Because good tools make a difference — and yes, I pay for them happily
People love to argue about writing apps.
Which one’s “best,” which one “real writers” use, which one some novelist once mentioned in an interview in 2006.
Me? I use what works.
What gets out of the way. What syncs quietly. What feels calm.
These are the tools that keep me writing.
Ulysses
This is where the words happen.
It’s clean. Focused. Seamless.
Everything syncs perfectly. The interface fades into the background.
No clutter, no tabs, no distractions. Just a calm little box where I do the work.
And yes — I happily pay €50 a year for it.
Good software is worth supporting. I want the people who make the tools I rely on to eat well and sleep easy.
Craft
This is where the thinking happens.
Everything goes into Craft now. Notes, plans, character bios, blog frameworks, timelines, odd half-formed ideas.
Why? Because it’s easy. It looks nice. It feels like something I want to open.
I built the entire blog framework in half a day.
It didn’t fight me. It just worked.
And again — I pay for it. Happily. Because the team behind it genuinely care, and it shows.
Photoshop
I make my own covers.
I’ve been using Photoshop for about 25 years. It’s muscle memory now.
If I had to explain why I love it, I couldn’t. It’s just part of me.
I open it, and things get made.
Vellum
This one’s simple:
I’m never formatting a book any other way, ever again.
It’s perfect. Looks good. Exports clean. No hassle.
If you’ve ever spent hours wrestling with Word styles or Kindle Previewer glitches, this app feels like a warm bath.
Apple Freeform
A newer addition.
I use it like a digital sketchpad for thoughts — structure dumps, idea webs, story arcs.
It’s not fancy. It doesn’t need to be.
Sometimes you just need a blank space to sprawl into before shaping things later.
Send to Kindle
The best way to see your WIP like a real book.
I send drafts to my Kindle and read them in bed. Somehow it tricks my brain into noticing the pacing, flow, and rhythm better than any screen or editor ever does.
It’s not glamorous, but it’s magic.
Aeon Timeline
Invaluable for my time travel books.
It keeps everything tidy when you’ve got events jumping across decades.
That said, I find myself using it less now — not because it’s bad, but because my writing rhythm has shifted.
It’s still there when I need it.
A sharp tool in the drawer.
Final Thought
None of these tools write the book. That’s still on me.
But they make the process smoother. Calmer. Kinder, even.
And that matters.
Because writing is hard enough without fighting your tools.
I don’t chase shiny new apps. I don’t get into debates. I just use what helps — and I pay the people who make them.
Seems fair.