Every time I turn around there is another program I need to check out. I think it’s because I recently started reading reddit. All of the people who create apps are there, I think. And they all mention their apps at some point or other (or, more annoyingly, every time there is a post that is even tangentially related to their app).
Most recently I discovered three new-to-me writing apps: Fablehenge, Reedsy (not at all new, but I haven’t reviewed it before), NovelPad, and PlotFactory (I’ve actually known about this one, but I wanted to include it anyway). These programs are not for beginners learning writing craft (unlike Bibisco, Beemgee, or Dramatica), they’re for any writer who just wants a place to organize their writing, outline, character, settings, and plotlines.
Fablehenge
This is a program put together by an author and their spouse to fulfill a need by the author. The app is more plot than character focused providing many more places and ways to organize your plot, while characters seem to be more of an afterthought.
The way it’s organized is quite nice: You have a column with a list of your scenes, a column that is where you do your writing, and then a column where you can put in notes and tag the scene with characters, setting, object, or plot. For each of these tags, you can go into much more detail choosing a template with default attributes or you can create your own. (It is in the character tags that you can get into the weeds of each major (or minor) character. (Oddly, it doesn’t have goal/motivation/conflict as a pre-set list, which, of course, is the one I use.)
You can create Timelines of whatever you want to track (characters, a subplot, whatever) and when you tag a scene it gets automatically listed in this timeline.
Artificial Intelligence is built into the Pro version of the program and it comes up with some funny stuff. When you first create a new book, it asks you the genre of the book (it has quite a comprehensive list to choose from) and which story structure you want to use (it gives a pretty long list, including lot of structures I had never heard of: five act, Harmon’s Story Circle, Kishōtenketsu, Seven Point, Story Spine). Based on these and the summary of the book you type in, the AI creates an outline for you adding in whatever details you might have left out including character names and plot points (in other words, it creates the story for you).
The program also tracks your writing including a lot more than just how many words you wrote. It also tracks your tags and “popular words”, which could be really useful in catching words you use too often. In fact, its statistics page in one of the best features of the program.
You can’t quite see it because I had to make this really small, but from left to right: published words & world building; popular words; the number of chapters, scenes, and tags; top tags by scene count; top characters by scene count; and then the same for settings, plots and objects.
There are three tiers of pricing: Free has the basic program, Hobby for $40/year which adds cloud backup and syncing between devices, and Pro for $150/year which adds the AI element.
Another very nice thing about the software is that you can always export your work to either a docx (or a pdf), so you can clean it up and send it out to your editor once your done. The program is also connected to Scribophile so that you can request feedback and critiques.
Reedsy
We all know Reedsy. It’s a website that has a lot of resources for authors—everything from very informative blog posts to a marketplace where you can find overpriced editors, coaches, and formatters (probably overpriced because Reedsy charges so much to get your name added there). They also have (in Beta) writing software. This is online software only.
It’s a very open software providing you with a writing space, which is organized by front matter, body, and back matter—all ready for your book to be exported into a very basic ePub or “print ready” PDF. You can also export a “draft” to docx.
In addition to the writing space, there are also “boards” that you can create. These are merely blank spaces that you can fill with whatever you want. I created one for characters and another for my plot outline. You create “folders” and then cards within each folder. Here’s an example of my plot board:
Reedsy also tracks your words per day and, if you put in an end date, how many words you’ll need to write every day to reach that goal. In Reedsy, unlike in Fablehenge, you can track changes and add comments to your manuscript.
There is no way to share your manuscript through Reedsy, aside from downloading it to your computer as a docx, epub, or PDF. One very nice thing about Reedsy is that it is free.
Novelpad
Novelpad provides a very clean writing space with minimal distractions. Unlike in Fablehenge and Reedsy the left-hand column is just a list of small icons taking you to other pages within the program. Your manuscript is front and center. Chapters are demarcated by a simple faded out chapter number and scene breaks you’ll have to put in on your own. You simply write and scroll down to see more (or up to see what you’ve already written). There is a right-hand column for comments, but that can be hidden.
There is a very nice layout page so you can see your entire plot (either horizontally or vertically).
And scenes are simply drag and drop to move them around.
There is a page to follow allow with plotlines where you can add either existing scenes or a new scene, an open character page where each character simply has a blank page you can fill with whatever you want, and there is the same for locations. There is a page called “Insights” but as I haven’t filled in much writing I’m not sure what that might do besides tell me what I wrote on what day and how many words it was. And, once again, there is a nice goals page with a graph showing the ups and downs of words written by day, and a calendar with the number of words either written or to write each day.
This is a really clean program, simple to use with everything a writer might want. Like with Reedsy, there is no built-in way to share your work.
Novelpad only has one paid option (and a 14 day free trial period). It is $120/year and includes ProWritingAid and a Discord community where you can connect with other users of the software.
PlotFactory
Finally, PlotFactory is an older program, but no less full of great features for that.
In it you can have a Universe with many books, characters, and settings which span the series you are writing and on the Universe page you can add whatever properties you’d like. It comes present with Time & Setting, Theme, and Laws. When you add a character, setting, object, or element to a particular book within the universe, that information is added to the universe as a whole. And you can create notes for research or whatever details you need to remember.
If you subscribe to the higher plans you also have access to characters sheets and “Questionnaires” (whatever that might be—I didn’t pay to find out).
The writing page has three columns: the menu on the left, a writing space in the center, and a list of your chapters and scenes on the right with a space for chapter-specific notes at the top.
There is a page for your outline, but you only have these options for story structure:
There is a page for creating different plotlines within your story, but once again, it’s only available at a higher paid tier.
On the stats page, there is a very nice section of “Most used words and phrases” where you can tell it to look for a string of any number of words and determined how many is too many.
There is a way to share your work with someone else in such a way that all they can do is read what you’ve written. No comments allowed.
And one unique thing about PlotFactory is that you can have it read your story out loud to you—and excellent feature for editing.
There are four subscription tiers: Basic which is free, Hobbyist for $90/year, Enthusiast for $140/year, and Novelist for $190/year. You can sign up for a 14 day free trial before you have to pay anything.
So many options for organizing your work and writing your story! Frankly, I don’t know which one to pick.