As a blogger, having the right writing tools in your toolkit can make all the difference between struggling through writer‘s block and effortlessly producing compelling content.
I‘ve been blogging professionally for over a decade and rely on a mix of writing, idea capture, and editing tools to maintain a consistent publishing schedule. In this 2500+ word guide, I‘ll share my top recommendations to help you write better blog posts faster.
Trends Show Writing Tools Usage on the Rise Among Bloggers
Recent surveys reveal that more bloggers are embracing writing tools as part of their content creation process.
In the 2022 Blogger Survey Report by Bloggingpro, 29% of bloggers said they couldn‘t live without Grammarly, up from 18% in 2020. Reliance on idea organizing tools like Evernote and Trello also grew over 12% during that period.
Minimalist writing tools like iA Writer have similarly risen in popularity. This trend towards stripped-down interfaces aligns with a desire for more focus and absence of distractions.
At the same time, interest in AI writing capabilities continues gaining momentum. Over a third of bloggers anticipate benefiting from some form of AI assistance by 2025.
Clearly, writers recognize the immense value specialized tools provide in enabling more efficient, effective and consistent content output.
4 Essential Tools to Capture and Organize Blog Ideas
Coming up with interesting topic ideas is one of the hardest parts of blogging. Fortunately, these tools make organizing your ideas simple:
Evernote
Key Features: Cross-platform access, powerful search, clipping web content
Evernote remains one of the most versatile tools for taking notes and clipping web content. Available on all devices, Evernote‘s powerful search makes it easy to retrieve your ideas whenever inspiration strikes. Upgrade to premium for more features like offline access and saved search options.
Key Features: Save web articles easily, tagging, integrations
Pocket lets you save articles you want to revisit later with just a click. It removes clutter so you can focus on reading. You can tag posts for easy filtering too. Integrations with Twitter, Flipboard and popular apps abound.
Apple Notes
Key Features: Available on iOS/Mac devices, tagging
If you‘re 100% immersed in the Apple ecosystem, Apple Notes may suit your needs best. Sync simple text notes across iPhone, iPad and Mac with support for tagging and tables for structured data. Lack of offline access on the web app limits broader utility.
Milanote
Key Features: Visual boards for creative projects, web clippings
Milanote provides a delightful visual space to organize creative projects into boards and notes. Easily clip web content and images. While geared to designers, bloggers should find it flexible for outlining posts or collecting ideas visually.
How Do The Top Idea Capture Tools Compare?
| Tool | Platforms | Top features | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evernote | All devices | Search, OCR scanning, clipping | Free or $7.99+/month premium |
| Web, iOS, Android | Recommendations, tagging integration | Free or $44.99/year premium | |
| Apple Notes | iOS, Mac | Fast syncing, tables tags | Free |
| Milanote | Web, iOS, Android, Mac | Visual boards, intuitive design drag-drop content | Free or $9.99+/month premium |
6 Writing Tools That Make Creating Blog Content Fun
Once your ideas are captured, it‘s time to transform them into compelling blog posts. These writing tools help you draft, edit and format content with ease:
Google Docs
Key Features: Real-time collaboration, built-in productivity enhancements, works across all devices
Google Docs enjoys widespread popularity thanks to seamless access across devices, built-in collaboration, and constantly improving features like autocorrect and comment resolution. Many bloggers use it as their go-to writing tool.
I‘ve written well over 100 blog posts directly in Google Docs. The ability to switch to editing on my phone while relaxing on the couch keeps me productive in spare moments.
Grammarly
Key Features: Catches writing errors and enhances clarity across the web
While not a full-featured writing program, Grammarly is an invaluable aid during drafting and editing. The browser extension catches grammar, tone and clarity issues on the fly across all your web writing interfaces. Upgrade to premium for enhanced vocabulary improvements, genre-specific checks and plagiarism alerts.
As blogger Jon Morrow told me, "I‘ve used every tool imaginable, but the one I couldn‘t live without is Grammarly. It saves me so much time editing."
Ulysses
Key Features: Minimalist writing environment, focus mode, export options
If you write long-form content, Ulysses offers the perfect balance of writing help without excessive features. Focus Mode provides distraction-free writing, while export options suit publishing to the web or popular blogging platforms.
iA Writer
Key Features: Syntax highlighting, customizable themes, speedy publishing
iA Writer strips away all formatting choices so you simply write. Syntax highlighting and quick export to HTML keeps blogging convenient. Available on Mac, iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.
I often use iA Writer on my iPad Pro when I want to blog sans distractions. It fades all clutter away beautifully.
Scrivener
Key Features: Structuring and organizing long writing projects, editing capabilities
Scrivener remains the gold standard for structuring long research and writing projects. Bloggers working on ebooks and courses will benefit most from its deep outlining and editing capabilities.
Scrivener handles my fiction writing. The ability to break a book-length project into manageable scenes and chapters makes it indispensable.
WritingAid
Key Features: Contextual grammar, style, consistency and conciseness guidance
WritingAid performs advanced grammar, style and consistency checks to polish drafts before publication. Customize rules to match your voice and target audience. Available for Mac and Windows with a browser extension too.
Profession blogger Carol Tice reflected, "I use WritingAid after finishing an article. It gives me fresh eyes to catch things I didn’t see while writing."
How Do the Top 6 Writing Tools Stack Up?
| Tool | Key Strength | Platforms | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Docs | Built-in collaboration + productivity features | Web, iOS, Android | Free |
| Grammarly | Eliminate writing errors across the web | Browser extension, web, desktop | Free or $12-$30/month premium |
| Ulysses | Focus mode, publishing + markdown capabilities | Mac, iOS, web | $5.99/month subscription |
| iA Writer | Distraction-free writing | Mac, iOS, Android | $29.99 standalone |
| Scrivener | Organizing long writing projects | Mac, Windows, iOS (beta) | $49 standalone license |
| WritingAid | In-depth writing improvement guidance | Browser extension, web, Windows, Mac, iOS/Android | Free or $149.99/year premium |
As you can see, the writing tool landscape offers options for all types of bloggers and budgets!
3 Great Editing Tools to Refine Your Writing
Before you hit publish, it pays to run your post through editing software as a final quality check:
ProWritingAid
Key Features: 25+ style, grammar and readability checks, reporting depth, manuscript editing capabilities
ProWritingAid offers the most comprehensive editing experience out of 25+ checks including grammar, spelling, consistency, diction and style. Detailed reports allow you to fine tune overall readability. Access web and desktop versions based on your device preferences.
Hemingway Editor
Key Features: Highlights complex sentences and adverbs for simplifying text, rich formatting capabilities
The Hemingway online editor highlights long, complex sentences and unnecessary adverbs so you can simplify your writing for broader appeal. Desktop apps for Mac and Windows provide robust editing and composition abilities with Markdown formatting built-in.
OnlineCorrection.com
Key Features: Grammar correction tailored for ESL authors, over 50 language combinations
If you‘re not a native English speaker or writer, OnlineCorrection.com utilizes AI capabilities to refine posts to feel more natural through context-aware corrections tailored to ESL authors. Adjust settings like target audience and tone for the most relevant recommendations. Supports over 50 language combinations.
Evaluating the Top Editing Options
| Tool | Primary Strengths | Platforms | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProWritingAid | Comprehensive editing, style + readability analysis | Web, Desktop | Free or Premium from $79/year |
| HemingwayEditor | Simple, visual interface for simplifying text | Web, Desktop, Mobile | Free or Premium from $19.99 |
| OnlineCorrection.com | Grammar + style corrections tailored for non-native speakers | Web only | Free or Premium from $8/month |
Tips for Choosing the Best Writing Tools
With so many options for writing tools today, it helps to evaluate what will prove most useful before committing fully. Here are my top tips:
Determine your primary needs
Are you most interested in idea capture, writing help or editing guidance? Establish priorities before assessing options.
Consider your technical ecosystem
Opt for tools matching devices you own for smoother integration. Or choose versatile web apps working across platforms.
Try before you buy
Leverage free trials for premium tools rather than paying outright. Evaluate if advanced capabilities provide enough extra value.
Simplify your stack
Limit total number of writing tools for efficiency. Identify ones solving multiple needs rather than adopting too many specialized solutions.
Optimizing Workflows Around Writing Tools
To derive maximum benefit from writing tools:
- Set aside time weekly for idea capture activities like clipping articles or brainstorm downloads
- Develop consistent processes for moving ideas from note stage into drafts
- Limit contexts switching mid-draft where possible
- Lean on editing tools once initial drafts completed
- Build in review time pre-publish assessing if pieces fully resonated
Establishing reliable patterns in your writing workflow produces compounding dividends over months and years.
Best Practices for Attribution and Sources with Writing Tools
If incorporating quotes or statistics from other sites into your posts, properly attribute content pulled from tools like Evernote or Pocket. My recommendation is including:
- Name of author and/or site
- URL link where applicable
- Date content was published or last updated if available
Also cite auto-generated suggestions from writing tools clearly where appropriate. While AI capabilities rapidly advance, transparency around language recommendations informs readers.
Proper source attribution and citation preserves trust while protecting you legally. For bloggers, maintaining reputation requires an ethical approach regardless of tools used.
Final Thoughts
An author is only as good as their tools. This extensive guide represents the writing, editing and idea capture programs I‘ve found most useful after years of testing options for bloggers and professional writers.
Arm yourself with a subset of these writing tools based on your blogging style, technical ecosystems and workflow needs. Doing so amplifies productivity exponentially, enabling you to create better content in less time.
Now I‘d love to hear your favorites or questions in the comments below! What writing tools do you swear by? Let me know and I‘ll check them out.
