A writing app is supposed to help you write a novel, not give you a second hobby learning its menus. If you have opened a powerful writing program and closed it again after ten minutes of toolbars, this guide is for you.
What makes a writing app easy to use
- You can start typing in under a minute. No project templates to configure, no account to create.
- Formatting is handled for you. If you never have to think about fonts, margins or indents, there is less to learn and less to get wrong.
- Planning tools are visible but optional. An outline board you can ignore is better than a mandatory structure.
- A short, guided tour. A built-in walkthrough beats a 40-page manual.
- Consistent saving. Autosave means no "Save" button to remember.
The main kinds of writing app, from simplest to most complex
Plain word processors (Google Docs, Word) are familiar, but novels outgrow them: long documents get unwieldy, and there is nowhere to keep characters, world details or an outline. We cover the trade-offs in Google Docs for Novelists: What's Missing.
Distraction-free editors are very simple, but they only give you a blank page. They are easy because they do very little.
Fiction-specific apps such as Quillen and Dabble sit in the middle: chapters, an outline, character notes and export, without the sprawl of the most customizable tools.
Highly customizable suites such as Scrivener can do almost anything, which is exactly why they take time to learn. For some writers that is worth it. See Scrivener's Learning Curve for an honest look.
How Quillen approaches simplicity
Quillen is designed for writers who want one clean place to write a novel. The editor offers only Bold and Italic, so there is no font or size menu to wander into, and the page renders in standard manuscript format automatically. Chapters and scenes live in a sidebar, the outline is a drag-and-drop board, and an interactive tutorial walks you through every feature the first time you open it.
It is a desktop app, so it will not suit you if you want to write on a phone or co-write live, and it is a $39 purchase after a 30-day trial rather than free.
A quick test before you commit
Open a free trial and try this: create a book, write two scenes, move one to a different chapter, and export a draft. If you can do all of that without searching for help, the app is easy enough for you.
Common questions
What is the easiest writing app for writing a novel?
The easiest apps have few menus, handle formatting for you and let you start typing immediately. Fiction-specific apps like Quillen and simple editors like Google Docs or a focus-mode editor are usually easier than feature-heavy tools.
Is Scrivener hard to learn?
Many writers find Scrivener powerful but slow to learn, because it has a lot of features and settings. Simpler fiction-focused apps trade some flexibility for a much shorter learning curve.
Do I need a tutorial to use a writing app?
Ideally not. Look for an app with a built-in guided tour. Quillen, for example, includes an interactive tutorial on first launch that you can replay any time.