Hi aspiring writers writing coach Stefanie Newell and this is The Life Of
A Writer channel. Today's video Google Docs vs Microsoft Word which
software is the best for writers? In this video I will be comparing the two based
on price and functionality. If you want to connect with readers and sell more
books make sure to subscribe as I post new content every Tuesday. So when it
comes to writing books the software you choose is a very important decision as
the ease and functionality of the software can make a huge difference in
how smooth the writing process goes. Google Docs and Microsoft Word are very
popular software among writers. I've used both and I like them for very different
reasons. To keep it simple and to help you to make an informed decision on
which software will work for you I will be comparing pricing, the need for
Internet access, the save features, add-ons and the collaboration and edit
features. I will also look at some of the most common functions writers use such
as header and footer, page setup, spell and grammar check, word count and
formatting for a book. So let's jump over to my computer and compare the two. Let's
talk about pricing first since for some writers this is going to be a major
deciding factor. Microsoft Word Online requires a subscription to Office 365
which will give you access to all of their office apps including Word. The
pricing is $6.99 per month for one person and includes one terabyte of
cloud storage. If you go with a $9.99 per month version that supports up to six
people you can get a one-month free trial now for those of you who are
already familiar with Microsoft Word. I want you to keep in mind that this is a
simplified version of the desktop version. If you're using Microsoft Office
Online and working on a file you can choose to work on the same file in the
desktop version if you have a copy installed and are using the same login.
And it will save the changes in the online version of the file so you can
work between the online and desktop versions so long as your file is saved
in One Drive which is their cloud storage. In comparison Google Docs is completely
free you'll just need to sign up for a Google account which is also free and
once you have an account you will have access to their entire suite which
includes Google Docs. Both Google Docs and Word do require
Internet access to some degree. So for example Internet access is required to
install and activate Office but not to use Office applications such as Word.
Once you have these fully installed on your computer you can use multiple
devices including PCs, Macs, phones and tablets. You will also need Internet
access for Google Docs. It too can be accessed anywhere on any device and you
can also access it offline but only in the Chrome browser. Google Docs gets high
praise from users on its save capabilities as all your changes are
automatically saved as you type you can even use revision history to see old
versions of the same document sorted by date and who made the change. Word Online
also takes away the Save button because they too automatically save changes to
their cloud storage One Drive. Add-ons is a feature that will take your writing
experience up a notch and provides features like voice to text while both
Word and Docs in my opinion can stand to improve in the area of add-ons I give
the edge to Google Docs hands down. Collaboration is something that writers
will find useful when working with writing partners beta readers, writing
coaches, and editors. Both can handle the task. Word allows users to collaborate
and share in real time and the collaborators don't need Office 365 just
an Internet connection. Google Docs provides the same collaboration with
their share button as well. Making edits is another important function for
writers as editors will need to add comments or edits when reviewing your
document. Word makes it fairly simple but to be honest as someone who uses this
feature frequently when doing manuscript critiques for my clients, I much prefer
the desktop version. With that being said comparing Google Docs vs Microsoft
Word Online I would say that both software handles the editing feature the
same. Ok now that we've gotten some of the most functional elements of the
software compared let's look at some of the more basic options writers will need
to use once they begin formatting their manuscript.
And if you haven't seen my previous formatting videos for Google Docs or
Microsoft Word make sure to check out the description box as I'll have it
linked there. Let's start with the header and footer. Both Docs and Word makes
using the header and footer simple, as should be expected. Now when it comes to
page setup I'm gonna have to give this one to Word, only because they lay their
page formatting out in their classic ribbon format which means that all of
the options for changing features are right across the top. When comparing the
spell and grammar check both Google Docs and Word handle the function relatively
easy. Although upon initially looking for
spell and grammar check I found it easier to find it in Docs as it was
under tools where I'm used to finding it. With that being said I did find a really
cool function in Word that reminded me of Grammarly and that's its ideas
function where it provides ideas on clarity, conciseness, formality, and more. Word
count is another feature that writers would need to access easily and both
Google Docs and Word makes it easy to find the word count for a document. For
the sake of this conversation remember we're talking about writing your
manuscript in either Google Docs or Microsoft Word. When it comes to
formatting your book and for clarity I'm talking about the formatting for the
print and Kindle version of your book, another thing to consider is the ease at
which the formatting can be done in either software. So once your manuscript
is complete and you're ready to publish to Amazon that will require a different
type of formatting than what was done for the manuscript and that's so it can
look like an actual book and not just a document. For example, personally I like
Microsoft Word as I'm able to format the paperback and Kindle version of my book
by using various templates that are available on the Internet when I did a
search on Google for Google Docs templates I wasn't able to easily find a
variety of templates as I could for Word. As a matter of fact I wasn't able to find
any templates and this could be because the formatting would be lost once
converted to one of the other file formats. Google Docs does offer a few
download options such as ePub, HTML, and PDF which Kindle Direct Publishing or
KDP for short does allow. However if you
go directly to KDP's help section, they say for the best results they
recommend a Microsoft Word DOC/DOCX or a KPF file created with Kindle Create.
So as an alternative you could download your Google Docs file as a Microsoft
Word document and format your book in Kindle Create which is a free tool that
Amazon offers. So when it comes down to it, Google Docs vs Microsoft Word,
which software share writers use? Each writer should look at budget,
functionality, their own skill set, the device they're using, and which software
will work long-term for their needs. Because writing your first book is for most
authors at least a year-long project, you want to give consideration to all of
these factors as software that's confusing, not able to perform in the way
you want, can all affect the consistency in which you write. Remember the writing
process should be fun and creative and you definitely want to make it as easy
as possible! So while ultimately I have my favorite,
the decision will be yours. So let's talk about some of the differences between
the two. Word offers tech support via chat or phone and you can use your
fingerprint, face or pin as an extra layer of protection on One Drive which is
a bonus. Whereas with Docs I love that it picks
up the formatting in documents and creates an outline. That feature alone is
one that is very valuable for writers. Google Docs also has a trash bin in case
of accidental deletion. If you've ever lost a document you can only imagine how
much this will come in handy. As I've stated before I've used both software
but have long preferred Word mainly for its tracking features and offline
performance and because I have the desktop version that has way more
features. However after comparing the two, I am quite impressed with Docs as it
really holds up in terms of features in comparison to Word. If the price is a
huge consideration, I would honestly go with Docs because a lot of writers find
it much easier to use and most of all it's free. With that being said I must
mention some of the cons that have been shared among writers who use Docs
exclusively. Those includes slow load times for larger manuscripts of 70,000
words or more and the fact that some editors including myself prefer
Word. To Google Docs credit you can convert Google Docs to Word files and
vice versa. Lastly because KDP favors Word files some may find it easier to
just write and format their book in Microsoft Word as the formatting and
conversions may become confusing for some first-time authors. Down in the
comment section share with me which software you plan on using and why? And don't
forget I do have a series playlist where I'll walk you through the process of
writing a book in Google Docs or Microsoft Word. As always all of my
social media links will be in the description box below. If you're looking
to hire me as your writing coach you will find that information there as well
and I look forward to talking with you in my next video!