There are a lot of writing programs out there, and all of them are good in their own rights. In fact, I use many of them frequently, hopping around depending on what device I'm on or what type of writing I'm doing.
For NaNoWriMo, though one writing program rises above the rest: Novlr.org
I love Novlr as a creative writing space. I loved it before NaNo, but I love it even more now.
It was created by writers, and is still in general very new application with lots of progress to be had. The creators are very transparent about it. They regularly generate conversation about what would make writing easier and more productive. Some things that they are working on but don't quite offer yet includes a mobile app and mind mapping features. I'm very much looking forward to those, but until then Google Docs is more than capable of meeting those needs. If you want to take a look at their features page look here. The face of the site is clean, and distraction free- a design they created intentionally knowing full well the tendency for writers to lose themselves to distractions. Despite the simplistic look of the site, there is nothing simplistic about the things you can do.
So how do you use it?
First, you create your novel by giving it a title. Then you write! You can organize your novel by chapters that you can move around and organize as you go, and there’s a section for every novel to add in notes. You can create as many novels and chapters within those novels that you could want. When you’re done with your novel then you have quite a few printing or publishing options. Novlr allows you to sync with Google Drive, and Drop Box so you can access, edit or print, or share your work from whichever platform you prefer. When you are fully edited and ready to publish Novlr has made it possible for the people you love to read you book in full on their e-reader or kindle! Now here is my favorite part. They log all your writing stats.
As of this moment it shows that I’ve written 10,907 words this month, 21,822 words since I've started using them and an average of 1,091 words per day this year (not including the days I don’t write). Novlr says I’ve spent 7 hours writing this month, and 19 hours and 28 minutes total, and that my favorite time to write is at night!
Then for this month only they show me my NaNo Stats! Under a “Goals” tab that they are working to make a permanent portion of Novlr it shows me what my goal is, where I’m at with my goal, and how many words a day I need to write to achieve my goal. Best of all, it tells me I’m 21% done. I feel a possibly unhealthy amount of joy watching that number go up.
Overall, I love how easy it is to use. I love the friendly community that I feel like I’m apart of, and that I feel like my wants and needs are being heard and addressed.
Thank you Novlr for your hard work and for helping me work hard too. |
AuthorMy name is Amanda Hakes. I am a writer, reader, mother, wife and teacher. I like to live with the eyes wide open approach. Categories |