People search for “free book writing software” on the Internet but often what they get as search results do not meet their needs. It is because the term “book writing software” is vague. Is it what you use to write a draft? Or is it something that helps you to write drafts and organize them into a coherent story? Or any kind of software such as tools for research and publish can also be included in the category?

To solve this problem, I listed 10 free writing software and grouped them based on their different uses. I hope this will be of some help to writers out there.

1. Free software to write texts and organize them into chapters

These programs can make folders or sections that contain texts. You can move texts to and from different folders. When you’re done, you export texts in the folders as a single file like rtf, txt and other types. Each software may use different names for folders or texts but the principle is the same.

yWriter (Windows) is the most famous one with many users. Among all the software in this list, it is one that most deserves the title of “book writing software” with its powerful features.

Yarny is online software that has simple but effective interface. It supports snippets and groups which are the same as texts and folders. It also allows you to save information on people, places, and things. These basic but essential features may be good enough for most budding novelists.

Treepad (Windows) may look like a ordinary text-based database program. However, the first impression is deceptive. The software was released in 1995 and is still being used by many people because of its versatility and power. My recommended use of this software is writing of a non-fiction book because it can save and search loads of information very fast.

2. Free software for people who just want good old word processors

I think word processor software is not a good choice for writing a book but some people prefer writing on a single or just a few number of files.

OpenOffice is free word processor that is closest to Microsoft Word. LibreOffice is similar software. These two are kind of free office suits and you can use “Writer” in the suite for book writing.

Although OpenOffice and LibreOffice supports Windows and Mac, their interface is somewhat different from that of typical Mac applications. However, Mac user may have no problem at all because they can simply use Pages for free. If, even so, they need another option, they can use an excellent free word process for Mac called Bean.

Google Drive is a good alternative to desktop word processors. Do you know Chris Anderson wrote a bestseller “Free” by using Google Drive? The software has major standard features of word processors and additional benefits such as collaboration on the same text by many people.

3. Free software for screenwriters

Celtx is the best free screenwriting software which supports Windows, Mac and Linux. In terms of popularity and user base, it is almost the only “free” screenwriting software for the desktop computer that is worthy of your attention. Of course, you need to heed the word “free” because the commercial screenplay software “Final Draft” is still the de facto industry standard.

4. Free research software

Evernote is a powerful database program for note, documents and web pages. Its desktop software for Windows and Mac is the best free research tool for writers.

5. Distraction free writing software

Writemonkey beats most so-called distraction free software with its ever-expanding features and stable performance. Some people say that the only reason they stay with Windows is Writemonkey. I agree with them.