Hello. I’m curious if anyone here uses Google Docs to write. It’s the program I’m the most familiar with, and it has an “outline” where I can go to a certain chapter. I can also search for words or phrases and use a pretty accurate built-in spelling and grammar checker. You can share documents with other people. My current story is on my personal Google account and I have it shared with my school account so I can edit it at school. I also have the app on my phone. I find it really useful. Has anyone else tried it?
I use it sometimes. I don't mind it, but it's pretty much useless without an internet connection, so not really something I can rely on where I'm at.
I use it sometimes, but I usually write a whole novel in one document, and when I get toward the end, so the document is pretty big, it can be slow to load and sometimes laggy on Docs. So I'll use it for individual scenes if I think I'll want to work on them away from my home computer, but I just cut and paste the scenes into my master document in Word.
I think it's great to edit my stuff from several computers/locations. But i only write short stuff. If I would be off internet for some time i would use something else but get it in to docs when i am home. There is an option to have docs locally stored (you set them to be available offline) But at least twice that has failed for me. I had some documents, set them to be to be available offline, packet my pad, went to my class (no internet) and tried to access them but that failed. Probably i was to quick to leave. 22k words is the max i have used it for. That works without problems. I have used it with documents much larger once or twice. If you dont have good internet many of the advantages are gone. But if you have it's great.
I do use google docs. I particularly like their sheets which, in my opinion, is a lot more user-friendly and has nice options like easy checkboxes (excel has them too, but they're not as nice to deal with).
I use Docs exclusively! While I agree it can be laggy occasionally, it does work offline. Each doc can use 'offline' mode, just choose which device before you disconnect (it's a download). I keep individual files for chapters (something like 10kw?), and it's much faster! My Samsung does well on speak-and-spell and Swype. Collaborate and sharing is miraculous!
I recently started using it again since I'm too lazy to pay for Microsoft Word and Google Docs is the best alternative around in my experience. Plus it's available offline so even it being online isn't a drawback.
But to use it offline on a PC you have to download it as an extension to Chrome, and that's it's own set of problems.
I say nay. I've never used Chrome. Docs has it's own app for everything - PC and mobile. No problemo.
Google docs is my main program for writing. Convenient for sharing and using across different devices.
How do you work around the whole lack of folders to organize anything? I have folders set up in Drive, but when I open Docs it just spews everything out in one list of files.
Google Docs is decent enough and it allows me to do what I want with the files, unlike free Microsoft Word that you get with Hotmail/Outlook. I'd use it if I didn't have Word. But writing and storing your documents on the cloud (online) only is risky and courting disaster.
I use it only to copy-paste what I write on my computer so I can write more on my phone if I want. Sometimes I edit in it. I'm using FocusWriter for my first draft and will probably use Pages or Word for my second. I type so fast that, honestly, typing a whole book in Doc gets laggy and I can't use it as smoothly. If you have a low WPM it'll probably work, though. My best friend I'm pretty sure wrote her entire novel in it? I'll ask when I see her next week.
I’ve used it, mainly to share chapters for feedback or to do beta reads for others — but I’m much more of a Dropbox fan. I certainly DO NOT use it, as you seem to, as my primary word processor. I use Word, keep a folder both on my computer and in Dropbox for one chapter at a time and an “ongoing edit” for the accumulated chapters together. Being overly cautious (okay paranoid). I keep a copy of the ongoing edit (essentially the manuscript to date) on my computer hard drive, MS cloud, Dropbox, and once a week to a thumb drive. If the bomb drops, I’ve still got the thumb drive.
I have thought of using Google Docs when I had my real stupid and old android phone, but that phone was so old and stupid that I could not get much to work. (Now the charger does not work on it) I am using an iPhone now. I probably could use google docs now but MS Word works with this iPhone and I have already paid for an annual subscription for it.
