The input method used by the authors of novels on the Internet depended on their personal habits and preferences. Some authors might prefer to use professional input methods to quickly and accurately enter various symbols and terms. Some authors might prefer to use free input methods because they provide more functions and customizations. Some common free input methods included Google Pinyin, Baidu Pinyin, Bing input method, and so on. These input methods all provided powerful Pinyin and phrase input functions and could be customized according to the author's preferences. Some authors would also use input methods designed specifically for writing, such as "grammar" and "writing". The input methods used by web novelists depended on their personal habits and preferences, but free input methods usually provided sufficient functions and customizations.