6 Writing Tools I Couldn't Go Without
- Kayleigh A
- May 1
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 5
In this post I'll introduce you to some of my favourite writing tools that I honestly could not have finished my first draft of Soulhunters without. Credit has to be given here to CY who introduced me to most, if not all of these (thank you, I love you bestie).
These are not paid advertisements or endorsements, they are just genuinely things I found helpful when writing my novel.
Milanote
I used to think there was no substitute when planning for an old fashioned paper and pen, but that was until CY showed me Milanote. It works like a digital white board, letting you collect, design, brainstorm and organise your ideas in an aesthetically pleasing way. I have to admit it completely revolutionised the way I plan my novels. For Soulhunters I used the novel writing template and created boards for the story outline, research, character development, world building, chapter outlines, a moodboard for inspiration and a tracker for my writing progress.
The program is free to use if you keep the content under 100 items, and after that you can subscribe for a monthly or yearly fee. I found it so useful that I subscribed for £10 per month (or $12.50) and I now use it for all of my projects.
Scrivener
I didn't expect this one to have the effect on my writing that it did, but I found it incredibly useful to see my novel broken down into parts, chapters and scenes and it made the entire writing process flow more smoothly. Importantly, it also allows you to save a cloud copy of your novel so it won't be lost if something happens to your device.
I recommend downloading the 30 day free trial to see if it makes a difference to your writing. It's pretty nice that they structure this so that rather than being for 30 consecutive days it is for 30 days of use, meaning you don't lose days of your trial if you take a writing break. If you love it as much as I did, it then costs £55 which is a one-off fee that allows you access to that version of the product forever.
If you're looking for something free to use, Google docs is a good alternative that also lets you access your novel from any device, which can be very handy.
Notebook
The credit for this one again goes to CY who gifted me this beauty for my birthday. Of course, you can buy a notebook from anywhere, but I really love that this one is sleek and and the extra touch of adding your name is super cute! Having a dedicated pretty notebook for my novel and investing in some nice pens helps me to feel excited and motivated about planning my novel, so if you're like me I would definitely recommend doing this. I also found it useful that it is easy to tear out the pages, and I found clipping a cute pen to the elastic was convenient. I use mine for plotting my novel outline, planning chapters, writing down my random assortment of ideas, and setting myself writing goals.
Trackbear
Link: TrackBear
I used Nanowrimo religiously to set myself goals and record my writing progress, but then tragedy struck and the platform was no more.
Whilst I was busy sulking over my lost writing data, CY found us a replacement and introduced me to Trackbear (yes, I'd be hopelessly lost without her). I love that this app lets you track your writing progress in a number of ways, so whether you want to know how many words, pages, scenes, chapters or lines you've written, TrackBear has you covered. It even has an option to track the minutes spent on a project.
I also like the layout that lets you set goals, see your streak and statistics, and track your writing progress all in one easy to use space. And the cheeky prompts are a nice reminder to get writing!
Canva
I used this to create a book cover for my novel before I began working seriously on my first draft. I love how easy it is to use, and you definitely don't need to be a graphic designer to get a cute cover design with the heaps of templates it has to choose from.
I created my cover to remind me how badly I want to see my name on that novel, which motivates me to keep tapping away when it gets hard. I have also heard of self-published authors using Canva as a cost-effective way to create their books covers. So whether you're just looking for aesthetic motivation or you want to save yourself the cost of hiring a designer, I'd definitely recommend checking out Canva and creating yourself a cover just to see your book start to come to life.
Phone voice recorder/notes app
Very basic I know, but it is helpful to record a voice note or write myself a memo when I'm out and about and an idea pops into my head. It allows me to just put it down somewhere in it's raw form and I highly recommend doing this in the morning if you have an inspiring dream. Funnily enough this is actually how my initial idea for Soulhunters came about!
So make sure you keep your phone handy next to your bed because you never know when you frantically waking up at 4am to blearily record a jumble of words might turn into the one novel that excites you enough to stick with it for 2 years.
I hope you will find some of these tools helpful in your writing journey. Happy writing!
Do you have any tools you just can't write without? Have you tried any of our recommendations? Let us know in the comments below!