Apps that will make National Novel Writing Month smoother!

By admin
On November 1, 2012

This time of the year is one I look forward to for ages, no not because it gets cold and snowy, but because November is the National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo.

The Challenge runs exactly thirty days and is designed to give would-be writers the confidence and support needed to write a 50,000-word novel. In order to make this year easier we along with TUAW have compiled a list of apps that will make your experience much smoother.

iOS

While many might think writing a novel on an iOS device seems impossible, I have to admit that many of my ideas for my novels are written on the iPad or iPhone, the iPhone in particular is great for just jotting down ideas when you are away from your laptop. Personally I love nothing more than churning out ideas while on the bus home from work. Also thanks to iCloud syncing, it has never been easier to start on one device and continue on another.

Anyway, let’s look at some app choices you have for the iPad and iPhone:

My Writing Spot for iPad ($4.99)
Novel in 30 ($4.99)
NanoWriter ($1.99)
Storyist for iPad ($9.99)
Just Type ($0.99, universal app)
WriteRoom ($1.99, universal app)
Writing Kit ($4.99, universal app)
Byword (On sale for $2.99, universal app)
PlainText (free, universal app)
A Novel Idea (free, universal app)
DraftPad (free, universal app)
Free Writing (free, universal app)

Mac

Even though my iDevice is as always going to be my trusty companion during this month, I will also be doing a lot of the work from my MacBook Pro. So if you are in the same boat, then here are some of my favorite apps:

Pages ($19.99)
Write 2 ($6.99)
TextEdit (free, comes with OS X, iCloud enabled)
Notepad (free)
FoldingText ($24.99)
WriteRoom ($4.99)
WordMate ($12.99)
Clean Writer Pro ($0.99)
Writer ($2.99)
MultiMarkdown Composer ($9.99)
StoryMill ($29.99)
Zen Writer ($19.99)
Microsoft Word (Part of Microsoft Office 2011, $149.99 for Home & Student Edition)
Scrivener 2.0 (50% off normal price of $45 for NaNoWriMo winners, 20% off for all participants, and free trial version available for the month of November)