8 Best Free Open Source Writing Software For Windows

Here is a list of best free open source writing software for Windows. As all of these writing software are open source, hence you are allowed to download their source codes along with their installation files. Plus, you can also edit their source codes without any restriction.

These open source writing software help you write novels, screenplays, fiction and nonfiction stories, etc. Plus, most of these are suitable for both professionals and novice writers. As novels, screenplays, etc. have various characters, chapters/episodes, scenes, etc. In order to create, edit, and manage characters, chapters, etc., these software provide various dedicated sections. Besides this, these software also help writers to focus on writing by removing all the distractions from the interface when in full-screen mode. As these are writing software, so you also get standard text editing tools in them like Undo, Redo, Bold, Italic, Cut, Paste, etc. These freeware lets you save or export the novel, screenplays, stories, etc. as HTML, PDF, CSV, TXT, DOCX, etc. files.

My Favorite Open Source Writing Software For Windows:

Manuskript is my favorite software because it provides predefined templates for different writing projects (novels, trilogy, short stories, etc.). Plus, various dedicated sections to divide the project into small and manageable parts are also provided by it. Its Dictionary, Spell Checker, and Frequency Analyzer tools further help you in maintaining the accuracy of your content.

You can also check out lists of best free Lyrics Writing Software, Open Source Screenwriting Software, and Story Writing Software for Windows.

Manuskript

Manuskript is a free open source writing software for Windows. Using this software, you can write Novels, Short Stories, Trilogy, Research Papers, etc. For different types of content, it has predefined templates to help you during the writing process. Besides this, it also provides various sections to divide the whole novel writing, script writing, trilogy writing, etc. into small parts.

Let’s take a brief look at all important sections of this software:

• General: In it, you can define the information about your project (book, novel, trilogy, etc.) such as Title, Subtitle, Series, Volume, Genre, etc.
• Summary: Here, you can write the summary related to your project.
• Characters: Using it, you can define all characters and their associated information like Goal, Conflict, Motivation, Importance, etc.
• Plots: In this section, you can add all plots and turns of the story along with resolution steps.
• World: In here, you can add all important objects and their description which are important to the story.
• Editor: It is the main writing section where you can write and edit the main content of your project.
• Debug: From this section, you can view and edit all the data of all other sections.

To help you in writing and verifying the content, it provides three important tools namely Spellchecker, Frequency Analyzer, and Dictionary. After the completion of the project, you can save it locally as manuskript file and export it as a TXT file.

bibisco

bibisco is a free open source book writing software for Windows. This software is designed for writers who want to write novels. Each aspect of this software revolves around novel creation like organization of ideas, creation of novel structure, focus on characters, and more. It provides various sections to help you create a novel namely Architecture, Characters, Locations, Objects, Chapters, and Analysis.

Let’s take a brief look at all important sections of this software:

• Architecture: In this section, you can define Premise (describing the novel in one sentence), Fabula (to create and sort narration of events in logical and chronological sequence), Settings (to describe place, time, and social context of the story), and Notes (to create and save ideas, notes, and cues).
• Characters: In it, you can create all the main and secondary characters and their back stories.
• Location: Here, you can describe places where the main characters are situated or any place which is used in the story.
• Objects: In here, you can define all the main objects related to the story like a magic wand, map, gun, etc.
• Chapters: It is used to create and manage multiple chapters of the novel.
• Analysis: You can use this section to analyze characters appearances, location distributions, narrative strands distribution, etc.

This software also has one more section named Export through which you can export your novels as PDF, DOCX, or as Archive File (file.bibisco2).

oStorybook

oStorybook is yet another free open source writing software for Windows. This software is created for creative writers, novelists, and authors, who want to keep an overview of various plots while writing. To keep an overview of the writing, this software provides multiple important categories such as characters, location, scenes, items, tags, etc. The final version of your writing piece can be saved as HTML, text, CSV, and XML files.

Let’s take a brief look at some of the important categories of this software:

• Characters: Using it, you can add, edit, or remove characters and assign them to scenes. Plus, you can also define the gender of characters.
• Strands (Plot Lines): From here, you can define the primary plot lines and add secondary plot lines with scenes.
• Locations: In it, you can add new locations and add them to different scenes.
• Chapters: It is used to define chapters and assign scenes to them.
• Object Tree: In it, you can define the relationship between different scenes, characters, locations, and other important story elements.

In this software, you cannot only define various aspects of stories, but you can also view the story from different aspects using viewing sections. There are four viewing sections available named as Chronological View, Manage Chapters & Scenes, Book View, and Reading View. In the chronological view, you can view scenes sorted by dates and each plot in its own personal column. The Manage Chapters & Scenes View shows all chapters and assigned scenes. Options to move and rearrange scenes are also present in this view. The book view shows chapters and scenes in a sorted manner. The Reading View shows the final version of the text just like in a book.

Trelby

Trelby is the next free open source writing software for Windows. It is mainly a feature rich screenwriting software that comes with a simple and distraction-free environment. The main aspect of this software is its Screenplay Editor in which you can write screenplays. Besides this, its editor also helps you maintain the correct script format, pagination, and correct spellings by enforcing these important aspects of the screenplay writing. In it, you also get various different views (draft view, WYSIWYG view, fullscreen view, etc.) to view the content as you want.

This software also comes with a Name Database that contains more than two hundred thousand names from various countries. You can use this name database to find the right name for your characters. Some other important features contained by this software are Compare (to compare scripts to know the difference between them), and Reporting (to view scene report, dialogue report, character report, etc.).

After the writing of the complete screenplay, you can save or export it in formats like PDF, TXT, HTML, RTF, XML, and Fountain format.

Quoll Writer

Quoll Writer is another completely free open source writing software for Windows. It is designed to help you focus on your words. Using it, you can easily write novels, screenplays, stories, etc. To help you write your ideas, it provides a lot of important features which are discussed below.

Let’s take a brief look at some of the important features of this software:

• Management of characters and assets: To manage characters and assets, it provides dedicated sections like Characters, Items, Notes, etc. through which you can add, edit, and delete characters and assets.
• Annotation: It lets you annotate text, scenes, etc. to help you keep an eye on important aspects of the story.
• Full-Screen Mode: If you don’t want any type of distraction, then you can enable this mode which hides every option from its interface and show you a distraction-free writing interface.
• Problem Finder: It is a very handy feature because it highlights every detected problem with the text.
• Editor Mode: This mode helps you share your projects with other editors in a few simple clicks. Plus, inbuilt chat feature along with comments section to get feedback from other editors are also provided by it.
• Statistics: It is another important section through which you can view statistics like word count, readability, session charts, etc.

Another great feature of this software is its ability to Import/Export writing projects in various formats like DOCX, HTML, EPUB, etc. Overall, it is a really great and feature packed writing tool for professional writers.

Plume Creator

Plume Creator is another one of free open source writing software which is mainly used as a Novel writing software. Like other novel writing software, it also helps you divide the novel into chapters, scenes, acts, etc. Additionally, Notes and Synopsis sections are also provided in it to store information associated with chapters or scenes.

To manage, store, and retrieve novel information, it also provides various dedicated sections like Chapters (to create, edit, and manage chapters), Scenes (to write and manage different scenes of the novel), Notes (to store information related to scenes and chapters), etc. A very useful fullscreen mode is also provided by it to give you a distraction-free writing environment by hiding every distraction from the screen. Its export option is also quite advanced because it lets you individually export chapters and scenes along with the whole book as HTML, ODT, TXT, CSV, and PDF file formats. Overall, it is a simple and easy to writing software for both beginners and professionals.

KIT Scenarist

KIT Scenarist is another open source writing software for Windows. In this software, you can edit an existing screenplay file or you can write the whole screenplay from the scratch. Existing screenplays or scripts of DOCX, DOC, ODT, FDX, etc. formats can easily be imported and edited. After the completion, you can save script back in PDF, DOCX, FDX, and Fountain file formats. In order to simplify the process of writing the screenplay, this software provides three main sections namely Research, Script, and Statistics. Let’s take a look at all three sections to write screenplays:

• Research: Using it, you can specify script name, page title, synopsis of the script, etc. Plus, options to add characters, locations, and research material with referenced files, images, URL links, etc. are also available.
• Script: It is the main writing section in which you can write screenplays. Besides this, you can also add dialogues, action, transitions, etc. to the screenplay.
• Statistics: From this section, you can view various reports related to screenplay like location, character, dialogues report, etc. Also, you can view plots including story structure analysis and character activity from here.

In general, it is another good open source writing software to write screenplays and books.

Afterwriting

Afterwriting is the next free open source writing software for Windows. It is a web-based writing software that runs in the web browser. You need to open its index.html file in a browser in order to work in it. A complete online version of this software is also available that you can access and use from its main website.

In this software, you can easily write screenplays, fictional stories, non- fictional stories, etc. It is quite a simple and straightforward software when compared to other similar software. In it, you get a simple text editor in which you can create your writing project. Plus, you also get some sample screenplay projects that you can import in your current project and edit. This software also keeps track of various key elements of the content that you can view from the script statistics like primary character, title page, duration, scenes, speaking time, etc.

In this freeware, you can also make various customizations like embolden scene headers, scene numbers, scene continuations, page break after a scene, etc. After the completion of the script or story, you can save it as a PDF or Fountain file.