Where Is The Document Writer That Works!

I am new to this, ok, so let me tell you what happened. I have written a novel, I think it is really good, I was using WordPad, but there is no grammar check for it, so I went looking for a document writer that would have a spellchecker, and I found one, I will not mention which one because I don't want to get them in trouble. But after I had written fifty pages on my computer I decided I should put the title on the first chapter a couple of spaces below the "Chapter One" instead of on the same line with "Chapter One". Now guess what happened,
it messed up every single page of the fifty pages where they would have to be rewritten. I don't want this to happen! When I write a page I do not want it to automatically jump down to the next page, I want to do this manually. Now, finally, my question, is there anyone who can tell me of a really good document writer, that works! I thank you.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by 'document writer.' Do you mean a wordprocessor? A wordprocessing programme? Like Microsoft Word, or Apple's Pages?

 

There are a couple of open source office suites that you can download for free that will enable you to adjust your paragraphs: Apache Open Office, and LibreOffice. They have pro-level writing applications that can do a lot more for you.

 

GoogleDocs. It's free, it's better than basically any word processor I've seen and you save your stuff dynamically so you can have other people view/edit it if you want.

 

I don’t understand why anything would have to be “rewritten.” If you’re using manual page breaks (I don’t understand why, but, your choice), surely all you have to do is move the page breaks.

 

I'm not entirely sure what's happened from the OP's words. It appears that there's a formatting issue, and I'm guessing that s/he inserted text of a particular paragraph style that forced a page break after it:

- but it's hard to be sure.

If it were me, I'd install LibreOffice, export the existing text from WordPad as RTF, import to LO, and proceed from there. LO has a "spell-checker", although the OP initially said WP didn't have a "grammar-check", so I'm still unsure of what's required.

 

MS Word has some grammar check ability, things like subject/verb agreement and some punctuation, but it's not going to fine-tooth your stuff.

 

I know, but the OP said "WordPad" which is not so feature-rich.

 

If that's what you want, try a typewriter.

Honestly, why would you want to set your page breaks manually?
The only case where this would make a modicum of sense is when you prepare a very special print edition, where everything concerning the typesetting - page size, everything font, margins etc. - is already determined. But that's not the case here. If you're still in the stage where you need a spellchecker, you're obviously only writing a first draft. So why would you bother about page breaks when they're absolutely irrelevant for every single format you could publish in later?

People have given you examples for word processors that have spell and grammar check. If you really need more control about the arrangement of your words on the page (which I very much doubt), you could try DTP software. Adobe InDesign is the professional version, Scribus is free.

 

I agree that this doesn't make much sense for a novel. It's more something you'd want in a desktop publishing situation. Unless, I suppose, you're really trying to do something unconventional with the print version of the novel.

If you want something free, and that is great for general novel writing, I second Google Docs or, if you would rather not have something browser-based, LibreOffice.

 

Phillip,

As you have seen, if you change anything in the text, the page breaks will move around. So you should not worry about that while you write, and work on the text. If the exact location of page breaks matters, it's something you should only look into at the very end, when the text is finished. Though for a novel, it's very rare that the formatting and location of page breaks matters – it will change depending on how it's published, as hardcover, paperback, or ebook (here you cannot control the formatting too much – the reader can change it). Word processors are designed with doing the page breaks automatically, so that you do not have to worry about them, in particular while writing.

If your project really requires a strict formatting, you need to look into desktop publishing programs, as other have said.

 

This will happen with any writing software you use unless you insert something called "Page breaks".

Page break is a function, similar to how you may want to italicise a word. If you insert a page break at the end of a chapter, then the next line (presumably the start of your next chapter) will begin on a new blank page.

So for example, if you have a page break on p.5, and Chapter 2 starts on p.6, and you decide to insert some new text or new lines into one of the previous pages (any of p.1-4), Chapter 2 will remain on p.6. Chapter 2 will not move.

If you are using Microsoft Word, or Google Documents, you can insert page breaks.

In Microsoft Word, you insert it by holding down two buttons. These buttons are "Ctrl" (found near your space bar) and "Enter" (the big arrow button you use to create new paragraphs). Press Ctrl and Enter together, and you will have a page break. It will automatically take you to a new page.

In Google Documents, you can use the same two buttons. Or you can go to "Insert" in the toolbar at the top of your screen. Look for the word "Break". When you point at the word "Break" in the menu, a new menu should pop up with the option that says "Page break". Click on "Page break", and that's it. You should automatically jump to a new page after that.

 

Well, I will tell you why: I wrote 50 pages, then I had to insert something on the first page and it messed up all fifty pages! I had to abandon all 50 pages. Why would I want a manuscript writer program that does this? I am looking for a program that does not screw up everything I write. Any answers?

 

I don't like things being done automatically for me, it seems to screw things up, I had to abandon 50 pages that I wrote because I inserted something on the first page after I had written the 50 pages. One apparently can not get any instructions from these writing programs, they just present it to you and say write. One has to go through all kinds of mess-ups before one learns how to do it right. There are so many things I don't know about all this, it is bewildering. For me, writing a novel is like falling off a log as the saying goes, it is so easy, but what I do after I write the novel I have no idea.

 

Well, there ye go, I have never heard of "page breaks", how am I suppose to know this? The writing programs do not say anything about "page breaks", or anything else for that matter. All these people who know how to do everything just do not understand the people who know nothing. There is always this big learning curve one must go through before one becomes accomplished. One mess up after another, this is what happens. Wordpad, which I am now using does not have a spellcheck, so I installed "tinyspell", works great. But here is another bigger problem with Wordpad, it does not have a way of lining up what you have written so a publisher, for instance , can see it on his computer. Am I right about that? I will look into googledocs.

 

Software usually has an associated manual. If you don’t have yours, it may be online.

Are you saying that you actually retyped fifty pages?

 

It’s sound like you’re doing a lot of things that you don’t actually need to do. What’s the point of this? If you’re submitting to a publisher, Word documents are standard and they don’t include page breaks at every page to limit the words-per-page. They use the document as it is produced while typing into it.

 

Wordpad is a very, very basic text editor. I don't know of any publishers who would accept a manuscript in a .txt format, as it would be nearly impossible for you to format it to submission guidelines (font style/size, paragraph indenting, etc.). I believe Google Docs can save your document in a format that meets industry standards, as would Word and Scrivener, but they're not free.

 

Yes. And Google Docs does a very good job of saving to Word format. But for issues like those the OP is discussing (page break after x number of words) it works pretty much the same as Word. I guess I don’t see why the problems the OP is talking about are actually problems, but to the extent they are I’m not sure Google Docs is the answer.

 

You may not have heard of them, but you’re demanding them. Can you tell us why you care that your pages shift when you add material? It is apparently obvious to you, but it’s not at all obvious to us.

Normally, when you write a book, the text just flows. Keeping a specific number of words or lines on a page is not a thing.

And, by the way, pages are in part dependent on printer definitions. If you tried to print to a different printer, your pages would probably shift.

And, the fact that you seem to think that you’ve somehow lost the use of all 50 pages makes me fear that you may not be aware of other things, like cutting and pasting?

 

I tried GoogleDocs, but it will not center the writing, others are also complaining about this as well.