A lot of people just don't have the technical savvy or the experience to know that they don't have to do everything on their own. If you're a writer, there is software and apps out there that can help with problems you didn't even know you had. This chapter focusses on helping you be aware of some tools you may not have known even existed. There are tools geared towards scriptwriting and poem writing, and if you want those I can search them out for you if you want to pm me. Otherwise, this mostly focuses on story writing and novels. I'm not rating software or picking the best for you, but I'll give you a few examples of stuff I've run into... things like...
Writing Editor -
Microsoft Word would be the most instantly recognizable writing editor in existence. However, it isn't the only one. Most people have the assumption that getting decent writing software costs money, and attempting to find something free will cause your computer to get overwhelmed with spyware and viruses. For that... I have two words for you that might very well change your life. Open source. Basically, open source is legitimately free software.
People with certains skills make this software as a tool in order to use, and distribute their work absolutely free. Others add to it, and over time, the software can become incredibly refined. Complete office suites on par with the $200 Microsoft Office are available. Some of them look pretty, some don't, but they all do everything office does. They also come fully supported with addons. So if you are missing something you'd rather see, you can also add to it.
As an added piece of advice... if you ever find yourself with a .edu email address as a college student, you can almost certainly get Microsoft office for much much cheaper. I can pick up a copy of office ultimate 2013 for $19 through my school.
Also, there are a series of online word writers too. The files get stored on the cloud, so if you have a failure and your computer crashes, everything is safe. This also allows interesting opportunities, like being able to access your work from any computer, letting others look at it or even edit it from a far, and being able to follow them as they edit the work in real time.
For $$$: Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect
For Free: Open Office, Libre Office, Abiword, Jarte, Koffice, Neooffice, Etherpad, Notepad , Lotus Symphony
Online (also free with account): Google Docs, Zoho, Thinkfree, AjaxWrite, Peepel, Etherpad, Adobe Buzzword
Also - I have to give a nod to Dragon NaturallySpeaking and other speech recognition software. You can always talk and have the story be written for you. Eventually, you'll have a lot of grammar or spelling to fix, but heck, that might be one of the best ways to write your story if you just write slower than your brain moves.
Dialogue Readers -
So you've written something, but how good is it? How do you know it's readable? It seems readable in your head. How about having what you wrote read back to you? That'll help you quickly break down severe problems, misplaced words, and incoherent sentences. Don't have someone to sit down and read your story back to you? Well there is an app for that too.
Available software: Textaloud, Natural Reader, Windows Text to Speech
Grammar and Writing Improvement Software -
Word has a grammar and spelling check. Most of the other word editors do too. However, that isn't always enough. Sometimes, you want your writing to be analyzed a little more thoroughly. Sometimes, you want it torn apart in ways your eyes can't accomplish, so you can stitch it back together again. Certain software will rip apart your work. It will point to every time you use it's or its and make sure you use the right one. It'll check the start of every sentence and make sure you have sentence variety. It will make sure your sentences are easy to read, that you aren't using too many of certain words, that you aren't filling it full of adverbs.
There are all kinds of apps for that. Regrettably, they can be kind of a pain in the butt. Unfortunately, no software exists out there that does it all. Some are online, forcing you to paste it into their box, make your changes, then cut and paste back into your word document. Others include addons that plug into certain word editors, like Microsoft word or open office. Others only work for firefox and other browsers.
They vary a lot. The ones that cost money, usually want to charge you a monthly membership for the prevlidge of using their software. Some will offer lifetime memberships, but those can range in the $100s for cost. The only "stand alone" software I was able to find was stylewriter 4.0, which does a great job in some respects, like analyzing the quality of your work, but sucks horribly in others, like fixing punctuation.
Free stuff: Prowritingaid (online only, but can unlock a word addon for X money), hemingwayapp (desktop app in development), editminion (online only), After the Deadline(addon to some software, not including word)
The Expensive Stuff: Grammarly, Whitesmoke, Writer's Workbench, Prowritingaid (full version, my preferred choice, and StyleWriter 4.0 (also like, but not worth the price of admission)
Novel Preparation Software -
So you now can write in a decent editor. You can now break down your work, both by having it read back to you and breaking down sentence structure. However, how are you going to maintain all of your ideas? How are you going to keep the appearances of the dozens of characters you introduce in order? How is everything going to fit and make sense? Personally, I used excel. I just create a custom spreadsheet and fill out my character and their personality much like you would a character in a dungeons and dragons game. I'll bet if you google character spreadsheets or character design templates, you could find any number of templates that you could work off of, if you didn't want to do it yourself.
But... what if you want something more? Like a program designed for inserting information and organizing it in an easy to follow way? Something that allows you to put in characters, settings, events, event logs, and even chapters in an easy to follow organized fashion. This way, you can track and plot and organize and never forget Jim had blue hair and Joe had purple hair. Well, here are a few that I've found.
Online Novel Software - Hiveword, Litlift
Free Opensource - Storybook, Evernote, Scrivener, yWriter, Twine, Writer's Café, Gingko, StoryMill, Plume Creator, Liquid Story Binder XE, Treesheets, Pagefour, Storyist, Masterwriter.... There are a lot... is the point I'm trying to make.
$$$ - I'm sure there are.... But why would you pay money?
Dictionary and Thesaurus -
Well, duh... that's kind of what they are there for. I don't use them all too much, but I will google a word when I don't know it. The way I typically use a thesaurus is when I know the word I'm trying to think of, but can't quite think of it. I'll try to track it down by taking its synonyms. Dictionary.com and thesaurus.com would be the simplest way to achieve this. However, if you're not happy with that, Thesage is a free dictionary and thesaurus all in one.
Online: Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, Wordweb
Free Software: Thesage
$$$ Software: Webster's has one that costs money, the only reason I liked it is that it would read the word and definition for me, and it would make things easier and help with pronunciation.
***I'd give more examples, but to be honest, I don't really see a point.
Idea Generators -
Right off the bat, I'll say I don't agree with the idea of idea generators. If you honestly can't come up with anything, anything at all, you shouldn't be writing. Writing is about putting your ideas to paper. No ideas... no writing. However, I suppose I can understand you getting "stuck" somewhere. You just can't put a face to a character, and you are just drawing a blank and don't want to wait for ideas to come and don't want your progress getting stalled by writer's block. Alright... everything in this catergory is just gimmicky websites that seem to be able to pop out ideas. Websites like...
http://www.plot-generator.org.uk/, http://writers-den.pantomimepony.co.uk/writers-plot-ideas.php, http://www.kitt.net/php/title.php, http://www.ruggenberg.nl/titels.html, http://www.springhole.net/writing_roleplaying_randomators/plotgens.htm, http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=quickchar, http://www.rangen.co.uk/chars/quickchargen.php
There are literally hundreds of these. Some generate plot, some generate titles, some generate characters, some even generate prophecies.
SO... if you find yourself in a bind, use a generator. Use it a few dozen times until you find the one you like. Then move on. It's certainly better than popping on the wattpad forums and demanding someone else act as your own personal generator. Spare them...
Writing Learning Software -
So your English teacher isn't teaching you fast enough, or the rules they are teaching you think are full of crap. There are plenty of resources out there to help you learn on your own. Websites full of valuable information, such as...
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/
http://www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources/
http://www.englishcoursevideo.com/
http://education-portal.com/academy/course/index.html
http://www.learnerstv.com/Free-Language-Video-lectures-ltv201-Page1.htm
http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-300
Some of these are literally complete English courses at a college level. Sit through them, it's not like you'll have an exam afterword, although some offer the option. You can also look for GRE study information, which is often got some pretty heavy English and vocab increasing strategies if you need it.
I know there is specific software out there as well, but I'll leave it up to you to find it.
Typing Software -
There was time when people needed software that taught you to type. Aw... good old Mavis Beacon. I think most of you have grown up with computers, and can probably type quite quickly. However, if you want to type faster... perhaps as fast as you can think, then maybe a typing software may benefit you.
Examples: Typefaster Typing Tutor (free), Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, GNU Typist(free)
Research -
I'm... not going to put every research site available up here. If you're into science, chances are you already know about pubmed. I'm sure most of you have been referred to libraries and how to find peer review work. Wikipedia.org, as inaccurate as it can be, is an easy way to get quick information if all you want is a simply reference to an actor or something trivial. Encylopedias online are often free to access as well.
Kiwix is one piece of software I'd advise. It allows you to download text information off the internet, say... the contents of Wikipedia, and access it even if the internet goes down. So the information can always be at your fingertips.
Writing Motivators-
This moves into the list of the silly. These are programs that force you to write. Focuswriter, for example, removes everything from your screen except the word pad. No distractions, no wiggly lines, no start.... Just you, writing.
Write or Die 2 is an online program (http://writeordie.com/) that forces you to write. If you fail to write at the speed you set for yourself, you can either receive a consequence or a reward. Consequences come in the form of scary and unsettling images and noises. Rewards are pleasant and soothing noises. To me, it's really really silly, but to each their own.
Anyway, that about hits the limit of software I know of that can help you out. So check it out. Do NOT download anything suspicious without scanning it. Many software, even the reliable stuff, will have tons of malware like crap rigged on it. Read the print, make sure to uncheck and decline any other software it tries to make you install. Be wary, and be careful. Make sure to have an antivirus software like avast (free) and anti-malware software like malware bytes(also free) before downloading anything. Most of the stuff I suggested I have tried and find reliable, but still be careful, read reviews, and decide for yourself if something is right for you.