Every November, thousands of budding writers participate in National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo. The idea is that anyone, regardless of experience, can commit to writing 50,000 words in one month, completing a novel (or other finished work) in the process. Sign up for free to participate and then simply log your daily word count. If you're planning to take part this year, you'll need to write about 1,700 words a day to hit the suggested 50,000-word goal, and you'll probably need an app for it, too!While we'd love to tell you there is one "best" writing app to rule them all, it simply isn't true. The best app is the one that helps you with the unique challenges of whatever you're writing. Do you need an app that has scene cards for mapping out a screenplay, or do you want one that reduces distractions and helps you focus on getting words onto the page? The best app also supports your method of writing. Do you like to write in pieces that you can move around while revising? Do you need to keep track of copious footnotes? Do you publish directly to a website?No matter what type of writer you are, you won’t have trouble finding an excellent writing app that speaks to you. Below are summaries of some of the highest rated apps, based on our independent testing, as well as guidelines for how much you might expect to spend.How Much Do Writing Apps Cost?Apps for writers tend to be less expensive than other kinds of software. Many sell for a one-time fee, although a few require a subscription. In addition to the cost of the desktop app, you should also factor in the fee for a service's mobile app, which is often sold separately. There are three types of writing apps in this story:Low-cost, lightweight apps that cost $10–$30Writing apps for long-form writers (such as book authors) that cost either $50–$60 to own outright or $50–$60 per year when sold as a subscriptionScreenwriting software, which costs anywhere between $70–$250Some writing apps include storage, but many don't. To make sure you never lose your work, you should back up your work early and often. A cloud storage service, such as Dropbox or iCloud, is often the most convenient solution. The good news is that pages of text don't take up much space, so you may be able to store a few works in your existing cloud storage account without paying for more space. Just keep in mind that you could eventually end up having to pay more for storage. Final Draft is considered an industry-standard writing app among screenwriters.The Best App for ScreenwritingAs a genre, screenwriting has unique requirements. Scripts for movies, television, and the stage must clearly distinguish between action, scene descriptions, spoken dialogue, and so forth. Scripts do this through formatting. For example, lines of dialogue are always centered on the page, while the name of the character who speaks them is always centered and in all caps directly above the lines. The rules of formatting are standardized so that all the people involved in creating the final product—actors, film crew, editors, directors, among others—can understand the script and do their jobs.Because the formatting for screenwriting is exceedingly precise, it helps tremendously when a writing app applies the correct formatting automatically. Most professional screenwriters use Final Draft, which is the industry standard. In addition to suggesting the correct formatting, Final Draft has a beat board where you can map out the beats of your story and view them on a timeline above your script as you write. Fade In is a great, low-cost alternative to Final Draft, while Script Studio offers sample scripts to help you structure your work. Scrivener interfaceThe Best Writing App for Long-Form WorksBook authors spend a lot of their time simply organizing their manuscripts. Whether it's for fiction or nonfiction works, many authors put an incredible amount of effort into outlining their chapters and sections, moving them around, and trying to structure everything into one cohesive piece. The same can be said for other types of long-form works, such as dissertations, graphic novels, and so forth.We have two favorite apps for long-form writers. One is Scrivener, which has templates and tools for a variety of genres and forms. The other is Ulysses, which is better for writers who find themselves distracted by toolbars, menus, and options; it has a great distraction-free mode. Ulysses is another top app for long-form writers, but particularly those who prefer a distraction-free interface.Writing for Medium, WordPress Blogs, and MoreBook authors and screenwriters aren't the only types of writers, of course. Many writers create shorter pieces that they publish directly online, often without ever passing through the hands of an editor, agent, publisher, or movie producer. If you're publishing on Medium or WordPress, it sure is handy to have a writing app that can seamlessly export your work to those platforms.Ulysses and iA Writer both integrate with Medium and WordPress. Like Ulysses, iA Writer is a distraction-free writing app, but it's much more pared-down. It has some neat functions, such as text transclusion, which allows you to use inline commands to import and order sections, files, and images. In other words, you can make a document that essentially says, "Pull in all the text from this file, then place this image after it, and then pull in the text of this other file." Using this method, the text of your document could be all of four sentences long and yet produce a final piece that, when exported, is 25 pages long. Byword lets you type in Markdown and offers a minimalist interface design.Distraction-Free Apps That Support MarkdownIf you're after minimalism, getting an app with a distraction-free mode or view is a great place to start. You may also want to write in Markdown language.Markdown is a very lightweight set of codes that you use to apply formatting instead of using the rich-text formatting options that are common in word processors. If you've ever typed asterisks around a word to make it bold *like this*, that's Markdown. The idea is that by removing menu options and toolbars for formatting, you won't get distracted by them, and instead, you'll focus on your writing.Ulysses, iA Writer, and Byword all support Markdown natively and focus on delivering you a distraction-free interface. A few other apps allow you to write in Markdown, but they don't necessarily emphasize it or minimize other kinds of distractions.Your Writing, Your ChoiceEvery writer has unique needs and desires. Do you need an app that works on both Windows and macOS, or how about one that's web-only, such as Novelize? Is learning a new way to format text a deal-breaker? Does your final submission need to meet industry standards the way screenplays and teleplays do? The range of software dedicated to writers is impressive.If nothing tickles your fancy in this roundup, check out our summary of other apps for novel writers. Finally, if you decide that a dedicated writing tool just isn't for you, and you'd rather just use a plain old word processor, we've rounded up the top office suites to help you out there as well.

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