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This guide explores how to plan and revise without an AI assistant, which tools can support your own writing and how generative AI differs from other software features.
This Writing Academy is published by Faustica. Comparisons are based on documented vendor information. Sources for other software are listed at the end; check current vendor information before buying.
What counts as AI in writing software
In everyday use, “AI” covers very different things. For choosing writing software, one simple distinction helps:
- Generative AI creates new text or changes existing text: it drafts paragraphs from a prompt, rephrases sentences, shortens, expands, summarizes or imitates a style. Behind it are large language models that usually run on the provider’s servers.
- Classic checking and counting tools work with fixed rules or dictionaries: spell checking, thesaurus lists, word counts, repetition or readability analysis. They highlight and count, but they don’t write anything for you.
The line isn’t always sharp; some proofreading tools now use language models too. On this page, “without AI” means without generative AI; classic aids belong in any good writing program.
Where AI shows up in writing software today
A few examples, each according to the vendor:
- Microsoft Word: According to Microsoft, the desktop apps included with Microsoft 365 Personal come with Copilot.
- Google Docs: Google’s help pages describe Gemini in Docs, which can draft, rephrase, shorten or elaborate text; it requires an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan.
- Novelcrafter: The higher plans include AI features such as generating prose from scene beats, connected to an AI provider of your choice; the entry-level Scribe plan has no AI features.
- Dabble: Currently offers no AI features and says that any future AI-assisted features will be strictly opt-in.
- Scrivener: Literature & Latte writes that Scrivener contains no AI and does nothing with your text in the background.
- The operating system: On the Mac, Apple offers system-wide writing tools that appear in the text fields of many programs. Literature & Latte explains that the AI prompts some users see in Scrivener come from there and describes how to switch them off, which differs between macOS versions.
That last point matters: a program without AI doesn’t rule out your operating system offering AI features. If you want to avoid them completely, check your system settings too.
Why some writers deliberately write without AI
There are good reasons to use AI when writing: some people research faster, find it a useful sparring partner for brainstorming or get support when spelling is hard for them. There are equally good reasons to do without:
- Your own voice. A novel lives on choices at sentence level. When phrasings are suggested to you, you pick rather than find, and it is easy to get used to smooth, average sentences.
- Learning by doing. You learn craft such as dialogue, point of view or tension by solving problems yourself. A paragraph you rewrote three times teaches you more than one you had rewritten for you.
- Confidentiality. With AI services that run in the cloud, your text is transferred for processing. What happens to it is governed by each provider’s terms, and you have to read them.
- Clarity when publishing. Platforms increasingly ask about AI use. Amazon KDP, for example, requires you to disclose AI-generated content (text, images or translations) when you publish; according to KDP, you don’t have to disclose AI-assisted content that you created yourself and only edited, refined or checked with AI tools. If you write without generative AI, you never have to draw that line.
- Calm. Fewer suggestions, fewer distractions.
None of this makes AI bad; it shows that “no AI” is a deliberate choice, not backwardness.
How to recognize writing software without AI
- Read the vendor’s information. Search the website for “AI,” “assistant” or names like Copilot and Gemini. Some vendors make an explicit statement.
- Check menus and toolbars in the trial version. Are there commands like “Rewrite,” “Continue” or “Generate”?
- Check the plan. AI features are often tied to certain subscriptions. The same program can come with or without AI depending on the plan.
- Check your operating system. System-wide writing tools can usually be restricted or switched off in the settings.
- Read the privacy information. If a program sends text to servers for analysis, it will say so there.
Making progress without AI: what helps instead
The tasks many people use AI for can be solved in other ways, often with tools that have long been part of writing programs.
Finding ideas: mind maps, question lists for characters and timed freewriting. When you are stuck, write for ten minutes without stopping, everything that could happen in the scene, then cut. More in How to overcome writer’s block.
Finding the words: a thesaurus suggests words, not sentences; the decision stays with you. Reading aloud reveals clunky passages more reliably than any tool.
Revising: repetition analysis, sentence lengths and dialogue share make patterns visible. What you do with them is up to you. The method behind it is described in How to self-edit your novel.
Feedback: beta readers, a writing group or an editor give you responses based on the experience of reading.
Keeping going: daily goals, set writing times and visible word statistics replace the drive some people hope to get from an assistant.
An example: solving a stuck scene without AI
This example uses an invented suspense novel: ferrywoman Rika discovers her childhood friend Hauke’s drug cargo and is threatened after refusing further trips. She plans a fake engine failure and anonymous tip so he is caught moving the load himself. Suppose the crucial call has stalled: she must sound convincing despite fearing his response.
- Clarify the goal. Hauke should transport the cargo himself; Rika must not reveal her deception.
- Collect your own perceptions. The number on the screen, a vibrating phone or hesitation before dialing.
- Write three versions. Start with dialing, with his first words, or with an abandoned attempt followed by another.
- Check the movement. Which shows fear while still leading to a decision?
These are possible expansions of the same plot. You judge their effects yourself instead of automatically adopting someone else’s suggestion as part of the character.
Common mistakes
- Confusing “no AI” with “no help.” Spell checking, a thesaurus and statistics aren’t generative AI, and they make the work easier.
- Checking only the program. System-wide writing tools or browser extensions can still make suggestions.
- Looking down on others for their choice. How someone writes is their business. What counts for you is that your choice is deliberate.
- Missing a change of plan. An update or a new plan can add AI features later. Take a look at the menus after major updates.
Practical tips
- Set yourself a short rule, such as “AI for research at most, never for text” or “not at all.” A fixed rule saves you deciding case by case.
- If local storage matters to you as well as avoiding AI, read Writing software without a subscription or cloud.
- Which other features a writing program needs is explained in What to look for in novel writing software.
- Why Faustica was deliberately built without AI, account or cloud is told in the blog post Why I built Faustica.
Try Faustica free for 30 days
Faustica contains no AI features. It doesn’t write sentences, rewrite anything or send your text to a server; writing and planning work offline and without an account. System-wide features of your operating system are outside the program and can only be controlled in your system settings.
For working without AI, Faustica brings classic aids: the editor has offline synonyms from local word lists, your system’s spell checker, a repetition analysis, focus mode, a daily goal and a focus timer. Project Statistics show sentence length, dialogue share, chapter lengths and your writing history, calculated locally. You gather ideas in Mind Maps and Notes.
With Faustica, your novel and its planning stay together: chapters, characters, settings and research are close to your text. Write and plan offline, keep your projects on your own device and get started without a Faustica account. You can import existing text as Word or Markdown files and continue working on it in Faustica.
Try Faustica free for 30 days and see how it fits your writing process. You can then buy the version for your platform as a one-time purchase: Windows through the Microsoft Store and macOS through the Mac App Store. Each version is sold separately through its respective store.
Frequently asked questions
Is a spell checker already AI?
Usually not in the sense of generative AI. Classic spell checkers compare your text with dictionaries and rules. Some newer proofreading services do use language models, though; that is then usually stated in the service’s description.
Do I have to disclose that I used AI while writing?
That depends on where you publish. Amazon KDP requires you to disclose AI-generated content, but not content that was merely AI-assisted. Publishers, agents and contests have their own rules, which you should check case by case.
Can I still use AI tools later in a program without AI?
Yes, if you want to, through a separate service you paste text into. The advantage of AI-free writing software is that this remains a deliberate action rather than something that happens in passing.
Will I write more slowly without AI?
In terms of raw output, maybe. Whether it matters depends on how long you would otherwise spend checking generated suggestions. Many novels fail less for lack of speed than for lack of staying power.
Sources
Research: October 2026, based on the vendor and platform pages linked below.
- Gemini in Google Docs: support.google.com/docs/answer/13447609
- Novelcrafter, AI features: novelcrafter.com
- Dabble, AI policy: dabblewriter.com
- Plottr: plottr.com
- Scrivener and AI, Apple writing tools on the Mac: literatureandlatte.com/blog/scrivener-and-ai-why-do-i-see-ai-prompts-in-my-scrivener-projects-on-mac
- Amazon KDP, content guidelines on AI: kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200672390