Those who use the computer to write books, notes, blogs or documents, can check here if they are using all the appropriate programs for their work. It is not enough to have any word processing program if it is possible to optimize ideas, take notes and organize the structure of the text to be written. For example, if you write an article to be published on the internet in a blog, there is no need to use an office program and to write a novel you don't necessarily have to buy the Office suite with Microsoft Word. In this article, therefore, we see the 10 most useful free programs for those who write on the computer, for novel writers, bloggers, crime writers, aspiring Ebook writers or even just to take notes to keep and remember.
1) LibreOffice Writer is definitely the best free alternative to Microsoft Word .
Every writer needs a good word processor for word processing to write long, well-formatted documents and texts. LibreOffice with Word, Excel and Powerpoint for free for Windows, Mac and Linux is one of the best free offers there are, which includes all the Microsoft Office tools. Automatic completion, automatic formatting, spelling checker in Italian, possibility to include images and graphs, footnotes, summaries, headings etc. With LibreOffice you can also save your work in PDF format, making the document ready to be shared with others.
The interface is light and practical even if a bit old to look at, recalling the old Word 2003.
READ ALSO: Best alternatives to Microsoft Word
2) Sigil
Who writes e-books, electronic books, could find in Sigil a good EPUB editor, not really easy to use, recommended for more expert users. The tool is very powerful to update the text and formatting of books and texts divided into topics, with tools to create an index and a validator to make sure that the book complies with EPUB standards. Sigil is the best free alternative to Adobe InDesign.
2 Bis) To create an EPUB you can also use LibreOffice Writer with the free plugin Writer2Epub which allows you to create professional E-Books in a simpler way, using the normal writing program.
3) TreeSheets is an interesting note-taking program with an unusual approach to organizing ideas.
It works a bit like a spreadsheet, with cells, each of which can hold data, images, formatted text and more. So, you could get a list of items, each of which contain other tables and images. The TreeSheets interface isn't too easy to understand and perhaps most potential users may not like it.
4) Kiwix
Who writes novels or any other type of text, may need continuous information to document himself and avoid writing inaccurate things.
If you use a computer that is not connected to the internet and you cannot access wikipedia or Treccani online without it, you must have a complete encyclopedia on the computer.
As seen in another article, with Kiwix you can download Wikipedia in Italian and save the encyclopedia on your computer. The download may be several GB and not exactly updated to date, but the entire offline encyclopedia will be available, easily accessible and searchable.
5) Storybook is a versatile tool that offers itself as a support to correctly structure a novel, a script or another complex written work. You can by creating strands, one for each plot, each with multiple scenes. Each scene will be set in a defined place, with your choice of characters or elements. The story can then be changed as you want in each scene. The program is also easy to use and becomes indispensable to better visualize and understand the story you want to tell.
6) WikidPad is a notepad structured like a Wiki (think of Wikipedia) so that every note is easy to find and write. This program is a personal wiki, a tool for connecting ideas in an easy way.
7) FocusWriter is a particular word processor that has the distinction of leaving all the space on the screen to the text, without toolbars, buttons or distractions. The menus appear only by moving the mouse cursor, with the buttons to decide the formatting of the text, to search and replace words, alignment, indents, spell check and so on. Extra options include the ability to set daily goals (e.g. working for a full hour or writing a certain number of words), while the program status bar shows how close we are to achieving this goal. Focus Writer is an excellent program for novel writers, better than Word or other document programs.
8) yWriter5 is a small but very complete tool for planning a novel . You can set the various deadlines so that you know how much you will have to do every day to finish on time. Then insert characters, places and objects to organize them in the various scenes, put them in the right order and create a basic structure for the book. Everything can be changed later, for example by moving a scene back one chapter, deleting a character, adding a new one and cutting scenes.
9) Open Live Writer is the best program for those who write on a blog on the internet . The program connects to the blog database, whatever its type, and provides an interface similar to that of Word to write well-formatted articles to the computer and immediately preview them before publishing online. Windows Live Writer is compatible with all major blog platforms, including Blogger and Wordpress.
10) Evernote is considered the number one application for keeping notes saved online and taking detailed notes, complete with images. All contents become available from Windows PC, Mac, from Android smartphone or tablet, from iPhone, from iPad, Blackberry, Windows Phone. It is also possible to share notes with others and it is a perfect tool if you are collaborating on a big project.
