I write a lot. I like writing. I also like finding all sorts of writing apps to make writing more fun or productive – hopefully both. There are so many apps out there that they can start to blur together. I’m not saying that there aren’t a ton of really useful writing apps, but they can tend to pile up and be a little overwhelming with all the features available. So, to help remedy that, this list of great apps for writers isn’t particularly long, but it does include some truly unique and useful apps to make writing a better experience.
I’ve used all of these apps and have personal preferences about all of them, but I really do like them all. I’ve tried to list what makes them useful and unique in a way that can help you decide which apps would be best for your needs. I would suggest trying them all out if you can, because it’s hard to get a real sense of these kinds of apps without actually using them.
Why An App List for Writers?
Like I said, I write a lot, but that’s not the only reason I created this list now. It’s the beginning of the fall season, and among all the great things about fall is an opportunity for writers called NaNoWriMo. So, I thought this little list of really cool writing apps might be helpful for the professional and hobby writers who will soon be participating in the popular fall tradition of NaNoWriMo.
Obviously, you could use these apps year-round, but I just thought some people might like to check them out for their upcoming NaNoWriMo projects. I’ve never participated in NaNoWriMo but it does look like a really fun way to motivate yourself if you are a writer.
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3 writing apps and… a noise maker?
One resource on this list stands out – MyNoise.net. It isn’t a writing app (although there are app versions of it you can download to use on your phone) but it is an app/site you can use to help make writing more fun.
1) MyNoise.net
MyNoise.net doesn’t exactly look like a modern site. It looks a little bit dated and you might think, at first glance, that it’s not worth checking out. That would be a mistake. It’s an incredibly useful tool for anyone that thrives off having some background noise while they work, or has a particular project that could benefit from a certain auditory atmosphere.
There is a paid version of the site that allows you full access to all the different soundscapes, but you can listen to a huge number of them for free as well. There are all sorts of “sound scenes” for virtually any kind of audio environment you want to create.
Once you select a certain sound mix to listen to, you can control the various separate sounds with sliders that let you increase or decrease the individual sounds. You can also create your own sound mix by:
- Turning all the dials down that you don’t want, then press ‘c’ on your keyboard.
- Go to any other sound mixes that have sounds you want and repeat that process until you have 10 sounds “copied”.
- Then press ‘shift+c’ to create your own sound mix.
- You can see the instructions on how to create your own MyNoise.net sound mix on this page.
2) OmmWriter
OmmWriter is a super-simple writing app. It’s about as minimalist as you can get. It may even be too simple in that it could benefit from some more formatting options like paragraph styling. Still, it’s one of my favorite writing apps because of the minimalist aesthetic and particularly because of the noise options.
If you like ASMR or having some sort of background noise on while you write, OmmWriter is definitely worth checking out. I LOVE the noises you can choose from for your “typing noise” and the background music options are also great. They’re not overly noisy to the point of being distracting, and the typing noise options range from standard keyboard style sounds to the more ethereal.
Headphones
There is a real reason for the recommendation that you use headphones while using this app. Pick a good set (I use these and really love everything about them, but there’s a less expensive version here) and do some freewriting to get used to the app.
What OmmWriter is good for:
I tend to think of OmmWriter as a good freewriting and ideas app.
It’s so easy to get in the flow of writing with this text editor that it’s going to be best used for someone that needs to just get some words down on a page. If you have writer’s block or just need to let the words flow without worrying about formatting or other details on a writing project.
Because of the limited amount of formatting available with this app, it’s not really one you’ll use to create a final draft of anything. I’d like to use it to write blog posts like this, just because I love the experience of writing in that app, but I would have to reformat everything once I moved it into an actual blog post, adding stuff like headings and paragraph spacing.
If they added that to OmmWriter I might use it for everything.
Cost
It is a paid app, but is under $10 and well worth it IMO.
3) Paper
Paper is a good medium between OmmWriter and iA Writer, if you’re not sure which of those to choose, you might like Paper best. It has more options as far as editing and formatting than OmmWriter. It offers some of the same features as iA Writer, like “focus mode” or “typewriter mode” but also retains a more minimalist style similar to Omm Writer.
Cost
It technically has an unlimited free trial for the pro features, but you’ll get a pop-up asking you to buy the pro version pretty often while you’re using the pro features, which could get annoying. The price tag for the pro version is pretty expensive ($99), but you can use the free version until you decide it’s worth it.
4) iA Writer
iA Writer is kind of a minimalist writer app, but not really. It has a lot of formatting and editing features and takes a little more work to figure out. It isn’t difficult to figure out, but there are just more parts of the app to explore.
If you want some more editing and formatting features for your writing projects, this is a great app for that. You can still get that minimalist, focus-on-the-writing feeling with this app while benefitting from lots of tools to help make your writing better.
Some of the options include things like:
- Syntex highlighting – different colors are used to highlight different types of syntex within your writing, helping you visualize the flow of your writing.
- A smart editor – the built-in editor can help you cut out repetitive tendencies in your prjects, along with cliches or filler words.
- You can include headings and text-formatting as well.
All of your iA Writer files are easily accessible in the sidebar of the app, which you can minimize at any time to make the interface distraction-free.
What is iA Writer good for:
iA Writer is a full-fledged text editor with markup options. If you’re not familiar with markup it’s very easy to get the hang of within the app and serves as a way to let you format your text.
It’s good for more robust writing projects and improving your writing style.
Cost
It is a paid app ($30) but comes with a 14-day free trial. And if you decide you want to keep using it, it’s less expensive than Paper.
Which unique writing app should you use?
All the apps on this list can be at least tried for free, but all also have pro/paid versions. They all offer different features and uses, but are all great programs for writing projects. So which ones should you use?
Use OmmWriter if…
You want a minimalist writing app that will help inspire you to write more, and don’t want to have to spend much money.
Use Paper if…
You like the minimalist style, but want more features, and don’t want to commit to paying for something right away.
Use iA Writer if…
You want a robust writing program that will help you create and organize your writing projects. You’re willing to pay a bit to get a feature-rich writing app, but want to test it first.
Use MyNoise.net if…
You like it. Which you will. Just use it. It’s great.
