I think a lot of people think that they need to pay money–sometimes a great deal of money–for writing tools. I mean, I’ve definitely tried a lot of them, but with little success. But there’s actually many online free, subscription-based, or cheap tools available to use which… might be of use!
If you know of any that aren’t here, please let me know! I’m always looking for new things to try. Also, I’ll be continually adding to this list as I find and try new tools.
This post is divided into sections: Actually Writing, Book Design, Character Design, and Worldbuilding.
Actually Writing
One Page Per Day
http://www.onepageperday.com/
Free
Simply a blank page upon which to write. No formatting distractions. I use this a lot.
WriteOrDie
This online writing aid keeps me focused (especially during NaNo) by screaming at me when I’m not writing enough 🙃
Google Docs
How could I write a list of writing tools without including this? Not just Docs for writing, but Sheets for collating data is also super useful.
The guide I wrote to Print Formatting in Word also applies to Docs, by the way! And it’s free!
Book Design
Canva
http://www.canva.com
Free, paid extras
User-friendly content creator with many, many formats and templates to choose from. I use this for my book covers (even drafts–I love having a nice cover to look at!) and most of my blogging/Twitter content, too.
Character Design
HeroForge
http://www.heroforge.com
Free, paid extras
This 3D-character modeller is technically for creating print files (for 3D printers) but I find it extremely useful for solidifying characters in my head.
⬅Josie and her cats 😺
“Where did you go, Norah?”
Worldbuilding
Inkarnate
http://www.inkarnate.com
Free, paid extras
Map-making software with about a thousand options for farms, towns, villages, cities, deserts, wastelands, mountains, you name it.
Jade Cahoon 