Finding the right environment to draft out your stories, blog posts, or study notes can be a real pain sometimes. You may find yourself limited by the word processor you currently use, or, alternatively, you may find that your current software is needlessly advanced for what you want to do.
Here’s five great word processors that suit different needs and circumstances; simple, advanced, or highly customisable.
1. Microsoft Word
MS Word is the staple word processing software. The vast majority of us have used it throughout school and work, often just to write basic documents and make rudimentary posters. However, MS Word provides plenty of features in the background that are ideal for writers – with some top-name novelists and authors still using it to write their bestselling work.
The biggest downside to MS Word is the cost and lack of ownership. Since Microsoft has taken to favouring the subscription model over a one-time purchase, this means many students or struggling authors can’t reliably risk spending £150 for the one-time, single computer version.
For those who can pay for the subscription model, or have a student discount, MS Word is fairly good value for the money. However, it’s best to look around first, as plenty of free/cheaper alternatives exist.
2. Google Docs
Google Docs, as well as the whole Google Suite, is the biggest mainstream rival to Microsoft’s grasp over the office environment.
Docs isn’t quite as robust as MS Word, and still has features being slowly implemented as the years go by. To some, the lack of features or minimal differences is a deal-breaker, but we should also keep in my that Docs is entirely free.
Moreover, it is possible to implement Chrome extensions to expand and enhance Docs. Some of these handy features include an improved grammar checker or dark UI theme (for browser users).
Docs can also be used offline with the appropriate extension installed, but the need to be online is still not ideal. Unless you own a Chromebook, where Docs can be installed as a native application, then you’ll have to access it through the web browser any time you want to write.
Whilst it can be downloaded and used on your smartphone or tablet, this isn’t ideal for long writing days and a distraction-free experience. Really, Google Docs is promising, and many people use it, but it just feels like Google isn’t prepared to make it as powerful as Microsoft’s offering (despite having the budget and ability to do so).
At the very least, your work is always being backed up to the cloud, so there’s no fear of losing it thanks to a hardware failure!
3. LibreOffice
For those who don’t want to pay for MS Word, but also don’t want to touch the mostly-online Google Suite, LibreOffice is a great open-source alternative (and one I personally use).
LibreOffice not only contains (almost) every feature that is included in MS Word, but it’s also regularly updated by an official development team. Its open-source nature also means that the software is easy to tweak, and that anyone can make their own fork of it to suit their needs.
LibreOffice also comes with alternatives to the rest of the applications included is the MS and Google Suites. These include a slide and presentation builder, spreadsheet manager, a drawing/design environment, and a database manager.
Really, LibreOffice is a great go-to for anyone on a tight budget. It does take more from Microsoft’s philosophy than Googles, but the similar OpenOffice aimed to follow Google’s design. However, LibreOffice, for all intends and purposes, is the successor to the now unsupported OpenOffice, so it’s best to jump in here.
4. Scrivener
If you want software that is developed with authors in mind, Scrivener is a great choice if you’re willing to spend a bit up front.
The feature that really makes Scrivener stand out from the other software listed here is its structuring system, which is ideal for creating a complex story. The handiest additions include the drafting areas, character sheets, chapter and scene dividers, alongside being able to export in various formats for book printing.
All of these options sound great, but this way of dividing up each segment of writing can be a blessing and a curse. It’s great for working on a scene in isolation, but the work environment can lead to tunnel vision thanks to how it cuts off every other aspect of the chapter when working on one scene. In simpler terms: it’s easy to lose track of the story without taking regular breaks to read back through each little segment.
Scrivener, for that reason, isn’t for everyone — and it was most likely built for those with an immense amount of patience and time for writing.
Fortunately, it doesn’t take after the subscription model. You can purchase a single version for Windows or macOS, or buy the combined bundle for both platforms at a slightly higher price. Fortunately, there is a thirty-day free trial, so there’s no need to take the plunge before trying it out first.
5. Sublime Text
Sublime Text is akin to Notepad on steroids. Its main intention is to be used as a coding environment for almost every programming language out there, but it also offers support for plain text and markdown files.
Even though it can appear pretty bare-bones in the beginning, packages and features can be added with a little know-how. These packages allow for the addition of features like a word count, a customisable theme, and different layouts for the text editor.
It can take some getting used to, and you still won’t have any more assistance than a spell checker; making this a very good platform for drafting out scenes and points, whilst not worrying too heavily about the flow or grammar. So, for anyone who is prone to being off-put by visual clutter in their word processors, a plain environment like Sublime Text’s is what you need – especially for rough notes and brainstorming ideas.
Whilst Sublime Text is technically a paid piece of software, the application merely pops up to occasionally request that you buy a licence after saving a file. In that sense, it’s kind of like WinRAR. You can ignore it, or do the honest thing and pay the £100 licence fee.
Really, though, if you’re not using it for any programming or official work, it’s just a nice text editor to open .txt files in.
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