative process, you’ll wonder why you weren’t using it before. Standard Notes can be installed and used for free (although there are paid plans that add more features) on Linux, MacOS, Windows, Android, and iOS.

Best for: Writers who like to keep notes on their work and want to be able to access those notes from any device.

5. Grammarly

Grammarly is not an editor, so don’t think you can skate by without using an actual human to edit your work. However, Grammarly is a good way to get your work as clean as possible before submitting it. I’ve used Grammarly for that very purpose for a long time. However, I only use Grammarly for my shorter work (articles and short stories). The reason for that is I’ve always found Grammarly chokes on book manuscripts. 

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On a 60,000-100,000-word document, it can take forever for Grammarly to do its thing, and while it’s working, your document may become unresponsive for brief periods. When I use Grammarly on shorter pieces, it does a great job of catching the things I miss, and for that reason only, Grammarly is a must-use for me.

Grammarly can be used for free on Linux, MacOS, and Windows. You can upgrade to a premium account for more features.

Best for: Writers who want to submit the cleanest copy they can, without having to struggle to make it so.

6. Calibre

If you’re a self-published or indie author, you’re going to need your finished manuscript saved in the EPUB format so it can be submitted to Amazon. Sure, you can use your office suite to export to EPUB, but chances are good you’ll run into problems. 

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With Calibre, you have total control over the export process. I’ve had to use Calibre on several occasions and even had to open the converted document (via the Calibre editor) to fix alignment issues (when images are present) and other things. Prior to being picked up by a publisher, Calibre was a part of my creative process for a long time. Calibre can be installed and used for free on Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

Best for: Self-published and indie authors who can’t afford to pay for a formatting service.

7. GIMP

Your book is going to need a cover, and I have used GIMP to create hundreds of book covers over the years (I used to offer a book cover creation service). Using GIMP, I’ve created my own covers for the majority of my books. 

Also: The 5 GIMP features I depend on most when editing images (and how I use them)

GIMP might not be as effortless as Photoshop, but it can do pretty much everything the de facto standard can (although you might have to work a bit harder for the results). The reason I use GIMP over Photoshop is twofold: 1) Cost (GIMP is free) and 2) Photoshop doesn’t support Linux. GIMP is free to install and use on Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

Best for: Writers who can’t afford a cover creation service or need images embedded in their work.