More than a Dozen Writing Tools that Could Help Increase Revenue in 2025

The free, the affordable, and the extravagant

Image by 1tamara2 from Pixabay

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Let's dive right in and have a look at tools and apps that are perfect for working writers.

Reedsy Studio

Cost: Free
Reedsy Studio is an all-in-one writing and publishing platform designed to help authors plan, draft, edit, and format their books. They have plans to introduce premium features in the future. It's a comprehensive tool that can streamline your writing process and help you publish a beautiful book.

Drafts App for iOS (in the app store)

Cost: Free

Drafts is a versatile note-taking and text editor app designed for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. It's often described as "where text starts" because it allows you to quickly capture and manage text. Free to use, but there's also a Drafts Pro subscription with features like creating and editing actions, themes, icons, workspaces, and enhanced automation.

Cliché Finder

Cost: Free (an online checker)
It's a tool designed to help writers identify and eliminate clichés from their writing. Clichés are often overused to the point of losing their original impact or meaning, but they can be effective, too. This checker points them out and lets you decide if you really want them in.

LibreOffice

Cost: Free (open-source software)
I've loved and used it for years. If you haven't gotten to know this gem, do it right now—you will not regret it. Because it's open-source, it gets new features continuously though it's terrifically robust as it is. It can do everything those other word programs do and more. Compatible with all file types: compatible with all of the regular file types people are used to, such as .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, and .pptx files.

Milanote

Cost: Free for basic plan or $12.50/month for premium.
This one is designed to help you organize your ideas and creative projects. It's often described as a digital workspace where you can create visual boards to plan and manage your projects. Our thinking isn't flat and linear; we often need to straighten out a tangle of ideas before we write long-form projects. Here's your salvation.

Ulysses vs Scrivener App

Cost: Ulysses is about $5/month—Scrivener is a little pricier
(click here for their year-end special pricing, but don't procrastinate. Regular price is about $60 for a lifetime license).

Writing/organizing tools. Scrivener is known for its powerful organizational tools and flexibility, making it ideal for long-form writing projects like novels and academic papers. Ulysses, on the other hand, offers a clean, distraction-free environment and is great for writers who prefer a minimalist approach and focus on shorter content.

Ommwriter App

Cost: from free to $7.

Here's a minimalist, distraction-free writing application designed to help you focus and concentrate on your writing. You can choose a full-screen, distraction-free interface or lovely nature scenes to calm you. The app gives you soothing music and sound effects (like an old-time type-writer sound…)

Google Keep

Cost: Free
Once a Google Play app, Keep is now a web app. I've used it for a long, long time. Couldn't live without it. Sync with every device you own or access it on a friend's computer. It's like sticky notes on steroids—the interface is a board with unlimited space for notes you can color-code, pin to the top, stack, and organize however you choose. The notes live until you delete them. Leave it on a tab in your browser, and you can quickly click over to save any notes, files, images, sounds, or reminders you want. Searchable. Schedule an email reminder anytime. This is the bomb.

My other notebook go-to is MS One-Note. I like the interface—it's virtual spiral notebooks that you can compile by topic or task. Also free. If you use the free web versions of MS Office components, you'll find One-Note there, too.

Marinara Timer

Cost: Free
Marinara helps you manage your time and reduce distractions while working on writing tasks. No download; it's a web app. It's based on the Pomodoro Technique that encourages you to work for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break, work for 25 minutes, take another break, blah, blah, blah. If 25/5 would drive you nutz (it would me), the timer can be configured any way you want. I do 90 minutes—5 minutes—making sure I stand up and walk around in the breaks.

Noisli

Cost: Free
I need total quiet to write effectively, but if you don't, this might be a joy for you. Pick from a whole lot of ambient sound: rain, ocean waves, a coffee shop, the crackle of a fire, and many more. Mix several if you want or randomize them. Controllable volume.

Fictionary

Cost: Free for a week, then $19 to $169

Fictionary is writing/editing software for fiction writers. It helps with outlining, drafting, and improving your novel through AI-powered (if you're into that) feedback and visualizations. Key features include StoryTeller for genre-based outlining, Scene Analysis for instant feedback on scene elements like goal and tension, and Story Insights for visualizing your story's structure and pacing. StoryCoach offers live courses with certified editors, providing personalized feedback to refine your manuscript. Someone described it as Peloton for writers. I have not used this.

Forest App (in Google Play and the app stores)

Cost: Free for Android, $4 on iOS. In app purchases.

It's a productivity tool to keep you focused by growing virtual trees as you write. Hmmm. You set a timer for the amount of time you want to work without distractions. As long as you keep the app open, a virtual tree grows, but if you leave the app, the tree dies. Forest partners with Trees for the Future, a nonprofit, to plant real trees in various countries based on the virtual trees you grow. I dunno. You decide.

Standing desk setups

Cost: Wide range of price points
Sedentary jobs can cost you your health. Sitting-related injuries and health issues are rampant. Writers spend a ton of time hunched over a computer or staring into notebooks. Look into the idea of a standing desk. You can do it free by putting some sort of booster (a phonebook? Hahaha) under your computer so you can get out of your chair. You can spend hundreds or thousands for awesome standup desks. Think about it.

Some tool junkies buy blue or amber-colored computer glasses because their eyes get tired. But the American Academy of Ophthalmology says you don't need them—it doesn't recommend any special eyewear for computer users. The simple fact is we don't blink as often as we should when we focus on screens. There's where the eyestrain begins, but you can fix it by taking breaks or doing simple eye exercises. BTW, I use these eye exercises every day, and I can tell you they work like a charm for me.

Corkboards and whiteboards

Cost is widely varied

So, let's go old school. Install a whiteboard or cork bulletin board near your writing space and buy a bunch of pushpins. This method is fun, and having such equipment makes you look productive. Use it for mind-mapping, organizing, outlines, and storyboards. It's not efficient—might even be annoying after a while, and you'll go back to the digital versions. Still, it's a cool excuse to buy yourself a present.

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I compiled this list when I was thinking about holiday gifting, but it's always a good time for organizing and reorganizing your workspace. When I change up how I do a simple task, I always feel re-energized and am likely to work a little more productively. If you have any other ideas for tools and workspace hacks, throw them into a comment, would you?