Software listings (below the new reviews) are provided with ratings (from 1 to 4 stars) and arranged by category to help you find what you want faster and easier. Keep in mind that we only list the best programs we find to start with, so even one star means it's pretty good!

In our section especially for Mac users, we've added ratings and more information, as well as some new programs. One of our readers, Hans Albanese, has kindly donated his time to test out and rate programs in this section. You can visit Hans' webpage if you'd like more information. Many thanks for this valuable contribution!

Programs within each section are listed alphabetically. Sections containing new listings are marked .

new reviews

Writer's Cafe 1.23
Writer's Cafe is a software bundle that includes several components to make the writer's life easier and more productive. Notable among these is the StoryLines structuring tool that uses an "index card" approach to organizing story scenes, characters, and story information. The drag-and-drop method of structuring and re-structuring makes this a very versatile item in the writer's toolbox. Other software components include a journal, notebook, scrapbook (for storing and arranging ideas and information), thesaurus, "magnetic" poetry, writing prompts, a timer, and a collection of inspiring quotations about writing. Time has evidently been taken to make this into a truly helpful writer's desktop environment.

The scrapbook feature is a very useful feature, allowing the user to save various types of information such as text, images, weblinks and collages. The journal and notebook have customizable backgrounds and font settings, and many other features of the programs can also be customized to the user's preferences.

Writer's Cafe includes a friendly and helpful "Getting Started" guide (in .pdf format that can be printed out for reference) as well as a brief walkthrough-type tour at the start of the program. Some features of Writer's Cafe are limited in the demo version, but it is fully functional and capable of being evaluated before purchasing.

This many-faceted software bundle is priced at $45 USD to download, and $50 USD on CD-ROM. A student version is also available, at a cost of $34 USD. With so many features in one software bundle, this is great value for your money. One very nice feature is that one registered version of Writer's Cafe may be installed on multiple computers, for instance home and work. The creators go so far as to say, "In fact we'd very much encourage you to install Writer's Café wherever you can take a few minutes to do some writing." Now that's an attitude that's geared for writers.

OS: Windows® 95/98/NT/ME/2000/XP (no information re Windows Vista yet)
> i386 Linux with GTK+ 1.x installed and libc 2.2.9 or greater
> Mac OS X 10.3. The Mac version is in beta. You can also run the Windows version on the Mac under Virtual PC
Cost: $45.00 USD (download), $50.00 USD (CD-ROM)
Demo Download: 16.4 mb
Limitations: Some features limited; no time limitations

Liquid Story Binder
Liquid Story Binder is a word processor designed with writers in mind. The split-screen view features editing space in the right-hand pane, while the left pane offers a list of chapters, so that you can easily move between sections of your work and keep an overall view of the story in mind. It offers numerous other features such as an easy formatting command, one-touch thesaurus panel, compatibility with dictionary programs such as Word Web, and integrated notes, images, and checklists. This is a definite bonus considering how much related material we often use in the process of creating a novel. This program allows you to round it up and keep it all together, easily accessible while you're working.

The help file and information to get you started is thorough, well-organized, and easy to find. The only thing I found somewhat counter-intuitive was the lack of a double-click feature for opening chapters from the left-hand pane; they're opened by selecting with the mouse and pressing enter. Considering the almost universal use of the double-click feature in today's software, this departure surprised me, and it would take some getting used to.

On the whole I think this is a very useful program for anyone not too attached to their current word processor. If you're willing to accept a bit of a learning curve, Liquid Story Binder has a wide range of features and has certainly been geared to work for the writer and to make the writing life easier. And at $28.00 USD, it's a bargain compared to most mainstream WP's. The demo features a 14-day non-consecutive trail period, so it's definitely worth downloading to see if it fits your style of working.

OS: Windows® 95/98/NT/ME/2000/XP
Cost: $28.00 USD
Download: 2.7 mb
Limitations: 14-day trial, non-consecutive

creativity

Ablemind
Ablemind is a streaming idea generator, aimed at businesses but very applicable to writing! Words appear in random groups of three, hopefully triggering an association or a creative idea.
OS: Windows 95/98
Cost: $7.95 USD
Download: 878k
Limitations: Scaled-down word list in demo

Instant Poetry
Thanks to Chris Cooper for finding a new site to download this great program!
Instant Poetry is a computer-based simulation of the popular magnetic poetry kits that people use to create poetry by arranging word-imprinted magnets. Fun & Free!
OS: Windows 3.1, NT 4.0 and 95/98
Cost: Free
Download: 900k
Limitations: None

Musings©
Musings is an excellent tip-of-the-day type program offering inspirational writing quotes and creative writing exercises. Very well reviewed by several shareware sites.
OS: Windows 95, 98, or NT
Cost: Free
Download: 1.71mb
Limitations: Free registration required to unlock entire program.

Random Verse Lab
Random Verse Lab (RVL) is an experimental piece of software created as a tool to help users write poetry. Think of it as a combined notepad and thesaurus. The idea behind RVL is this: You create templates for poems by specifying where you want verbs, nouns, and so on to appear, and then you let the program generate a poem for you. If you don't like the result, you can modify the template or change the list of words that RVL used to create the poem. The results are often very peculiar and usually very silly.
OS: Windows 3.x and up
Cost: Free
Download: 835k
Limitations: None

Storyteller Runes
A fun way to work through writer's block/waste a little time creatively. Draw a rune, read its meaning, and let your imagination go.
OS: Windows 95, 98, or NT
Cost: Free
Download: 1.2mb
Limitations: None

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reference

WordWeb 3.03
This is a dictionary and thesaurus program that works in conjunction with almost any Windows program and provides definitions, synonyms, and related words. Simply highlight a word in any open program and click the WordWeb icon in the taskbar, and the results are displayed. Alternatively, the program can be opened and a word typed in manually for lookup.
OS: Windows 95/98/2000/NT/Me/XP
Cost: Free; Pro version $19.00 USD
Download: 5.94 mb
Limitations: Free version is fully functional but with smaller word database and fewer features

Dictionary of Concise Writing
The Dictionary of Concise Writing consists of two parts. The first part is about how to identify and correct wordiness. The second part of the book is a compilation of several thousand wordy phrases followed by concise alternative expressions and real-world examples.
OS: Windows 95, 98, or NT
Cost: $12.95 USD
Download: 1.4mb
Limitations: Demo includes only the letter A.

Letter Chase Typing Tutor
Does your typing slow down your writing? This excellent typing tutor by David Ray has an easy interface and lessons ranging from beginner to advanced. Learn touch typing or brush up your skills.
OS: Windows 95, 98, or NT
Cost: $19.40 USD
Download: 1.6mb
Limitations: 30-day trial

Write Express Rhymer & Phonetic Finder
A useful tool for poets. Supports various types of rhymes. Phonetic finder provides phonetic information for words you provide. Available in 16 and 32-bit versions.
OS: Windows 3.x and up
Cost: $29.95 USD
Download: 1mb
Limitations: Demo version contains words from A-D only.

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organization

Active Diary
Very full-featured diary/planning program with password protected, multiple journal capabilities. Would make a great writer's journal, includes goals section, contact manager, personal data sections, and quick hide features. Spellcheck, thesaurus, sticky notes and many other features.
OS: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, and 2000.
Cost: $25 USD
Download: 6mb
Limitations: 30-day trial.

Writer's Database 1.2.0
This program is a database system that enables writers to keep track of the works they have created, the potential publishers they have identified, and any submissions to those publishers. It allows you to quickly and easily see which works are awaiting submission, which submissions are outstanding, and which publishers you have tried.
OS: Windows Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000.
Cost: Free
Download: 1.5mb
Limitations: None.

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writing tools

Cinergy Script Editor
This is a free, full-featured script editor, and a completely functional application. It is not limited by trial times or disabled or limited in any way. The program features automatic formatting for character names, action, dialog and other elements while you write, and adheres to industry standards for formatting and pagination. The script editor is fully compatible with other Cinergy production and management programs, and the makers also offer technical support.
OS: Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP, 233 MHz Pentium or higher, 10-30MB of available hard disk space, Internet access for online updates. Minimum system RAM: 32MB
Macintosh G3, G4 or G5 with Virtual PC.
Pure Macintosh Version (not yet released) will require OS X
Cost: Free
Download: 15 mb
Limitations: none

NovelPro: The Writer's Tool
New version (2.0) now available! NovelPro is an organizational tool for writers. It allows you to create and track characters, scenes, and ideas, and gives you the option of storing them under a single project. New version includes the new Outline Library!
OS: Windows Windows 95, 98.
Cost: $29.95 USD
Download: 7.9mb
Limitations: Download limits the number of objects you can create in each module.

Storyline Interactive
This program features interactive assistance with beginnings, middles and ends, utilizing essays and practical exercises. Although self-contained, SI acts as a demo for the more in-depth Writer's Software Companion, available from Novalearn. Very helpful & interesting!
OS: Windows Windows 95, 98.
Cost: Free
Download: 2.07mb
Limitations: None.

WriteItNow2
WriteItNow2 is an excellent all-in-one program for planning and writing short stories and entire novels, and is versatile enough to use with non-fiction projects as well. It features numerous tools to help the author keep notes, data, background and manuscript together in a neat and easily accessible format during all stages of the writing process.
OS: Windows, Mac OS X
Cost: £19.95 (about $35.00 USD)
Download: 9.35MB
Limitations: Must register to be able to save stories

Writer's Dream
Writer's Dream by Ed Simpson presents text you have created with your favorite word processing program as a super-easy-to-use electronic book. You can display images and play sounds along with your chapters.
OS: Windows Windows 3.x, 95, 98.
Cost: $39 USD
Download: 421k
Limitations: Shareware.

Writer's Deskbook©
Writer's Deskbook is a versatile writer's tool for storing, organizing, and combining notes and ideas. Instead of easy-to-lose and easy-to-forget scraps of paper, or countless unrelated computer files, the Deskbook holds all the writer's random jottings and ideas in a convenient and workable format, where they can be organized into a coherent story plan when the time is right.
OS: Windows 95, 98.
Cost: $14.95 USD
Download: 5mb
Limitations: Full program demo runs for 45 days or 60 uses.

Writer's Toolbox
Writer's Toolbox helps you to develop stories, scenes, and characters. It is designed for the novelist, screenwriter, and short story writer. It features context sensitive help and the ability to print all your work.
OS: Windows 95, 98.
Cost: $25 USD
Download: 19mb
Limitations: Full demo allows only four stories, scenes, & characters.

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for mac users

Manuscript
This is a word processor for the creative writer lets you write and manage a hierarchy of notes, write in the margins separately from the text, and view the text by individual chapter or as a whole. The program is a little hard to learn but very worth trying.

On par with Z-write, Manuscript is great for those who want to keep their notes in the same place as the text or want to be able to put notes in the margin of their document. Z-write is good for writers who want a word processor with the ability to organize text by chapters. Both are great Macintosh writing programs; my advice is to choose according to your preferences. OS: Mac OSX 10.2
Cost: $25.00 USD
Download: 328K stuffit archive
Limitations: Un-registered copies of Manuscript are fully functional but are limited to 5000 words

Excalibur
Excalibur is a free mac spell checker for checking files. It says that it is a "Latex" spell checker, but if Latex parsing is turned off in the preferences, it can be used with any program.
OS: v4.0: Mac OS 8.6 or higher and Mac OS X compatible
Cost: Free
Download: 1.03mb
Limitations: None

Nisus Write /
Nisus Write word processor is available in two free versions, a light one (Nisus Compact) for powerbooks and Nisus 4 for others).
OS: almost any Mac system
Cost: Free
Download: compact-1.1mb
Limitations: None

Corel WordPerfect Enhanced
This is not only a word processor, but comes with an outline maker. The word processor has a good grammar checker, spell cehcker and thesaurus, as well as small ram requirements.
OS: Can be used by any mac.
Cost: Free
Download: 33.1mb
Limitations: None

Cubes
Cubes uses the metaphor of refrigerator magnets to allow the user to create poetry. Clicking on the ice maker delivers a random sprinkling of words. Drag the words around to make poetry. If you don't need or want a word, drag it off the screen. Many words (verbs and prepositions, mostly) can be changed to reflect different tenses/genders/numbers. Cubes allows you to save your poems, to open poem files, and to play back an entire folder of poems.
OS: ?
Cost: ?
Download: 1.4mb
Limitations: Shareware.

Grammarian
Grammarian is an interactive grammar checker that works with text-based applications such as ClarisWorks 4.0, FrameMaker, CopyPaste, BBEdit 4.5, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Works 4.0, Microsoft Excel, and Macromedia FreeHand 8.0. Grammarian can check your grammar while you type or batch-check and perform statistical analyses on your entire document in a single pass. This version addresses minor problems recognizing older Grammarian 2 files, fixes bugs, and adds some enhancements. Grammarian contains a limited number of writing styles, and its writing rules are unchangable. The same company offers a spell checker which functions in a similar fashion.
OS: 8.1
Cost: $19.95 USD
Download: 3.6mb
Limitations: Demo is a 21-day trial.

Story Project
StoryProject is a story development tool for writers of novels, plays, and screenplays. StoryProject uses events, threading, and spotlighting and gives you nonlinear tools suited to the development of story structure. It also gives you transparent access to the linear product of your work. It is designed to narrow the gap between story outline and finished narrative.
OS: Apple Mac or Power Mac, System 7 or greater
Cost: Free
Download: 809k
Limitations: None. This notice appears on the publisher's website: "April 27, 2001 UPDATE: The Easy Part software is now public domain and is offered without any warranties of any kind. This notice supersedes any other copyright licensing notices contained on this site or in software documentation. To continue using StoryProject beyond the 31 day trial period use 1440599-M200-53911 as the registration password."
Comments: "Somewhat hard to use." - H.A.

Z-Write
Z-Write is a unique word processor designed for creative writers. In the process of writing a story, writers tend to create dozens or even hundreds of pages of notes, character bios, rewrites, reminders, and bits of research info... Z-Write makes it easier to find and keep track of a huge amount of divergent material. Best of all, everything's preserved in a single, compact file!
OS: PPC Macintosh, System 7.5 or better, Quicktime
Cost: $20 USD
Download: 1700K
Limitations: 30-day full demo
Comments: "I actually ended up buying this. It really is a great program." - H.A.

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