Why Google Docs sucks for writing your novel

One of the most popular online writing tools is probably Google Docs. At first glance, it seems ideal. It backs up your work in the Cloud, so you don’t have to worry about losing data. It allows you to easily collaborate on a novel and share your work with others. But Google Docs was never really designed for novel writers. It’s a text editor, first and foremost.

Where Google Docs is lacking

When you’re writing a novel, it’s completely different from writing a letter to your aunt or a business proposal. A novel is complex. It requires detailed planning, and you’re going to want to keep notes. For example, you need to write down details about your characters. It’s just too easy to forget something as simple as the names you gave them, especially if they’re minor characters. If your novel is very long or very complex, it’s even more important to keep the details straight.

Traditionally, writers use sticky notes.  Fantasy writers might even have entire folders full of novel-related information about their world and the rules that govern it. You might still need to collect all of this data, but with Novelize, you can keep it inside the notebook. And you can open that notebook without leaving your writing screen, so there’s no need to get sidetracked at all.

What Google Docs has too much of

It may sound silly, but Google Docs was created in an effort to replace Word. And while it’s an incredibly useful tool for a word processor, it seemly has too many options for a novel writing program. Do you really need the ability to insert a table into your novel? Probably not. Should you be spending time with formatting beyond the basic bold and italic? Well, you can certainly do that, but you might be better off actually writing. After all, a perfectly formatted unfinished work in progress is not anywhere nears as good as a great first draft that still needs some formatting and editing. And we even make the formatting part is easy for you. It gets done auto-magically when you export your work as a manuscript from Novelize.

Where Google Docs excels

Now, obviously, there’s something about Google Docs that keeps people coming back for more. Therefore, it can’t be all bad. And really, it isn’t bad, but it’s just not ideal for novel writing. However, if you want to collaborate on a novel with someone else, then Google Docs is awesome. You can even watch the other person type in real-time. The risk of overwriting each other’s work this way is extremely low.

Google Docs is also great for allowing someone else to edit your work and make suggestions, because this can be done without altering the original document. Granted, before you can get someone to edit your novel, you have to write it first. And that’s just where you might get stuck with Google Docs.