Hammer is a writing environment designed for planning, organising and developing stories. It brings together a manuscript editor, scene management, notes, timelines and an encyclopedia for keeping track of characters, locations and other story details.
The application provides a structured workspace without forcing writers into a particular workflow. Scenes can be rearranged, archived and connected to reference material. There are also tools for tracking writing activity, comparing drafts and reviewing completed chapters as continuous prose.
Hammer takes an offline-first approach. Projects are stored in human-readable files rather than an opaque database, and synchronisation between devices is entirely optional. Writers can work locally or use a self-hosted synchronisation server.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Organise manuscripts into scenes and chapters, with scene reordering, archiving and selective exporting.
- Maintain an encyclopedia of characters, places and other story elements, with relationships linking entries to scenes.
- Keep rich-text notes and timelines alongside the manuscript.
- Search across projects with filters and tags to locate scenes and reference material.
- Track writing activity, explore interactive statistics and compare drafts with visual differences.
- Distraction-free focus mode and a dedicated reader mode for reviewing chapters as prose.
- Import manuscripts from Markdown, RTF and HTML files.
- Export stories to PDF, EPUB, DOCX, RTF, HTML and Markdown, with configurable formatting options.
- Project-specific spellchecking languages and custom dictionaries.
- Capture story ideas and organise projects using tags.
- Human-readable local storage, optional device synchronisation and support for self-hosted servers.
- Backup management with the ability to restore previously deleted projects.
- Cross-platform support – runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Android and iOS, including native Wayland support on Linux.
Website: github.com/Darkrock-Studios/hammer-editor
Support:
Developer: Adam Brown
License: MIT License
Hammer is written in Kotlin. Learn Kotlin with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Tools for Novelists | |
|---|---|
| FocusWriter | Distraction-free writing environment with goals and statistics |
| Ren'Py | Engine for creating visual novels and interactive stories |
| novelWriter | Structured plain-text editor for novels and long-form fiction |
| CherryTree | Hierarchical notes for research, characters and story planning |
| Zettlr | Markdown writing environment for long-form projects |
| oStorybook | Novel planning and writing suite with scenes and timelines |
| Twine | Visual tool for creating branching and interactive stories |
| Manuskript | Novel-writing environment built around structured planning |
| Quoll Writer | Novel-writing workspace with chapters, assets and goals |
| Joplin | Note-taking application useful for research and story planning |
| Hammer | Offline-first story editor with scenes, notes and references |
| Bibisco | Novel-writing environment focused on characters and structure |
| Story Architect | Bring characters, scenes and screenplays together in one workspace |
| WareWoolf | Minimalist fiction-writing environment with planning tools |
| Scriptorium | Plan, write and publish novels and other manuscripts |
| Cheese Paper | A comfortable writing environment for lengthy prose |
| Skribisto | Writing studio with corkboard, sessions and rich export support |
| novelibre | Novel organiser integrated with LibreOffice and OpenOffice |
| Scrivus | Plan and write your novel while keeping everything on your own computer |
| NovProg | Tracks and graphs writing progress against project goals |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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Hi Steve. Hammer is cross-platform.
Thanks Torin, article updated.
The Hammer story editor is exciting. What you have is a great start, but I believe it needs much more effort. I will be trying to create more./ I would not mind sharing. I am a retired system architect that is more interested in creating a sci-fi novel series.