Should you buy apps to help with novel writing?
do they help? do they hold you back? are they worth your money? who should buy them?
IF you look online you will see countless apps that help you write a novel. They give countless tips on plot, character, arcs, the whole works. There are so many to choose from you don’t know where to start. You could end up spending a ton of money buying all of them. Wondering if they will help you get published.
In this blog, we will look at should you buy apps to help with novel writing?..
SHOULD YOU BUY APPS TO HELP WITH NOVEL WRITING?
Table of Contents
These apps sing their praises about how wonderful they are in helping teach you how to go about writing a novel. They will teach you how to craft a story. learn about three-act structure, character arcs, pacing, chapters, the whole works but we have to stake a step back and ask do their tips help? Are they a waste of time?
No one is saying the apps are a scam. The creators of the apps will tell you they did so with the best of intentions. They do want to help new writers in the crafting of their novel.
WHEN WRITERS DON’T BELIEVE
The problem is when new writers believe they cannot write a novel without the app. They believe they have to spend the money to buy the apps first or don’t even bother writing in the first place.
What all new writers have to remember is for hundreds of years novels have been written by authors who never had any app to download to “help them.”
THEY BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES
Stephen King did not have any computer apps when he wrote Carrie, or any of his massive blockbuster novels. He knew what he was doing. The same with Charles Dickinson. He didn’t need an app when writing Great expectations. Agatha Christie didn’t need any kind of computer app to help her craft her novels.
But what they did have was a belief in themselves. They didn’t have to rely on anything outside of themselves. Storys come from the heart, not from a computer.
TRICK YOU INTO SPENDING
The people selling the app will say you need the app or you will not succeed. They will trick you into spending money. Making you believe no one can write a novel without help. But for the longest time help wasn’t needed. They will make you believe you need to buy what they are selling or you shouldn’t write.
The biggest thing that will help you write is practice. You need to write as much as you can and you need to read. So your brain can lock in on how to write. By learning how to write you will get better at it. There’s only so much you can learn from an app on your phone. Sometimes you have to go out there and practice something so you can get better at it.
WE ALL HAVE TO LEARN
It’s like learning how to juggle or play a sport. An app can “help” but in reality, practice is what’s truly needed.
Also there is a silly belief that all great novel writers are “born great”. But in reality, we all have to learn. Ask yourself one thing, if novel writers are born great then why did they have to go to school to be taught how to write? Why not just start writing? The truth is no one is born great at anything. You can have a passion for something but we only become better with practice.
THEY ALL HAD TO GO TO SCHOOL
Stephen King went to university to study English. And an English teacher for a while. (but he still had his first 3 novels turned down.) Vincent Van Gogh was a great painter but he to had to go to school at some point to learn how to paint. Elton John went to school to learn to play the piano. As great as he is, even he had to be taught. Imagine where Elton John or Vincent Van Gogh would be if they never went to school?
It all comes down to your confidence. Do you believe you can write? Having an app is a nice tool to guide you along if it’s your first time. But you shouldn’t see it as something needed to write. Imagine if all the great writers in the past thought such a way, that without apps they could not write. We would not have such works as “Great Expectations”, or “The Picture of Dorian Gray“.
THEY DON’T EVEN BOTHER WRITING
Shakespeare did not have any writing apps with him but did a great job creating powerful stories. The last thing you ever want to see is the next great novel writer not even bothering trying to write a novel because they cannot afford any of the apps in the beginning.
The one thing most novel writers have in common is not having a lot of money when they start out. It seems to be the one thing artists have in common. They might make a lot of money after their art becomes popular, but most artists start off with nothing.
THEY ALL HAD TO STRUGGLE
Most people look at an artist and think they had a good life while growing up. But in reality, it was a struggle for most of them. So buying an app would not be able because most writers have nothing. In fact, it’s the idea of having nothing that drives them to become successful.
They know it’s difficult to get published, but they do it anyway. Day after day they write because it’s all they have. When they get rejected they do not give up because they have nothing to go back to.
YOU HAVE TO TRUST YOURSELF
Whereas rich kids if they get rejected give up because they have something to fall back on. They have their family money to look after them. Most well-known artists did not grow up like this. There is a difference between trusting yourself and being told you cannot succeed and need outside help.
Even today the biggest name in writing are not using apps or computer software programs to write their successful novels. They’re still writing from the heart.
PRACTICE MAKES A DIFFERENCE
If these apps are amazing why are we not seeing countless new authors writing best-selling novels after using them?
No one is saying these apps are bad or a scam. They do help, but trusting in yourself makes the biggest difference. Practice makes the difference. Reading makes the difference. Being in the trenches of writing and getting rejected makes you better.
USE IT TO START OFF WITH
You can look at writing apps like learning how to ride a bike. They can start you off in the right direction but there comes a point when you have to ride yourself. Using an app to start can help but at a certain point, you can start writing on your own.
It’s like in music where you can also download apps to help write a song. There are websites you can signup for that will teach you songwriting. But are they needed to a point where you should quit if you don’t have the app? But look back at Buddy Holly, did he need any app to write his music? Did Paul McCartney and John Lennon need help when writing any of their songs? The negative side to apps is a new generation of writers will grow up believing they cannot write without them. Thinking you need them instead of seeing them as a useful tool to get you started. Too many kids are now seeing apps as “necessary”. Instead of believing in themselves as so many writers have done for hundreds of years.
Other blogs you might be interested in…
are you too old to start writing a novel?
is Stephen king a planner or panster?
the greatest tip on how to be a great writer
