The Best Docs

“I can’t believe I forgot to save it again after writing another twenty thousand words!”

“I have an old copy on that computer and three more on that computer. Which version is the one on my phone?”

“Microsoft Word is too expensive. I guess I’ll have to be content with Notepad.”

I have led a similar life. I’ve never used a Mac, only Windows machines and I’m afraid they might be known for crashing. And losing. All. Of. Your. Work.

I haven’t always had my own computer, and even now it’s out of commission. This matters because with a lot of siblings who have many technological projects each, obtaining a computer is crazy and switching computers in the middle of your project time is a likelihood. We used to solve this problem with–guess what–flash drives! Ugh. I’ve had bad experiences with using flash drives (including losing them and file corruption).

If you’re ill–call for the doctors, but if you’re a writer (which is an arguable distinction) call for Docs!

If you already use Google Docs, skip to the end and comment with how boring this was; but otherwise, prepare for your world to be shaken and your writing experience to change forever–or at least until you find something better.

Google Docs is a MUST USE for writers.

The benefits of using Google Docs:

Automatically saves your docs as you work so you never lose any progress. It stores them online much like Dropbox.
Access on any device. Open it in any browser, get the mobile app, or set it up for offline use. It’s cross platform so you can get the mobile app for iOS too.
Work offline and automatically update your document when reconnected to the internet.
Easily share your work with beta readers, collaborators, and editors. You can choose what permissions to give them like editing, commenting only, or viewing only to restrict access to options like downloading or copy/pasting your content.

How to get google docs:

If you have a gmail account, you already have docs. Just open a tab in your browser, sign into your Google account, and enter docs.google.com.
If not, follow these instructions to set up a free Google account. It will give you 15 gigabytes of free online storage with Drive and features like Gmail, Docs, Keep (a note taking application that I highly recommend), and Maps.

I found it extremely easy to migrate to after being familiar with Microsoft Word!

What program do you use to write? Or do you prefer paper and pen?