The Best Tools to Kickstart Your First Thriller Novel
Nowadays, it takes much more than a pen and paper to write your own novel (although it is still a viable option). If you’re writing digitally, however, there are several tools I recommend you add to your arsenal to make your novel’s process of writing more efficient, organized, and perhaps that much more exciting.
Some of you may be wondering if we truly need specialized software to write. Why can’t I just use Microsoft Word?
Well, you can technically still use it, as well as any other word processing tool, but I recommend avoiding it unless you have a lot of experience working with it, since that kind of software is not specifically designed for creating novels, and even if you do use it to write one, it will take you a significant amount of time (and files) to structure your work properly.
This is why modern authors are resorting to tools more rich in features that help make the workflow more fun and practical.
For the sake of transparency, I’m not advertising any particular tool you see in this list; rather, I’m just trying to share with you the tools that I’ve personally used and think have helped me in my writing journey.
Also, please be sure to read the previous blog if you haven’t already, as it’s the first of this multi-part series on how to write a thriller novel.
Writing
1. Scrivener
If you Google “best book writing tools,” the first result will be Scrivener, which is commonly used by authors. This program isn’t your typical word-processing program, and what makes it stand out is a feature called the Binder, which organizes everything into a logical flow of documents and allows it to be highly customizable. Furthermore, this program provides a variety of templates that may be selected based on the project you’re working on, whether it’s a short story, book, non-fiction, or something else.
Pros
- Abundant tools for writing and revising
- The availability of templates makes the organization less intimidating
- Ability to track your progress
- Incredibly customizable, allowing you to tailor your environment to your own needs
- No membership, one time fee of 45$
Cons
- Difficult to learn and takes a long time to master
- Most features won’t be used by beginners
- Has to be repurchased between different platforms
2. Bibisco
Bibisco is my personal favorite; it was created by an Italian author/developer, and it performs as a self-motivator as well as a complete writing platform. Unlike Scrivener, the latter features a built-in book structure with chapters and scenes, as well as tools for outlining your story’s characters, location, architecture, and other details.
The fact that it delivers a comprehensive analysis and intuitive infographics for everything you write is what drew me to this tool.
And the best part is…
Drum Roll
…it’s completely free!
Pros
- An entirely efficient writing environment
- Intuitive and simple to use
- Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux
- Provides a free plan (Bibisco community edition) that includes all of the tools needed to begin writing a novel, in addition to expanded features with the supporters plan such as a timeline, dark theme, sequel creation, distraction-free mode, and so on…
Cons
- Lack of customisation
- Only allows you to write in a chapter-scene structure.
- You must manually backup your work, as the app is currently being updated.
3. Reedsy
Reedsy is a website that provides a variety of writing and publishing services. Furthermore, “Reedsy Book Editor (RBE),” a highly powerful and easy tool for authoring, formatting, and publishing, is included with this platform. What I appreciate best about this program is that you can see the structure of the book as you write. It offers a variety of styles as well as real-time saving, so you won’t lose your work if something goes wrong.
Pros
- Cloud based, access from any device.
- Automatic formatting
- Can exports in PDF, Mobi, and ePub
- Completely free!
Cons
- Lack of personalisation
- Leaves its attribution in the typeset
4. Campfire
If you’re a plotter and your story is based in an imaginative world, then Campfire is the tool for you. It gives you the tools you need as a novelist to construct your characters, arrange your events, and determine the laws of your narrative’s setting.
Although there are numerous capabilities offered by this program, it is simple to understand and needs low effort to learn.
Pros
- Provides all the necessary tools for plotting and worldbuilding
- Available in multiple platforms including MacOS, Windows, & also is cloud-based
- Collaboration with readers & editors
- You can choose to pay only for the features you need
Cons
- Pricing can be expensive if you plan to buy all the modules
- Collaboration requires all users to have campfire accounts
Editing
Do professional writers really use grammar checkers?
Some of them do, some of them don’t, but let’s be clear about one thing: being authors, we don’t depend on grammar checking tools; we use them so that when we finish our draft (which will never be perfect, by the way), we don’t get ambushed by a pile of spelling errors, which will make the editing task more difficult.
These technologies, however, cannot replace human editing abilities.
1. Grammarly
Grammarly is a sophisticated writing assistant that uses AI to analyze a piece of writing and identify grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.
It also includes readability, writing style, a plagiarism detector, and other features.
Pros
- Offers formality levels to define the tone of writing
- Has a browser extension
- Consistent with your writing style
- Immediate grammar and spelling checks
- Both Android and iOS versions are available
Cons
- The free version has limitations
- Websites limit letter count to 10k words
- There is no offline editing option
2. ProWritingAid
Similar to Grammarly, ProWritingAid is a proofreading and editing tool that offers nearly the same features as Grammarly.
Pros
- Provides detailed reports that are consistent with your writing style.
- Correct grammar and spelling
- Emphasis on readability
Cons
- Free version is limited to 500 words
- No Android or iOS app
Grammarly vs. ProWritingAid
I think both are good tools, both can help you with the editing side of things, but there are a few things to consider before choosing which one to use:
- ProWritingAid is more like an editor, while Grammarly is a a writing enhancement tool & grammar checker
- Grammarly focuses on simple grammatical mistakes, whereas ProAidWriting provides detailed insights for its suggestions
- For handling broken sentences and conversation, ProWritingAid works well. For fiction authors, it could be a helpful tool
- Grammarly’s interface is cleaner than ProWritingAid
- Integration is much better with Grammarly as it works in all browsers & other platforms
Vocabulary
As writers, in order to ensure that we are saying exactly what we mean to say, we must choose the appropriate words and use them in the proper context. Everybody agrees that we need a dictionary, so I’ll recommend three dictionaries that my editor and I used when writing The Juncture.
Dictionaries don’t have any particular advantages or disadvantages since all of them offer the same service in a different method, but something worth mentioning about the Macmillan Dictionary is a feature that I personally love, and that is the ability to give the definition of a word in order to get the term you’re searching for.
Final Word
These were the resources I came across when writing my first novel; I used some, read about others, loved some, and didn’t like some. However, you shouldn’t just count on my opinion. You can look for ones that best match your needs. If you come across any interesting resources I haven’t mentioned, kindly email them to me at bostonscribbbles@gmail.com.
Have fun writing!
I post every Saturday 🙌. Read this post and more on my L-D. Boston Blog
