WATMAN  xPad is as transparent as an app gets. I do page layout in Pages, but I do all my freelance writing in xPad – it's quick, the drawer is indispensable, the colour-coding handles my organizing, the drop-down Get Info pane provides a wordcount,and the elegant/functional look satisfies the aesthete in me. Throw in autosave, and you've got one killer (free!) app.

Prior to xPad, I tried out CopyWrite and a host of dedicated writer tools. This is the only one that stuck.   
(Version 1.2.5)