LivingWriter: Write Anywhere 4+

I’ve been using LivingWriter for a little over 6 months now to write a novel. There are features of this application that are great to use like logging how much you’ve written per session, organizing writing per chapter, and having the ability to organize and create detailed notes for your writing.

However there are severe problems with LivingWriter’s newest update and persistent problems that the developers haven’t taken immediate action in fixing. Updating a UI for quality of life is all well and good. But still having issues where hours of your writing in a session completely disappears is inexcusable to sell to a consumer.

Small features in this version like page count, and the ability to reorder chapters within your manuscript have also been completely removed or hidden in some capacity. Which were features really selling the product for me as a user.

It isn’t that LivingWriter is a bad product with no redeeming qualities. But the fact that these paramount issues have not gone immediately corrected by it’s staff means that there is a real disconnect when maintaining this product for its user base. Especially considering it’s user base has to PAY for a S U B S C R I P T I O N to use it.

There aren’t many other choices out there for writing software. But I’d suggest anyone look for alternative apps that are better tailored to your writing needs before immediately settling on this one.

I have several other tools I use regularly to write with. All have their advantages and I use all in various aspects of my writing process. I’ve taken a chance on lifetime plans with a couple including LivingWriter.

LivingWriter felt like a gamble and maybe it still is. BUT, I really love the new AI additions and other user enhancements like scaling the view make it an easier tool to use when fully mobile. Not overly excited about AI in the other tools I use. The new LW AI integration has suddenly become my inspirational co-pilot for world building, quick character back-story creation, and even an story within a story piece that I was struggling with in a current script/novel.

It’s a well rounded tool for fiction, non fiction, and scripting. It keeps track of versions. It has visual planning. So far, the latest additions are well thought out and work well within this existing package of features. The roadmap seems to slide dates continuously. Compared to my other tools, it’s also a lot of growth in the six months I’ve invested. Can’t wait to see what they do next in the roadmap.

The app definitely has bugs. The “total written today” and daily goals feature often cuts out on a different time zone than I am in, I’ve tried toggling the time zone and it still cuts out at the wrong time.