I knew I should give it a shot, but I didn’t. I’m a writer, so why would I need help with grammar and story organization? I can do all of that myself for free. Well, it took a long time, but the true answer to that question came to me.
The fact of the matter was, I did need help with both of those things. Not because I was incapable of doing it, but because doing all of it myself, and correctly, took too much time. Content is king, and I wasn’t producing it fast enough. So, I swallowed my pride and researched applications that could make my job (and life) as a writer easier.
You wouldn’t think it, but finding the applications that work best for you, isn’t as easy as you might guess. There are hundreds of programs for writers, some free, some cheap, and some expensive. But what are the best and most important for helping you work smarter, not harder? This little post I put together should make that easier for you to determine.
Grammarly
Grammarly is your safety net. Your saving grace. The thing that allows you to sleep well at night, knowing that your content is well-worded and grammatically sound. I don’t care if you are a fiction writer just starting or a newspaper editor with more than thirty years of experience. If you work with words for a living, Grammarly needs to be on your computer’s dock!
Why is that? Isn’t spellcheck enough? No.
Any writer will be the first to admit that the most challenging material to edit—is their own. Once you create a new piece of writing, it’s almost as if a magical spell is cast on your eyes. The grammatical issues are there, but you can’t see them. Grammarly changes that weeding-out those harsh-sounding sentences and misuses of the English language—taking the paranoia away and letting you relax/move-on to that next critical piece of content.
Grammarly allows you to tailor the application to, well, you. Edit the way you want feedback to sound. Do you want it to be friendly and helpful? Or are you a glutton for punishment and want the program to sound like an angry editor? I don’t know why anyone would want that, but the option is there should you choose to utilize it.
Do you struggle with writing in the passive voice instead of the active? Grammarly notifies you of that too. It also helps you overcome that by having you figure out the change yourself.
Grammarly also evaluates your writing in clarity, correctness, engagement, delivery, as well as specific style guides should you select that. On top of that, content gets an overall score based on how all five categories’ standards are being met.
Overall, it’s a great application to have, especially if you don’t have the luxury of someone proficient in English to look over your work. Because let’s be honest, most everyone can read and write, but that doesn’t mean they have the skills to do it for a living.
Scrivener
Anyone that has tried to write an entire novel on Word knows that it is a nightmare. Not to knock that program, all writers need to have it, but let’s be honest here—the thing is clunky as hell. If you have a cumbersome book in the works and Word is making writing it that much harder, or if you’ve just got a massive document that needs structuring—Scrivener is here to help.
Developers Literature & Latte have finally created the perfect program for long-form wordsmiths. Scrivener is a word processor that makes writing and organization easier through a unique folder system.
Label folders with the names of chapters, sections, or sub-sections. Then fill them with written content. Drag folders to put them where you want to go or put folders within folders to create even more customization! Scrivener is all about organizing your content in a way that makes the most sense to you.
Need to keep track of characters? Scrivener provides awesome character sheet templates that you can populate with information on people—real or fictional. Need to keep track of a setting or place? Scrivener has templates for that too!
Set word goals. Label folders and documents with colors to determine if content needs to be revisited. Do all of the things you can do with Word, but better!
And when it’s all said and done, Scrivener can export your finished file into commonly used formats like docx—so there is a minimal hassle when it comes to taking the final steps toward submission.
Scrivener can do so much useful stuff for you as a writer; I cannot cover it all here on this post. However, I will be creating a guide for beginning writers to use while trying to figure it out.
Leap!
That’s it. These two applications will change your life for the better. Worry about grammar, wording, and style less. Stop wrestling with your current word processor to get that novel or long-form project organized! Throw-down the money, and save yourself a lifetime of struggle now. I promise you won’t regret it!
Michael Stanek’s Portfolio 
Aw yeah. I thought Scrivener was just a gimmick, and downloaded their free trial just to see what was up. Ended up buying the software. It really does help with the writing process. My gripe with it is that it’s not that compatible with other softwares, especially when dealing with other editors with the Track Change method.
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Yeah, the Track Change method is nice, but I’ve also never seen such a useful feature also be so frustrating. I just like Scrivener because it makes large projects seem so much more manageable. What is the saying? “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” I sorta get that vibe from Scrivener. Chapters don’t seem as intimidating to write as they do on Word. They also feel self-enclosed so you don’t get distracted. On top of that, you just get a huge sense of accomplishment when you see the size of your project grow when your folders start to stack. Very satisfying!
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