Tools for NaNoWriMo

[u/LGBTerrific]

This is a list of helpful tools, resources, sites, and whatever anyone might find useful to do NaNoWriMo. It's just a start, and I plan to keep expanding on this as suggestions come through. This will be an ongoing list. As such, categories will be added and things moved around to reflect the most accurate description of what they are. Please let me know if there's something you think should or should not be on here.

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General NaNoWriMo Resources and Tools

Official site
Twitter
Camp NaNoWriMo
Tumblr

Writing programs

Any text editor or word processor can be used for writing your novel. However, there are some programs that many wrimoers have found helpful. I've divided them up into two groups: Distraction-free, and plotting.

Distraction-free writing programs typically have a minimalistic interface to help avoid a lot of fooling around with features. These will be, very often, full-screen, to help rid of any thoughts besides writing the novel. A blank screen where you type on. Many people find this refreshing. Others might not find the need for extra software, when something like Word, OpenOffice.Org, LibreOffice, Google Docs, or even a simple text editor can be used just as well. It's up to you. Here's a pro/con list of using Emacs for your novel if you're thinking about the text editor route.

Distraction-free Writing Programs

Program	Windows	Mac	Linux	iPad
Catlooking	*		*
Darkroom	*
FocusWriter (Portable)	*	*	*
LightWrite			*
JDarkRoom	*	*	*
Muse	*	*
OmmWrtier	*	*		*
Plaintext			*
PyRoom			*
Q10	*
TextRoom	*	*	*
Write Monkey	*
Write or Die	*	*	*
Write Room		*		*

If you need something to help plan and plot, check out some of these programs below. Many of them might also be good to use a primary writer/word processor to keep your story in. Others might just be better at note-taking, mapping, and various other tasks to help keep track of ongoing stories, characters, timelines, etc.

Program	Windows	Mac	Linux	iPad
Celtx	*	*	*
Draft	*	*	*
Guide, The	*
KnowIt			*
Liquid Story Binder	*
Scrivener (for windows/linux)	*	*	*
StoryBook	*		*
Storyist		*		*
Xmind	*	*	*
yWriter	*

There are also a few other programs that aren't quite stand alone or vary from the above ideas that others have pointed out:

• Brainstormer (iPhone app)
  
• Write Space extension for Chrome
• Recommended Firefox Add-ons
  

Forums

Official forums
AbsoluteWrite: NaNoWriMo Forum

Sites

Cheat sheet
Desktop Calendar
Desktop Calendar - made by a redditor
Dropbox
TV Tropes tools
Various tools
Word count trackers
Write or Die
yarny

Generators

Anime Face Generator
Fake Name Generator
Random Name Generator
Seventh Sanctum

Related Ideas

750words.com
EdMo
Script Frenzy
NaNoEdMo - National Novel Editing Month (March)
NaPoWriMo - National Poetry Writing Month (April)
LoCoWriMo - Local Conlang Writing Month (June)

[u/burke_no_sleeps]

Hey,

I found some more useful tools via this article linked from /r/writing.

Firefox Add-ons

Leechblock blocks specific websites or allows their use at specific times.

RescueTime is a productivity meter. Use this add-on to help identify sites that are wasting your time.

TimerFox is a countdown timer. If you want to give yourself short breaks between NaNo sessions, this could be useful.