Writing Outliner icon

Writing Outliner

Writing Outliner is a software tool to help authors organize and structure their ideas when writing books, stories, scripts, or other long-form content. It allows for outlining story arcs, plot points, characters, scenes, and more in a visual hierarchy to maintain oversight of the narrative flow.
Writing Outliner alternatives ➤

What is Writing Outliner?

Writing Outliner is software designed specifically for authors to visually outline and organize story ideas, plot points, characters, scenes, and narrative flow when writing long-form fiction or non-fiction manuscripts like books, novellas, scripts, etc.

Key features include:

  • Intuitive outlining interface to break a story down into acts, sequences, scenes, beats etc. in a hierarchical tree structure
  • Tools for building character profiles and arcs integrated with the storyline
  • Scrivener integration to easily export an outline draft from the software into a writing project
  • Index card view for scenes to reorder or restructure the story flow
  • Version history and drafts to experiment with variations on the story
  • Full-screen focus mode for distraction-free brainstorming and organizing
  • Cross-platform support for Windows, Mac, and Linux

Writers can use Writing Outliner for structuring narrative fiction like novels or short stories, or even for non-fiction books. It facilitates organizing ideas visually at a high level before drilling down into the details of writing the actual manuscript. This saves time and prevents writer's block when drafted a long-form project.

Official Links

Official Website
writingoutliner.com/index.php

The Best Writing Outliner Alternatives

Top Apps like Writing Outliner

Scrivener, Workflowy, Dynalist, OmniOutliner, Hemingway Editor, Manuskript, bibisco, Tkoutline, Orgzly, MyInfo, Notion Story Wiki, Noteliner, Simple Outliner, A Novel Idea, Checkvist, Orgzly Revived, Outspline, Plotline, The Outliner of Giants, Fargo are some alternatives to Writing Outliner.
Sugggest an alternative ❐

Scrivener

Scrivener is a popular software program designed specifically for writers. It allows you to plan, organize, and write long and complex documents like books, dissertations, screenplays, and more. Some key features of Scrivener include:Corkboard and outliner views to visualize the structure of your writing projectAnnotations and comments to leave...

Workflowy

Workflowy is a popular free online outlining and note-taking application. It allows users to create nested bullet point lists to organize notes, tasks, ideas, projects, and more. With its simple and flexible interface, Workflowy makes it easy to brainstorm concepts, structure information, and see connections between thoughts.One of the...

Dynalist

Dynalist is a free-form, hierarchical note taking application developed by Dynalist GmbH. It allows users to create nested outlines for organizing notes, tasks, ideas, and more. Dynalist has a simple, clutter-free interface that focuses on flexible note taking rather than complicated formatting.Some key features of Dynalist include:Infinite hierarchy...

OmniOutliner

OmniOutliner is a feature-rich outlining and note-taking application developed by The Omni Group for macOS. It provides users with a flexible workspace to organize and structure ideas, tasks, notes, and other information in an outline format.Some key features of OmniOutliner include:Collapsible rows that allow users to hide or...

Hemingway Editor

Hemingway Editor is a text editing application designed to make writing bolder and clearer. It functions similarly to a grammar checking tool, but has a stronger focus on identifying overly complex and difficult to read sentences.The core feature of Hemingway Editor is the readability scoring system. As you write...

Manuskript

Manuskript is a free, open-source writing app designed specifically for fiction writers. It helps organize stories, characters, plots, and writing projects in one place to boost productivity.Key features include:Outline editor to plan story beats and organize contentCharacter and worlds database to track detailsCorkboard and index cards to rearrange...

Bibisco

Bibisco is a free, open-source novel writing software designed to help authors organize and structure their ideas into a full book outline. It allows for easy brainstorming and planning of key story elements like characters, locations, chapters, scenes, etc. Authors can use Bibisco to map out an entire novel before...

Tkoutline

Tkoutline is a free, open source outlining software for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It provides a simple interface for creating and organizing outlines, notes, and to-do lists. Some key features of Tkoutline include:Hierarchical tree structure for organizing informationBasic formatting options like bold, italics, colorsFolding/unfolding branches of the outline...

Orgzly

Orgzly is an open-source to-do list and note taking application for Android. It allows users to organize their tasks, notes and events in a hierarchical structure using the popular plain text-based Org mode format.Some of the key features of Orgzly include:Create, edit, rearrange and archive notes and tasksSet...

MyInfo

MyInfo is a versatile personal information manager (PIM) software that helps users store, organize, and manage their personal data, files, documents, photos, bookmarks, contacts, calendars, notes, and other important information in one easy-to-access, encrypted digital vault.Key features of MyInfo include:- Secure encrypted storage for all your personal data...

Notion Story Wiki

Notion Story Wiki is an all-in-one workspace for notes, tasks, wikis and documents. It provides a flexible system that works like a digital whiteboard that can be shaped in any way you want. You can add text, embed media files, share pages and build internal wikis or public websites.Some...

Noteliner

Noteliner is a free, open-source note taking application designed for Windows. It provides a simple yet powerful platform for capturing ideas, organizing notes, and syncing data across devices.Some of the key features of Noteliner include:Hierarchical tagging - Organize notes intuitively with flexible tags and subtagsMarkdown formatting - Write...

Simple Outliner

Simple Outliner is a free, open-source outlining application for Windows. It provides a fast and lightweight way to create structured outlines for planning documents, organizing ideas, creating to-do lists, and more.The interface is designed to be simple and intuitive. You can easily add new headings, sub-headings, and notes in...

A Novel Idea

A Novel Idea is a popular novel writing software that provides authors with a comprehensive set of tools to plan, organize, write, and edit their novels. It is designed specifically for fiction writers working on book-length projects.Key features of A Novel Idea include:Character profiles - Build detailed profiles...

Checkvist

Checkvist is a web-based task management and checklist application designed to help users organize projects and track progress. It allows you to create interactive checklists that can contain sub-tasks, due dates, priorities, notes, attachments, and more.Some key features of Checkvist include:Hierarchical checklists - Checklists can have multiple levels...

Orgzly Revived

Orgzly Revived is an open-source to-do list and note-taking app for Android based on the plain text format Org Mode. It allows you to easily capture tasks, notes, and ideas and organize them in a simple hierarchy.Some key features of Orgzly Revived include:Offline access - All your data...

Outspline

Outspline is a user-friendly graphic design and prototyping software that is great for professionals and amateurs alike. It provides an intuitive drag and drop interface to easily create various graphics such as website and app prototypes, diagrams, illustrations, and more without needing advanced design skills.Some key features of Outspline...

Plotline

Plotline is a free, open-source data visualization and charting software. It provides an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that allows users to easily create a variety of 2D and 3D charts and graphs to visualize data, without needing to know any programming or charting syntax.Some of the key features and capabilities...

The Outliner of Giants

The Outliner of Giants is a free, open-source outlining program for Windows. It provides a simple yet powerful way to create and organize outlines for planning projects, drafting documents, visual thinking, and more.Key features include:Clean, intuitive user interfaceCollapsible outline view for easy navigationSupport for multiple columnsFormatting options like...

Fargo

Fargo is an open-source, free alternative to Adobe InDesign that provides professional-grade tools for creative page layout and design. It has an intuitive and easy-to-use interface that allows users to quickly create brochures, magazines, books, posters, and more.Some key features of Fargo include:Flexible page layout options with master...