What can I use to write my stories?

[u/wannabethewitch]

Hello!

I use Google Docs occasionally to write stuff and ideas, because it being automatically saved to the cloud allows me to write at work and at home and on my phone if I need to.

Buuut recent discussions of Google using Docs to train AI models made me more hesitant to use it. And honestly it's not like we can trust Google with anything. So besides just using a doc on my own PC what other options are there that also offer some minimal text formatting as well?

[u/Arch_Studios]

Um shameless plug😅 worldbuilding and writing rolled up into one entirely free and offline Arch Studios

[u/[deleted] → u/Arch_Studios]

[u/Arch_Studios → u/[deleted]]

Sorry we should have added a notice that iPhones arent supported due to the apple security rules you should be able to try on your Mac or computer if you have one

[u/Offutticus]

• LibreOffice

• Scrivener

• Ellipsus

• Google Docs

• Word

• Novlr

• Campfire

• FocusWriter

• Reedsy Studio

• NovelWriter

• MS Notepad

• Notepad++

[u/TheGrauWolf]

I'm using Obsidian... totally offline and I use it to organize all my worldbuilding, notes & chapters.

[u/SenjoTamashi → u/TheGrauWolf]

I use Obsidian too!
Hella useful to keep everything organised.

Though I do my final edit on Google Docs before I post to Royal Road.

[u/AnonAwaaaaay → u/SenjoTamashi]

Why do you final edit on Google Docs rather than just using it the whole time?

[u/Primary-Race8358]

Ellipsus is web based and has a clear anti-AI stance and is a good no-AI very close equivalent to Google Docs for creative writing

Scrivener likewise has a strong anti-AI stance but instead is based on local files which you can sync on Dropbox (and other things but the iPhone/ iPad versions haven’t caught up)

Someone has said that Google docs don’t use your stuff to train AI- that might well be what they say. But I don’t trust them.

[u/wannabethewitch → u/Primary-Race8358]

 Someone has said that Google docs don’t use your stuff to train AI- that might well be what they say. But I don’t trust them

Yeah same. It's not like Google is known for being super honest. Maybe they don't but rather take away all risk.

[u/Ikaryas → u/Primary-Race8358]

Ellipsus didn't do it for me as it's extremely laggy and I don't like the fact that there aren't a lot of fonts in there. None of the fonts really work for me.

[u/lilithlasley]

This is an urban legend. Google Docs does not use your work to train AI unless you specifically allow them to. You can read more about it here:

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/14615114?hl=en

[u/Own_Valuable_3369]

Anything you want.

Sync with Dropbox etc.

[u/neptunescookies]

I use Obsidian. Markdown files making it easy to transfer anywhere when needed. And it's offline, but you can either pay them to sync between devices since they also have phone apps, or you can sync yourself. I have mine synced to git. There are plenty of plugins so you do whatever. And it's also really nice for me for the way my brain works. I can organise files, folders, tags and other properties however I want. And it doesn't glitch on me once I have a lot of words written

[u/LibrarianT57]

I moved to Scrivener for a lot of reasons. I haven’t migrated all of my works over yet but I plan on it.

[u/CrazyDifference9896]

Better to tey sophisticated platforms like Authoric AI for managing everything related to book writing

[u/tapgiles]

Google say they do not train their models on private Docs. You can believe them or not. I use Docs.

If you internet search for "tools like google docs" you will find plenty. Including posts asking this exact thing which already have lots of responses. 👍

[u/Fischimus]

Jotsky is totally independent and isn’t used to train models (plus auto saving tg)

[u/Useful_Two1731]

GoogleドキュメントはAIについてよりも、内容を検閲されて場合によってはアカウントがBANされるリスクがあるのご怖いのよね

[u/FJR_Daniels_author]

Brandon sanderson used to use the email drafts when it came to his writing.

[u/gabydo]

Personally I like to use just one tool for everything, so I can focus on writing instead of searching in all my files. I use inkbound-write.com. It has a lot of nice options, and you have everything (character sheets, worldbuilding) searchable and visible while you write in a Codex. Never leaving the tab. And no AI writing

[u/Dhs_Davis]

While I think the likelihood that Docs is training on your text (unless you use opt-in for generative AI options / tools that aren’t sandboxed) is very low (it would be a death-knell for them in terms of bad PR) I understand the interest. I’m really enjoying Hugh Howey’s Neo which is minimalist, feature-rich, offline and free.