If you have worked for a large organization in a regular office then you know that big businesses use software applications that improve their employees’ business productivity.
Why should a freelance writing business be any different?
There is writing software available that helps freelance writers to be more productive and can save you many hours of valuable time. That means more hours to take on additional assignments or more time to spend with your family and your friends or otherwise enjoying your freelance lifestyle.
Of course most writers already have word processing software, so in this article I will mention a few of the other types of applications that can help freelance writers.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking
Are you tired of tapping on your keyboard? Now instead of typing you can speak to your computer and turn talk into text. Several years ago the software for this was still in its infancy and would create a manuscript full of errors. Speech recognition software is much more accurate today. Two of the best applications are Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which claims to be three times faster than typing, and MacSpeech Dictate, a speech recognition solution specifically designed for the Macintosh.
Sonar
Sonar is a free manuscript submission tracking program. It will help you to keep up-to-date with where you have submitted each manuscript, whether a piece has been sold or rejected and which manuscripts are gathering dust instead of earning their keep.
Quick-Type
With Quick-Type you can turn into a speed typist. Did you know that an amazing 70% of our computer typing is taken up by repetitive tasks? We need to type email signatures, entries in web forms, standard replies, and routine letters, over and over again. Quick-Type automates these typing tasks for you. You simply provide all the common pieces of text you type, along with a keyword for each. Then whenever you type that keyword, it gets replaced with your text.
CutePDF
Sooner or later you will want to turn one or more of your manuscripts into Portable Document Format. The official Adobe Acrobat software is fairly expensive but take a look at CutePDF. It is PDF-making software that comes in a number of versions, including a free version. The free version is excellent and can convert your document into the PDF format in a few seconds. And the best part, it is free for both personal and for commercial use.
Life Journal
Life Journal is interactive journaling software designed especially for writers. But it is much more than journal software. You can store your journal entries but also your drafts, anecdotes, research notes, poems, stories, and articles all in one comprehensive program.
These are just a few of the applications available for freelance writers. If you want your freelance writing business to grow then you should check out those software applications that could help you to do tasks more efficiently and improve your productivity. That way you will work faster, probably have more fun, and most importantly, improve your bottom line.