Looking for a more ambitious writing experience in an app: an exploration

For years I’ve written articles, interviews, chapters, and books using a combination of software tools. Now I’m looking for something more advanced.

Currently my main writing application is Microsoft Word, as it is for many people. I also use Google Docs for short writing (chapter/article length), for collaboration, and for other sharing purposes. Over the past few years I’ve taken to drafting almost everything in Google Docs, as I habitually move between around three devices every day, noodling or frantically typing here and there, before exporting to Word for more serious editing and finishing. (Those devices include a desktop computer (Mac Mini with externals), one or two laptops, and phone, depending on if I’m home or not.)

This setup is quite sufficient for almost all of my needs. They handle the formatting I require. They are reliable. Word gives me some special functions, as do Google Docs. And obviously I can churn out thousands and thousands of words therein. I’ve used them to produce four books and a bunch of other stuff.

Yet I want more.

For one, those are generally linear tools. Word and Docs offer a single, focused, vertical file for us. I’d like to explore using non- or multi-linear editing, as we have in audio and video editing…