Novlr Review – Totally Worth It!

Why Novlr is the Better Way to Write Your Novel

This post is a comprehensive Novlr review. What is Novlr? It’s a novel writing software you can take with you everywhere. But it’s not the only program out there. There are so many writing websites and software applications available these days. They all claim to be the best, So, how can you choose? Here are just a few that are currently available:

• Evernote (for research)
• Dramatica (for character development)
• Scrivener (word processor)
• Ulysses (word processor)
• GoogleDocs (word processor)
• AutoCrit (style editing and proofreading)
• Grammarly (proofreader and grammar checker)
• Microsoft Word (word processor)

My go-to has always been Microsoft Word. It’s classic. It’s simple. And most of the time, it comes already installed on your PC. The best part about Microsoft Office is OneDrive, which can be used to write a novel almost entirely on your phone.

I have also used Google Docs. You can’t beat the ease of access with Google Docs. The peace of mind in knowing that you always have backups of your work is another great benefit. Grammarly is also trending when it comes to tracking writing stats and improving syntax and grammar. Evernote is great for taking notes and organizing all that pesky novel research.

However, these word processing tools are not designed for novel writing. They’re designed for typical, every day “writing.” While there are many templates and tools available, none of these programs can hold a candle to Novlr.

Novlr is like having Microsoft Office, Google Docs, Grammarly, and Evernote all in one place. It is designed specifically for writing novels. How can you beat that?

I learned about Novlr on the NaNoWriMo website a few years ago. After I read the information in the article, I decided I wanted to give it a try. So, I signed up for the free trial and began using Novlr.

It took me all of one minute to decide it was my new favorite novel writing tool.

An Overview of Novlr:

This is the Dashboard. When you login you’ll be directed here.

The Dashboard gives you an overview of your account. From here you can see your novel(s) and some brief stats about them. You can take a look at any goals you’ve set and the progress you’ve made.

The Dashboard also shows your word count stats – giving you a good idea of how much writing you’ve been doing (or need to do). You can also access either Google Docs or your DropBox accounts through the integrations tab and sync those accounts.

There’s even some free learning courses you can take. And once you’ve finished writing your novel, you can utilize the publishing option to create an eBook format of your novel!

Let’s take a deeper look into Novlr and show you how it can help you crush your novel writing goals.

Novels –

As you can see, this section houses an overview of your novel(s). The upper right hand section has a “+ New Novel” option. Simply click that and you’ll be on your way.

The overview shows you the title, your word count and chapter count. It also has a brief description of your writing stats for each novel. Novlr even includes options to share and export your novel. Or you can choose “Go To Novel” to get started writing.

After selecting “+ New Novel,” you’ll be asked to enter a title. This is the display you’ll be working with. There are three different color schemes to choose from: day, evening, and night. I prefer the “evening” format. I like the darker screens because they’re easy on my eyes.

Note- As you can see by the little green G in my screenshot, Grammarly works in Novrl too!

The left hand tab is where you organize your novel. Add, remove, or edit chapters. You can also visit the notes section to record your research, ideas, and questions.

I use the notes section for my world building and character development. I plan to integrate all of my research into this section as well. It’s so easy to keep things organized. When it comes to writing a novel, staying organized is key!

The right hand tab is where all the settings are. Choose your theme. Select whether or not you want your paragraphs indented. Want your chapters numbered? Simply switch the button on. Adjust your font size and use the toolbar to format your text.

There’s also a button called “focus mode.” This is one thing I adore about Novlr. Writing a novel is very difficult. Novlr takes some of the pressure off by allowing you to easily organize your thoughts. But once you’re organized, staying focused is the next hurdle.

Focus mode looks like this:

Nothing to distract you, at least on the screen. All you have to do now is write!

Learning –

Not quite ready to write your novel? Need to take a break, but still want to be productive? The Learning section of Novlr is your solution. This course is called “Couch to 80k.” It’s an 8 week course that features a 10 minute writing exercise for each day.

Novlr is looking to add even more learning opportunities. Do you have an idea for something they should feature? Let them know by clicking “Make a Suggestion” on the right hand side of the page.

Analytics –

I don’t know about you, but I love see my writing stats. When they’re on point, it makes me feel good that I’m making progress. When they’re low, it helps me realize I need to buckle down and start writing more.

The stats include your word count, time spent writing. They even analyze your productivity by averaging your words per day since you started working on your novel. This feature is amazing during NaNoWriMo!

Goals –

#Goals. Ready to crush yours? You can choose which goals to track. There’s options to have both daily and monthly goals. Did that thing where you put too much pressure on yourself? No problem – you can edit your goals any time you’d like.

Choose any word count you’d like for your Daily Goal. You can even put “just write something” for those times when writing is hard.

For your Monthly Goals, you can choose how many words you want to write for each novel. Simply enter the word count and select your novel. Hit set goal, and you’re on your way to crushing it!

Integrations –

Do you already have a novel in progress? Like I mentioned in the start of this article, I had been using Google Docs. It was so easy to bring it over to Novlr. Use the integration tab to integrate all of your novels with Novlr.

There’s options for both Google Docs and DropBox and you can decided how often to sync. Knowing your novel is safely stored is peace of mind you can’t live without.

After you’ve integrated, simply choose your sync frequency and any changes you’ve made will be automatically updated. You can also open your novel in Google Docs or DropBox if you want to make changes directly to those files.

New! You Can Now Integrate Your Novel with the NaNoWriMo Website:

This feature first became available during NaNoWriMo 2020. It will be back later this year for NaNoWriMo 2024! I wasn’t able to test the feature last year. But I fully intend to use it this year. Have you tried it? How did it go? Let me know in the comments!

Publishing –

You did it. You finally finished your novel. Novlr let’s you easily share it with the world. Choose which novel to publish. Then update the author name, add a subtitle, and incorporate your cover art. Click “Download EPUB,” and you’ll have a fresh copy of your novel ready to go!

What do you think?

I’ve gone over everything I can think of for this amazing novel writing tool. Well, not everything, this post goes into a bit more detail on exactly how to use the tools. Novlr is my new favorite and I’m sure you can see why. Are you ready to try it out? Get your FREE 14 day trial here.

I didn’t need 14 days to realize I wanted to make this my new novel writing software. I don’t think you will either. If you try it, share your feedback in the comments!

Note- Yes, this post has my affiliate links for Novlr. But I mean every word I’ve said. I use this program. I chose to become an affiliate because I think you’ll love Novlr too! ALL of my affiliate links are for products that I have personally used and loved.