5 Digital Tools to Get Your Story Off The Ground

Before the dawn of technology and computers, writers had to have boxes upon boxes of notebooks, index cards, and sticky notes that took forever to organize, let alone use to make a coherent story. Now there are plenty of tools that help writers make their work a whole lot easier. Here are five of our favorites.

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1. Scrivener

Ideal for: Idea Organization, Formatting, and Word Processing

Scrivener boasts multiple features, such as a corkboard, research space, recycle bin, and formatting tools for each project file. Each notebook has its own corkboard, while each page has a corresponding index card on which you can write reminders, summaries, dates, etc. Scrivener also has format samples for screenplays, novel manuscripts, and nonfiction collections.

2. Microsoft OneNote

Ideal for: Idea Organization and Word Processing

OneNote works a little like Word, but instead of having multiple windows for different documents, you can collect multiple documents into their own notebook. This allows you to access them all at once without having a dozen windows open, or losing a document in a sea of bottomless folders. OneNote also has an auto-save feature and a task bar tool that pulls up a blank note or lets you screencap a page and save it for later.

3. Milanote

Ideal for: Idea Organization and Thought Dumping

Milanote is essentially a digital bulletin board, which makes it great for putting down ideas to organize later. The app, with its flexible spaces, is not limited to only writing. Utilize cards, arrows, lines and text boxes to help turn a random collection of ideas into a cohesive plot. The app is available on browser, desktop, and mobile, and allows you to sync across all devices.

4. Campfire

Ideal for: Worldbuilding and Story Planning

Campfire is a collection of apps built specifically with writers of genre fiction in mind. Starting off as an organization software, Campfire has since exploded into multiple apps that offer tools such as Character Creator, Story Planner, Interactive Map Maker and more. Their most recent venture is Campfire Publishing, allowing writers to monetize their newly completed stories.

5. Ellipsus

Ideal for: Word Processing and Collaborative Writing

Ellipsus is one of the more recent word processing tools online. It works and just like your favorite word processor, except it's designed for collaborative writing. With the draft feature, multiple writers are able to work on and edit a singular document, compare the drafts, and merge changes seamlessly. Ellipsus is currently in beta so it's free to use. Plus, the website is designed to adjust for both desktop and mobile.

Go Forth and Write!

This list is not by any means exhaustive, just a few favorites that we've tried and loved. Some of them we've enjoyed so much (or maybe, not so much) that we're about to share individual reviews. Stay tuned for those!

Once you've finished your manuscript, the next step is of course a fresh pair of eyes to help you polish it into the best that it can be. Sign up for free at themanuscripteditor.com today and claim your free editing sample!