The Best Writing Software for Mac Users

If you’re using a Mac and looking for some great programs to help you on your writing journey, then we’ve got some options for you. Some of these programs are available only on Mac, making them unique to those users, while others are available on both PC and Mac. 

Scrivener

Scrivener is a popular drafting software used by writers of all types. It’s designed to help you organize your ideas and create a structured writing plan. It offers a range of features that allow you to break down your writing into smaller pieces, outline your work, and keep track of your research. 

You can also use Scrivener to format your work for different types of output, such as print or e-book formats, which is helpful for self-published authors. 

Scrivener also includes a range of writing tools, such as a full-screen writing mode and a distraction-free composition mode. It also has a built-in word count tracker, which can be helpful for when you’re trying to hit that word goal target. The program’s research tool also gives you the freedom to important and organize all those story notes. 

Dabble

Dabble is another writing software option for Mac users, and it's designed specifically for novelists. Its features are designed to help writers plan, organize, and write their novels. 

One of the unique features of Dabble is the Plot Grid, which allows you to organize your novel by scene, plot point, and character arc. This makes it easy to see how your story is progressing and identify areas that need improvement.

Dabble also offers a range of planning and outlining tools, including character and world-building templates, a timeline tool, and a goal tracker. And it also works across devices, allowing you to access your work from anywhere and collaborate with others more easily.

When it comes to writing, Dabble has a clean and distraction-free interface that's designed to help you focus on your work. It also includes a word count tracker and a writing streak counter.

Ulysses

Ulysses is available only for Mac and other Apple products, and offers a clean, distraction-free interface that allows you to concentrate on your work without any distractions. One of the unique features of Ulysses is its "semantic markup" system, which allows you to add structure and formatting to using symbols and tags.

With Ulysses, you can organize your work into sheets and groups, making it easy to move around different sections and chapters of your project. It also includes writing tools, like word goal counters, full-screen mode, focus mode, and a customizable writing environment. The app also integrates with cloud services like Dropbox and iCloud, making it easy to access your work from any device. 

For self-published authors, Ulysses also allows you to format with various options such as PDF, ebook, or HTML. 

Pages

Pages is Apple's native word processor, and it's included with every Mac. It's ideal for basic writing tasks, and one of the main benefits of Pages is its ease of use, which makes it accessible to writers of any level. 

You can make use of collaboration tools, which allow users to work together on a document in real-time and share documents via iCloud or other cloud-based storage services. You can also share between all your Apple devices, and it offers spelling and grammar checker, track changes, and commenting features. 

Google Docs

Google Docs is a cloud-based word processing software that works well for collaborative writing and editing. It's a popular option for Mac users, as well as PC users and those who work on other devices, due to its accessibility and ease of use. And it’s free, which is cool. 

One of the key benefits of Google Docs is its collaboration tools, which allow multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously. You can share documents via email or by generating a shareable link, and multiple users can edit the same document in real-time. It’s an ideal way to collect beta reader feedback. 

Google Docs integrates with Google Drive, so you can access it anywhere and can download your work into a PDF, Word, or even an epub file. 

There are a few basic editing tools, including spelling and grammar checker, track changes, and commenting features. 

Microsoft Word

You’ve probably used Word at some point in your life. It’s the most popular word processor out there. It is available for both Mac and Windows, and has a very  user-friendly interface. It offers a range of formatting options, such as font styles and sizes, margins, and line spacing, and can actually be used to format books for printing and uploading into self-publishing platforms, like Kindle Direct or IngramSpark. 

Microsoft Word also has the usual editing tools, such as spell check, grammar check, and track changes, and can handle very long documents with ease. 

Evernote

Evernote is a note-taking and organization software that's ideal for writers who need to keep track of their ideas and research. In addition to taking notes, you can clip web pages and organize your research. 

It’s a great option if you need to work on multiple projects at once, as it allows you to create separate notebooks for each project. You can also use Evernote to collaborate with others and format your work for different types of output.

Evernote also offers a range of organizational tools, such as tags, notebooks, and search functionality. This makes it easy for users to find specific notes or documents quickly, even if they have a large number of notes saved in the app.

Final Draft

Final Draft is a screenwriting software that's designed for writers, producers, and filmmakers. It's available for both Mac and Windows and is widely regarded as the industry standard for screenwriting.

One of the key benefits of Final Draft is its user-friendly interface. It offers a range of formatting options, such as character names, dialogue, and action, and integrates with other software products, such as Final Draft Mobile and Final Draft Reader. 

Final Draft also offers a range of tools that can make the screenwriting process more efficient, such as script templates, automatic pagination, and scene numbering.

Vellum

Vellum is only available on Mac and is a formatting and e-book creation software designed to make the publishing process as easy and streamlined as possible. With Vellum, you can format your manuscript for different types of output, such as print or ebook formats, with just a few clicks. 

Vellum also offers a range of templates and styles that you can use to create professional-looking books, as well as a preview feature that allows you to see how your book will look on different devices.

One of the best things about Vellum is it's designed to be intuitive and easy to use, even if you're not familiar with ebook formatting. You can simply import your manuscript into Vellum and the software will automatically create a table of contents, add page numbers, and format your text for different devices. You can also customize the look and feel of your book by choosing from a range of fonts, chapter headings, and other design elements.

Vellum also offers the ability to publish directly to Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. 

iA Writer

iA Writer is another popular writing software option for Mac users. It's a minimalist writing app that's designed to help writers focus on their writing and eliminate distractions. iA Writer is known for its clean, distraction-free interface, which features a simple text editor with few bells and whistles.

The most unique features of  iA Writer are its focus mode, which highlights the current sentence and fades out the rest of the text, and its syntax highlighting, which uses different colors to highlight different types of words, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives. This can help you identify areas that need improvement or fine-tuning.

iA Writer also includes organizational tools, including a document library, which allows you to organize your writing projects by date or category. 

If you found this article helpful, be sure to come and visit us at DabbleU, where we post new articles every week designed to help you on your writing journey. 

If you’d like to give Dabble a try on your Mac, you can check out our free 14-day trial and see if it’s right for you! 

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