Free Writer App For Mac
- Free Writer App For Mac
- Free Writing App For Mac
- Free Writer Software For Mac
- Free Writer App For Mac Computer
Apr 07, 2017 The Mac is a great tool for writers, with a plethora of software available for any kind of writing. It doesn't matter if you're a student spending long nights on your big paper, a journalist writing up your latest scoop, or a novelist furiously typing away on your next opus — there's an app for you on the Mac. PDFelement is a PDF Writer for Windows and Mac. It is currently one of the best free PDF writers on the market. With its professional features, you can easily convert, create, edit, combine and organize documents with ease. Meet Writer's desktop app Create, edit, and collaborate on docs from the comfort of your home. Say hello to the complete desktop word processor that has everything, but costs nothing. Jun 19, 2020 The app is available on desktop for Windows and Mac but also has a web version. Their basic free plan includes two scripts for free without any limit on the number of pages. They have however made the full Premium version completely free since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Check out Arc Studio Pro 8. Check your grammar in seconds Slick Write is a powerful, free application that makes it easy to check your writing for grammar errors, potential stylistic mistakes, and other features of interest. Whether you're a blogger, novelist, SEO professional, or student writing an essay for school, Slick Write can help take your writing to the next level.
If you turn phrases for fun and/or profit, your best option for a Mac writing app depends on what you want to write, and how.
Sure, you could stick with a word processor to pour your thoughts onto the page — but you've got better choices. If you want something a little less stuffy, cluttered, and nine-to-five, or more focused on creative writing, we've found four solid choices that take two very different approaches to helping you express yourself. All are either Essentials or Editors' Choices in the Mac App Store.
Ulysses
The first three apps on this list all take a similar no-frills approach to writing. They sport clean, minimalist interfaces, keep all your writing in a single window, can swap documents between their iOS and Mac versions, and use some variation of the Markdown syntax to handle all text formatting.
Ulysses impressed me most among this crowd for its breadth of features and ease of use. An outstanding series of introductory texts ease you into using Ulysses, one simple step at a time. Their witty writing allows you to learn the program while you're using it.
If you want to track your own productivity, or challenge yourself to meet a certain word count, it's easy to set goals from Ulysses's dashboard. Don't know Markdown XL, Ulysses's native tongue? No worries — a handy cheat sheet of syntax waits behind a button at the top of the program. (Ulysses also supports old faithful keyboard shortcuts for bold, italic, and linked text, if you don't want to type Markdown XL's extra characters.)
Ulysses keeps these two features and a handful of others, including options to export your work to text, ePub, HTML, PDF, or DOCX formats, in pop-over menus that you can tear off and keep onscreen for easy reference.
Ulysses isn't WYSIWYG; you can download themes to change up its color scheme at the Ulysses Style Exchange, but you can't view the effects of your formatting until you preview or export it. The Style Exchange also offers a host of free templates for PDF, HTML, and ePub exports, with different looks, fonts, and styles.
Ulysses comes with built-in iCloud support to hand off documents between its Mac and iOS versions. It can also publish your work directly to your Medium or WordPress site, once you enter your account info. And its subscription model means that your monthly $4.99 fee unlocks the app on both the Mac and iOS.
Ulysses offers a lot of options in a polished, user-friendly package. Unfortunately, it has a good portion of its thunder stolen by…
- $4.99/month with a 14-day free trial - Download now!
Bear
Nearly everything Ulysses does, Bear does just as well, in an arguably prettier package. Bear's fonts and color scheme, while still clean and stark, go easier on the eyes than Ulysses's utilitarian gray. Its stats panel is much easier to read, though less detailed. And Bear strikes a happy medium between full WYSIWYG formatting and Markdown simplicity by clearly labeling different header tags as you create them, and offering the option to actually show text as bold or italic when properly marked.
I liked Bear's tagging system, which makes it really easy to organize files. Just type in a hashtag anywhere in your document, and Bear will either create a category for it on the fly in its list of documents, or add that document to an existing category. I was also impressed with Bear's ability to share a note to any program you've added to your Mac's Sharing menu, including Facebook, Twitter, and Reminders.
Beyond that, Bear duplicates a lot of Ulysses's virtues, from its overall interface to its friendly help files. And the program's basic version, which packs plenty of power, is absolutely free on both Mac and iOS. However, to match Ulysses's features, you'll need to subscribe to Bear Plus, for $1.49 a month or $14.99 a year. That subscription gets you features like iCloud synching, ePub export, and customizable export themes, all of which Ulysses includes right out of the box.
- Free to download, $1.99/month or $14.99/year Bear Plus subscription - Download now!
iA Writer
iA Writer is inexpensive -- just a one-time $15 fee -- and it packs a reasonably robust feature set. iCloud sharing and synching with its iOS sibling is built in, as is WordPress and Medium support. Like Bear and Ulysses, iA Writer offers downloadable export templates, and its help files include instructions to make your own with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. But for all these virtues, iA Writer still falls short.
Its stark black-and-white interface makes Ulysses look colorful. It feels brusque and utilitarian, not welcoming. On first use, the program dumps you right into its interface with no introduction. Its lean, efficient Help files explain the program well, but after Ulysses and Bear's gentler tutorials, iA Writer's lack of frills can feel jarring.
Word count and other stats are crammed into a tiny menu at the bottom of the window, and you can't set goals for any of those parameters. They're squeezed into the same small space as iA Writer's Format and Syntax menus, which can format text or quickly highlight all the nouns, adverbs, adjectives, or other parts of speech in your document — a nifty feature undercut by lackluster interface design.
Finally, a real-time preview window can show you what your text will look like when it's finished and formatted. But it feels odd to have the same text side by side; if you want to see what text looks like when formatted, why not just have a WYSIWYG editor?
iA Writer isn't bad on its own merits, but with such impressive competition, it can't help but suffer in comparison.
- $15 - Download now!
Scrivener
At the opposite end of the spectrum from its spartan rivals, Scrivener is a jumbo-sized Swiss army knife stuffed with a sometimes overwhelming array of fun and useful tools. The other programs in this roundup are undeniably more versatile, lending themselves just as well to note taking, blog posts, journalism, or technical writing as they do to writing fiction. In contrast, Scrivener's built to serve the needs of folks writing novels, short stories, screenplays, and — given its ability to store pictures, cached web pages, and other research material alongside a given text — possibly term papers. For $45, you'll definitely get your money's worth.
Scrivener's somewhat long in the tooth compared to its rivals here, with a dense but coherent interface filled with the kinds of colorful icons that seem to have fallen out of fashion among Mac apps. It arguably needs such a crowd of buttons to display even a fraction of the features stuffed into its every nook and cranny. (My favorite: A ridiculously options-laden name generator for authors in need of inspiration.) Scrivener's user manual, however engagingly written, is 546 pages long. It's not messing around.
Even after years of using Scrivener, I still sometimes find myself hunting through its menus in search of that one command I need. Consistently formatting text files in a given project to anything other than Scrivener's default settings can be a pain, and it keeps its settings for targets and statistics in separate popup windows.
But despite this complexity, Scrivener does a good job of getting out of your way. Scrivener offers an outline mode, and a corkboard mode that displays each of your scenes as virtual notecards on which you can hash out what happens when. But if you just want to start writing without worrying about its bells and whistles, you won't have a problem. Because it's so like the Finder, Scrivener's system for storing scenes in various folders makes sense immediately. And like all the programs mentioned here, Scrivener offers a fullscreen mode that blots out everything but the text you're working on, to avoid distractions.
Scrivener also offers a respectable if occasionally glitchy screenplay mode. It won't replace Final Draft, but if you want to have fun writing a cinematic masterpiece about Dominic Toretto battling Dracula, you'll end up with a decently formatted final product.
Scrivener also shines when it's time to publish your work. Its voluminous list of export formats includes all the usual suspects, plus ePubs, Final Draft screenplay files, and even Kindle books. You can even select only specific chapters or files to compile and export — handy when you've got multiple drafts of a novel in a given file, but only want to create a PDF of the most recent one. However, this versatility has one glaring exception: Scrivener doesn't support iCloud, though it can share documents between its iOS and Mac versions.
- $45 - Download now!
Which app is best?
If you want a jack-of-all trades writing app with WordPress, Medium, and iCloud support built in, Ulysses is your best bet. If you're not willing to shell out $4.99 a month indefinitely, try the similar Bear first. You may not ever need its advanced features, which would give you a terrific writing app for free.
But if you're serious about creative writing, and you want a stalwart companion to help drag stories out of your brain, Scrivener's your best bet. Its learning curve is steeper, but its powerful features make that climb worthwhile.
Got any favorite apps we haven't mentioned here? Let us know in the comments below.
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Slugline
Slugline is a screenwriting app that uses Fountain as its native format. Available for Mac and iOS.
Highland 2
Highland 2 for OS X converts screenplays among FDX, PDF, and Fountain formats, and supports direct editing of Fountain files.
Fade In
Fade In is a full-featured, multi-platform screenwriting application that imports and exports Fountain documents.
Scriptigo
Based on Fountain, Scriptigo allows you to create, manage, and share your scripts for film, television, and theatre all in one place. Available on the iOS App Store.
Editorial
Editorial is a powerful writing app for iPhone and iPad that supports Fountain. Available on the iTunes App Store.
Untitled
Untitled is a screenplay outlining and note-taking tool based on Fountain. Available on the iTunes App Store.
Amazon Storywriter
Amazon Storywriter is a free, cloud-based screenwriting tool that imports and exports Fountain, FDX, and PDF. It works in your browser, or as a Chrome app.
Logline
Logline is a structure-focused screenwriting app that uses Fountain as its native format. Available on the Mac App Store.
Writer
Writer is a free Fountain writing app for Mac, available on the Mac App Store and GitHub.
Screenplain
Screenplain by Martin Vilcans is a free web app that converts Fountain files to Final Draft FDX files and formatted HTML.
DubScript
DubScript is a screenplay editor for Android that supports FDX, Trelby, Celtx (HTML), and Fountain. Available on the Google Play store.
Fountain Loader
Fountain Loader generates HTML previews of Fountain screenplays and also converts them into Final Draft FDX files. You can import Fountain files directly from your Google Drive account, or by dragging from your computer.
Trelby
Trelby is a free, open-source, multi-platform screenwriting application that imports and exports many screenplay formats, including Fountain.
Storyist
Storyist is a writing and story development tool for novelists and screenwriters. It imports and exports Fountain documents, and is available for both Mac and iOS.
Afterwriting
Afterwriting is a web-based Fountain tool that includes an editor, customizable PDF preview, Dropbox integration, and a FDX to Fountain converter.
Atom
Atom is a free, multi-platform text editing app that can be configured for syntax highlighting and previewing of Fountain files.
Textastic
Textastic is a code editor for iPad that can, if you're brave, be configured for Fountain syntax highlighting. Available on the App Store.
Storyboard Fountain (beta)
Storyboard Fountain is a Mac app that allows you to draw storyboards and embed them into your Fountain screenplay. Currently in public beta.
writescript.in
A free web app that allows you to write in Fountain and see a live preview of your screenplay.
WriterDuet
Free Writer App For Mac
Writer Duet is a collaborative, online screenwriting tool that imports and exports Fountain. Fountain is also supported by ReadThrough.com, also from Guy Goldstein.
Scrivener
Scrivener is a writing app with comprehensive screenwriting features. It imports and exports Fountain files, and can use Fountain for its powerful folder syncing feature. Available at Literature and Latte, or on the Mac App Store.
Sublime Text
Jonathan Poritsky created a Fountain syntax highlighting package for Sublime Text.
Fountainhead builds on Poritsky's work and adds more screenwriting features to Sublime Text.
Marked 2
Marked 2 by Brett Terpstra is a Markdown preview app (OS X) that can also preview and print Fountain files.
Write for Mac
Write for Mac is a Mac writing app that supports Markdown and Fountain. Available on the Mac App Store.
Emacs
Fountain Mode is an Emacs major mode that provides syntax highlighting, auto-indenting, and other useful features for working with Fountain files.
SuperNotecard
SuperNotecard is an online writing tool with virtual notecards. It imports and exports Fountain files.
While simulation is running, adjust circuit parameters with analog knob, and the circuit responds to your actions in real time. This app takes design to a whole new level of interactivity' - Design NewsEveryCircuit is not just an eye candy. Electronic circuit analysis software. You can even generate an arbitrary input signal with your finger!'
Geyser
Geyser is a Mac app that creates a server for Fountain files, which can then be read securely on any device, using a web browser. Available on the Mac App Store.
Scrippets
Scrippets by John August and Nima Yousefi is a WordPress plugin that converts text entered in the Scrippet format to properly-styled HTML.
Fountain.js
Fountain.js is a JavaScript based parser for Fountain. You can try it out here.
Textplay
Textplay is a command-line ruby script that converts Fountain screenplays to HTML, Final Draft FDX, or PDF.
TextWrangler and BBEdit
fountain-clm is a Codeless Language Module for TextWrangler and BBEdit. It adds syntax highlighting and scene 'folding' for .fountain documents.
Free Writing App For Mac
Vim
fountain.vim is a Fountain syntax highlighting file for vim, and fountainwiki.vim provides light wikification of Fountain files.
metalsmith-fountain
Metalsmith-fountain is a plug-in for Metalsmith that renders fountain files as static webpages. On github and here.
Run Lines
An Android app for rehearsing scripts that can import and export Fountain files. Available on the Google Play Store.
MediaWiki
A Fountain extension for MediaWiki. It parses screenplay text written in Fountain inside of <fountain></fountain> tags and styles it to look like a Screenplay.
FountainSharp
An F# Fountain parsing library, available on github.
Free Writer Software For Mac
TheTakes
Free Writer App For Mac Computer
TheTakes is an online production management tool that imports and exports Fountain screenplays.