Novel Writing Month

Novel Writing Resources

Honestly, you can write a novel with a ballpoint pen and loose-leaf paper. But you probably won’t, so here are some links for tools, websites, and other resources.

And also, hosting costs money so you bet your sweet bippy that if you’re going to buy this stuff anyway, I’d appreciate a cut. (Hell yeah, I’m adding affiliate links. But I promise never to send a half dozen fundraising emails a day, so let’s call it square?)

Also, I’ll never put anything here that I don’t think is a good product made by good people (as far as I can tell, I’m not the CIA).

Novel Writing Software

  • Scrivener – Some people swear by this. Others hate it. YMMV.
  • Vellum – More a book formatting tool than a drafting tool.
  • World Anvil – A worldbuilding tool with a (paid) novel writing feature and a robust user community. Very useful if you plan to write fantasy/scifi or a series and need a world bible.
  • Royal Road – If serial fic or web novels are your jam, this is for you. (Or consider Wattpad or Ream, if you’re writing romance).
  • Ellipsus – Slick, free online writing tool, but it’s in beta. Others include Novlr and Shaxpir. (These 2 have paid versions, and Shaxpir has a desktop app).
  • Atticus – Kindlepreneur’s entry into the writing tools space. Comparable to Vellum.
  • Reedsy – Online writing tool attached to their marketplace. Mostly free for now.
  • ProWriting Aid – More of an editing tool than a drafting tool.

Novel Writing Events

If you really, really need to do this “writing a novel” thing with other people, here are a few events that have risen from the ashes of the debacle formerly known as National Novel Writing Month.

  • Novelember (World Anvil) – this is probably the closest, since it’s 30 days, in November, and World Anvil has a large and healthy community.
  • Writefest (4thewords) – If the word count trackers were your favorite thing, this might scratch that itch.
  • 90 Day Writing Challenge (Autocrit) – This event takes place over the summer, and it’s 90 days so if you enjoyed Camp NaNoWriMo more than Original Recipe, this might be more your speed (literally, it’s 3X slower).
  • Shut Up & Write – If you yearn for those in-person write-ins at your local coffee shop, this might be the way to go. However, it’s a long-term commitment. This one is intended to create ongoing community writers groups.

Merch

Are you really even a writer if you don’t have a special mug, a “leave me alone I’m writing” ball cap and an ironic tee-shirt? Absolutely. But again – if you’re gonna buy this stuff anyway, I might as well get a piece of the action.

(Coming soon).