# A writing app for journalists: from field notes to copy > Word and Google Docs weren't built for the field. What a writing app for journalists should do, and how nTilia does it. Canonical: https://ntilia.com/u/davidherreman/en/writing-app-for-journalists Language: en Author: David Herreman (https://ntilia.com/u/davidherreman) Published: 2026-09-30T09:38:37+00:00 Last updated: 2026-09-30T18:41:30.211+00:00 Series: nTilia (https://ntilia.com/u/davidherreman/s/ntilia?lang=en) Tags: writing app for journalists, text editor for journalists, journalism tools, how to write a news article, 5Ws, Markdown editor, field reporting, nTilia --- Ask ten reporters what they write in. You'll hear Word, Google Docs, the phone's Notes app, a spiral notebook, sometimes all four for the same story. None of these tools is bad. None was built for this job: taking notes on your feet with no signal, structuring information that arrives out of order, then filing clean copy to an editor who wants a `.docx` yesterday. A word processor lays out a document. A **writing app for journalists** does something else: it carries a story from the field to the copy without dropping a piece on the way. Here is what it should do, point by point, and how [nTilia](https://ntilia.com) handles each one. ## What a writing app for journalists should do 1. **Work offline**, and lose nothing when the network comes back. 2. **Give structure before you write**: the 5Ws, an interview outline. 3. **Keep the whole story in one place**, notes, interviews and photos linked. 4. **Get out of the way** while you write: no menus, no notifications. 5. **Keep every version**, so you can get the old lede back. 6. **File in the newsroom's format**: a clean `.docx`. 7. **Publish under your own name, then correct in the open**. Everything else (themes, fonts, integrations) is comfort. These seven points separate a tool that follows the reporting from a tool you work around. ## 1. Write offline, for real The first draft of a story rarely gets written at a desk. It gets written on a train, in a hospital corridor, in a valley with no coverage. An editor that shows "Connection lost" just as the quote comes in is useless. nTilia is an installable web app (PWA) that writes to the device first. Notes stay local, sync goes out when the network returns, and a counter shows what is still waiting. One precaution, once: accept persistent storage when you install it, or the browser may clear local data to free up space. For the full method (before you leave, on site, when you are back), see the guide [Taking field notes without a network](https://ntilia.com/en/guides/take-notes-without-a-network). ## 2. Start from a template: 5Ws and interview The 5Ws (who, what, where, when, why, and usually how) are taught in the first week of journalism school. Yet no word processor ships with them: you open a blank page and rely on memory. In nTilia, a new note can start from a template. The **5W** template gives you this, with date and place filled in when the device knows them: ```markdown ## 5W - **Date:** September 30, 2026 - **Place:** Alès ### Who ### What ### Where ### When ### Why ### How ``` The **Interview** template sets up the interviewee, their role, consent (on the record or not), the question outline and room for the transcript. Filling in the consent line at the start of the conversation saves you from wondering about it three weeks later, when it's time to quote. It isn't a form, it's Markdown. Delete a heading, add one, nothing breaks. For what comes after the interview (transcribing, checking, quoting), see [Interview transcription: method, template, GDPR](https://ntilia.com/en/guides/interview-transcription). The full method, with a template and a worked example, is in [The 5 Ws of journalism: a news article template](https://ntilia.com/u/davidherreman/en/5-ws-of-journalism-news-article-template). ## 3. One story, one Mission, linked notes A story isn't one document. It's thirty fragments: three interviews, a scene, some figures, a photo of a sign, a lead to check. In Word, that's thirty files in a folder. In a notes app, it's one long list where everything blends together. nTilia keeps those fragments in a **Mission**: one folder per story or per trip. Inside, you link notes by typing `[[` and the title: autocomplete suggests the notes of the active Mission, drafts included. The summary note points to the mayor's interview, which points to the market scene. The thread of the story stays readable. Two more tools keep it tidy: - the **Outline** tab lists the note's headings and, for a transcribed interview, its `[mm:ss]` timestamps: one click puts the cursor back on that passage; - the **personal glossary** remembers the story's acronyms and proper names once, and suggests them as you type, even offline. No more place name spelled three different ways. ## 4. Write with nothing around you Drafting asks for the opposite of everything else: no extra information on screen. **Write mode** (Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + E) folds away the side panels and the preview. Only the current paragraph stays sharp, the cursor sits halfway down the screen, and the toolbar fades while you type. A word count stays available so you can hit the length your editor asked for. Formatting has no ribbon: type `/` at the start of a line to insert a subheading, a quote, a list, a table, an image, a footnote. Markdown keeps the text clean, portable, and readable in any editor twenty years from now. ## 5. Get the old lede back Every reporter has rewritten a lede and then missed the first one. In a word processor it's gone, unless you kept `story_v3_FINAL_really.docx`. nTilia keeps a **version history**: automatic checkpoints while you write, manual ones when you want to mark a step. Compare two states with a word-by-word diff and restore the one you want. The history is private: it never appears on the public journal. It works offline and, with the vault enabled, it's encrypted like everything else. ## 6. File copy to the newsroom: the `.docx` Most newsrooms and copy desks still work in `.docx`. A writing app for journalists has to produce a clean Word file, without a copy-paste that breaks every subheading. There are two exports: - **a single note** as `.docx`, from the editor's export menu; - **a whole Mission** as a "Journalism article (.docx)": nTilia assembles the Mission's notes into one document, each under its own heading, with slots for the lead and the context at the top, photos included. You don't file thirty raw notes, of course: you file the story. But the material is already gathered, in order, ready to be cut. ## 7. Publish under your name, then correct in the open Many freelancers need a place of their own: for a pitch nobody bought, a long-running investigation, a field diary, a portfolio that doesn't depend on a masthead. Every nTilia account has a **public journal** at a readable address (`ntilia.com/u/your-name`), with an RSS feed and a "Cite" block. The same text goes from note to article with no export and no copy-paste. From the Pro plan, the journal is set up for news search (NewsArticle markup, Google News sitemap, IndexNow) and can push to WordPress or Ghost. And when a published story needs a fix, ethics say you should say so. nTilia adds an "Updated" dateline and an optional **correction note** under the byline. Every update archives the version that was live: readers can walk the chain and compare the texts. You correct without an alarming banner, and without erasing either. ## What about AI? It's there, and it stays in its place: online, on demand, never in the background. Select a passage, pick an action (spelling, tone, translation, pre-publication check), and the suggestion appears next to your original text. Nothing changes until you accept. The "Do no harm" check flags identifiable people, minors and overly precise locations before you publish. The details are in [An editing AI, not a chatbot that rewrites for you](https://ntilia.com/u/davidherreman/en/an-editing-ai-not-a-chatbot-that-rewrites-for-you). ## Word, Google Docs, Notes or nTilia? | What a journalist needs | Word | Google Docs | Phone notes | nTilia | |---|---|---|---|---| | Write with no network | Yes (desktop) | Partial | Yes | Yes, syncs later | | 5W / interview templates | Build your own | Build your own | No | Built in | | One folder per story, linked notes | File folders | Drive folders | Basic folders | Missions + `[[note]]` links | | Version history | With OneDrive | Yes | No | Yes, private, offline | | `.docx` export for the newsroom | Native | Yes | No | Note or whole Mission | | Publish under your name | No | No | No | Public journal, RSS, Cite | | Traceable correction note | No | No | No | Yes, published versions | Word is still unbeatable for layout, Google Docs for real-time co-writing. nTilia doesn't try to replace them there. It covers what they don't: the path from field notebook to finished copy. ## What nTilia isn't - **It isn't a newsroom CMS**: there's no approval workflow between reporter, editor and copy desk. nTilia is the journalist's tool, not the publication's. - **It isn't an app-store app**: it's a web app you install from the browser, on phone and computer. - **It isn't a vault for your whole phone**: the photo gallery, messaging apps and maps are out of its reach. For protecting sources on the move, see [How a journalist protects sources before a checkpoint](https://ntilia.com/u/davidherreman/en/how-a-journalist-protects-sources-before-a-checkpoint). If what you need is mainly a **note-taking** app rather than a writing one, [Best note-taking apps for journalists](https://ntilia.com/en/guides/best-note-taking-apps-for-journalists) compares the options, nTilia included. [nTilia for journalists](https://ntilia.com/en/for/journalists) sums up the rest. --- The editor, templates, Missions, version history, `.docx` export and public journal are all on the free plan, no credit card needed. Try it at [ntilia.com](https://ntilia.com), even offline. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the best writing app for journalists? The one that covers the path from field to copy: offline writing, structure (5Ws, interview outline), notes grouped by story, version history and `.docx` export for the newsroom. Word and Google Docs excel at layout and collaboration, but weren't designed for reporting. nTilia was designed for that path. ### How do you use the 5Ws when writing a news article? Before writing, answer each question in one line: who, what, where, when, why and how. The most important answers go at the top, following the inverted pyramid. In nTilia, the 5W template creates these headings for you, with date and place filled in. ### Can I write an article offline with nTilia? Yes. nTilia saves notes on the device and syncs when the network returns. Install the web app and accept persistent storage so the browser doesn't clear local data. Sync, AI and publishing wait for a connection. ### Does nTilia export to Word? Yes. A single note exports to `.docx` from the editor, and a whole Mission can be assembled into one "Journalism article (.docx)" document, photos included, ready to send to a newsroom. ### How do you flag a correction on a published article? When you update the article, nTilia shows an "Updated" dateline and an optional correction note under the byline. The previous version is archived, so readers can compare the texts and the correction stays traceable. ### Is nTilia free for journalists? The editor, templates, Missions, version history, `.docx` export and public journal are on the free plan, no credit card needed. Pro adds local transcription, Google News indexing and WordPress or Ghost syndication, among other things.