Writing is hard. That’s as blunt as anyone can put it, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Maybe you’re not feeling so creative, maybe you keep getting distracted, or maybe you just need to write a little bit better, but you’re not sure how.

There are plenty of tips and tricks that can help you improve your writing, but you’ve probably heard them all before. But what about software? You may not know it, but writing software goes far beyond word processors like Microsoft Word. There are a lot of really advanced tools out there that can increase your productivity. Here are just a few of them.

1. Alternative Word Processors

Not that those two software aren’t any good, but there are literally dozens of other software that may benefit your needs more. For example, what about Dramatica Pro if you’re going to write a story?

Dramatica Pro begins by asking you a series of fill-in-the-blank questions about your story’s plot and characters. The questions definitely help you organize your character’s personas and qualities and even help with your plot structure. It’s very easy to switch between different “storyguide paths,” or how you want your stories to develop. If you want to edit something in your story, you don’t have to completely rewrite your plot. Finally, Dramatica Pro is unique because it allows you to illustrate the different aspects of your story. Visual representations can definitely help promote creativity rather than straight text. Dramatica Pro is a must-have for any story-writer and is definitely a notch above MS Word and Wordpad.

Or how about some of the other office suites? Try Google Documents. Just go to your Google account and you’ll see the feature there. It may not offer more features than its leading competitors, but the great thing is that Google Documents is completely online. You can access it and write about anything anywhere at any time and you don’t have to worry about lugging your laptop or notebook around everywhere. Just look for any computer with internet access; your creativity will no longer be bounded by location.

2. Speech to Text Software

Try Dragon NaturallySpeaking products. All you need is a microphone. The advanced training and tutorials will let you speak easily and comfortably without having to enunciate every single syllable, and the computer will still type what you say with little or no mistakes. You can use it for nearly everything, the internet, e-mails, and most importantly, in word documents. Most people speak much faster than they type and have an easier time doing it. You can hear how your writing sounds as you’re writing it.

3. Automatic Grammar / Other Linguistic Checkers

StyleWriter plugs in to almost every application and is very easy to use. It uses advanced technology and searches for thousands of common errors and writing faults and corrects them for you. It can even find cliches and clean up long, messy sentences.

WhiteSmoke is one of the most innovative proofreading and editing tools I’ve ever come across. It’s really as if a professional editor is checking over you.

Try searching for more software; everyone has different needs and styles so you might not do as well using one application than if you used another that was more suited to your needs.