Seek clarity and avoid clutter. Pick the right tools to maximize your writing productivity.
Key Points
- Eliminate distractions that get in the way of writing.
- Choose software that fits your personal working style.
When working on a writing project, productivity is key. It’s not just about word count, although cranking out 10,000 words a day is a noble goal for the truly ambitious. Pro Tip: Identify and remove any distractions that compromise productivity. Common distractions that get in the way of your becoming a lean, mean writing machine include:
- Checking email – it can wait
- Watching the news – turn it off
- Surfing the web – close that window
- Playing video games – rewards come later
- Worrying – write more, worry less
With that out of the way, let’s pick some writing tools. There are three main categories of software for writing:
- Text editors
- Word processors
- Desktop publishing (DTP)
Text Editors
Personally, I do most of my note-taking, brainstorming, and production writing with a basic text editor. I truly dislike clutter. My nirvana is a clean interface with no distractions. For my personal working style, I strongly prefer cross-platform text editors, because I really like the flexibility of being able to work on whatever platform I have handy: macOS, Linux, Windows. When I’m on the go, I like the capability to capture ideas on a portable device and save them to the cloud. However, I also need to be able to quickly and easily integrate my notes into larger document projects as needed, and without issues.
Many people find that dead-simple, cross-platform tools that don’t get in the way are an ideal way to go. Here are five cross-platform text editors to consider, all of which are available for macOS, Linux, and Windows:
- Visual Studio Code
- Bluefish
- Geany
- Brackets
- Vim / gVim
Look, I’m a get stuff done kind of guy. That’s my thing. Give me a basic text editor and I’m off to the races. Here’s the key: select the right tool to fit your own personal working style.
Word Processors
Microsoft Word. I know. Love it, hate it. Everybody has an opinion on Word. For some things, Word is the right tool. Feels like everybody uses it, but that doesn’t mean you have to. There are options. Here are five word processors to consider, when something more than a basic text editor is needed:
- Word – macOS, Windows
- Word Perfect – Windows
- LibreOffice Writer – macOS, Linux, Windows
- Google Docs – cloud and offline
Being able to work across multiple platforms can be very helpful. LibreOffice Writer and Google Docs work well for me. Whether one syncs document content in the cloud or on a home/office network share, remember that version control is important.
When I’m on a serious writing tear, I prefer Libre Office Writer, which is part of the Libre Office suite, a cross-platform open source software for macOS, Linux, and Windows. In my experience, Writer is easy to use and rock-solid.
Pro Tip: Stable software that doesn’t crash in the middle of a brilliant writing session is awesome. Between you and me, I’ve had it with Word doing crazy stuff to my documents and then crashing at the least convenient moment. Not my thing. However, I’m a realist; sometimes you just have to use Word. That’s life. But when I get to choose, I want something that just works. Period.
By the way, Writer is very cost effective, as in free. And, because it’s cross-platform, it works on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Bonus: Writer opens, edits, and save Word document format and many other formats as well. Check it out.
In another article, we’ll explore desktop publishing (DTP) software, including Adobe InDesign and other options. Scrivener, Ulysses and others in the long-form writing software category are a separate topic that we’ll cover elsewhere as well.
Okay, time to get back to it, folks. Just Write! You can do it.