novelWriter is a plain-text writing environment aimed at novels and other long-form projects assembled from many smaller documents. Manuscript text and project notes remain in human-readable files rather than being locked inside an opaque document format.
Its markup is deliberately lightweight and extends conventional Markdown-like formatting with metadata for comments, synopses and cross-references. This lets writers keep the prose relatively clean while maintaining structural information about a large manuscript.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Organise manuscript text, notes and reference material in a hierarchical project tree.
- Store writing in plain-text files suitable for backup, synchronisation and version-control workflows.
- Add synopsis information, comments and cross-references through project-specific metadata syntax.
- Use Novel View to work with manuscript sections as a continuous piece of text.
- Use Outline View to inspect manuscript structure and associated metadata.
- Keep story notes for characters, locations, plot material and other project information alongside the manuscript.
- Open reference material in a parallel document view while editing another document.
- Use configurable syntax highlighting and interface colour themes, including dark themes.
- Build a manuscript from selected project content rather than exporting every stored document.
- Work with projects using a keyboard-oriented interface with extensive shortcuts.
Website: novelwriter.io
Support:
Developer: Veronica Berglyd Olsen
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
novelWriter is written in Python. Learn Python with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
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| NovProg | Tracks and graphs writing progress against project goals |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
| Distraction-Free Tools for Writers | |
|---|---|
| FocusWriter | Simple, distraction-free word processor |
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| Apostrophe | Editor that stays out your way |
| Quoll Writer | Desktop writing application written in Java |
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| ghostwriter | Distraction-free writing experience offering a clean interface |
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| PyRoom | Editor that stays out of your way |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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