Favorite writing software?

Scrivener might be the new thing for me.

 

I am a heretic. When a computer first entered my family, it ended up with Word Perfect on it. And so, to this day....Corel Word Perfect is my fav, just because of brand loyalty.

 

For poetry I'm terribly old fashioned and write with pen on paper

For short stories I use Word 2013... it just isn't necessary for a short piece (roughly 2000-5000 words) to have a more powerful software. If I ever try my hands at a novel I might check out some of the suggested options here, though

 

Sometimes I like to jot things down on the old pen and paper, but usually Microsoft word (2013) does it for me.

 

Scrivener is hands down the writer's choice, as it is specifically created for writers. Microsoft Word is too basic for me, as stated, word is primarily for writer's who write in a linear fashion. My style of writing is sectional, I once wrote a novella backwards i.e I wrote the final chapter first and then I wrote the previous chapter next, etc.

Sounds strange, but I almost never write chapters in order, and if I do, Scrivener allows me free-reign to arrange them as I see fit

 

I was a Microsoft Word guy. I recently purchased Scrivener and I really like it. I know I am not using it to the fullest, but it is a great organizer. It is definitely a useful tool for non-linear writers like myself. I find it great that I can have an outline, research, and eventually the story all in one place.
I find it is also helping me with writers block. If I run into a problem, I can still outline scenes and chapters until I can hash out a block in my story.
Also helped with the wife. She looks at my work and is really amazed at how serious I am taking this. One of my chapters I had to do some research with an interview with two local policeman. She checked out my research with them and was amazed at all of the questions I had for them. I then explained that half of it I would not use, but you need to know what you are talking about when you write, she was thrilled so it was a good $40 investment.
Definitely good for a non-linear writer.

 

Found a few more. They're free too.

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/applications/best-free-software-for-writing-10-programs-to-unleash-your-creativity-1141280

 

I am using Quoll Writer, and I like it. It is free and open source. And has some nifty features for linked notes, resources, edit points, idea board, plot structures, items, locations, characters, and tracks achievements. It keeps things organized in tabs you can switch between, and the backgrounds can be changed. You can drop notes to the sides of the text to remind you what needs editing, and you can invite your writing group to edit your work via email from the editors menu. And it keeps your stuff separated by project, which helps.

 

Began using WordPerfect professionally around 1990. I had a luggable in the 80s on which I began a couple of stories, never finished, but I don't remember what the word processing software was. I write professionally as an engineer, and stayed with WP until late 90s when the lack of full WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) became a problem, and our office nicknamed it WordDefect. Transitioned to MS Word, and have used it ever since.

Nothing keeps you from writing out of order in MS word, just put your cursor where you want to insert the out of order chapter, hit ctl-enter for a page break, done, start writing. And in fact, the outlining feature allows you to easily move whole blocks of text. Professionally, I use a LOT of MS Word capabilities and formatting features in my technical writing but very little in my literary work. Normal and Header 1 seems to do it for formats, plus the Table of Contents layouts that come automatically when you generate it. Since I am editing an 800 page WIP, the TOC is a handy way to jump to the chapter I need. Professionally, I do a lot of collaborative work on technical writing, so Compare Documents and Track Changes, particularly when handling multiple collaborators, is important. Track Changes is also important in the editing phase now, as my wife and I exchange marked up copies of my work and hers.

Bottom line however, is whatever you are most comfortable with, that is what works for you. If the software makes you feel like you are typing with mittens, try another tool. If you don't think too much about your tool when you are using it, it is the right one.

 

This looks cool.

 

Good old fashioned MS Word for my novels, Google Docs for my podcast Scripts (means I can do that anywhere) and pen and paper if things really get tight

 

Good image, Lew.

I've used MS Word since version two (I think) and WordPerfect before that on my Amiga. I don't find Word gets in my way since, by the standard you described, I rarely think about it. Only when it lags—which it started doing running on Windows 10—am I even aware of it.

But when I use Excel for outlining, which is the best thing I've been able to find so far, I feel like I'm thinking with mittens on. But it's not so much the software's fault as it is a combination of my eyesight and the size of my monitor. If I had a 42" 4K monitor so I could see the entire layout of the story all at once and still go in for detail work, I think I'd be good with that. It's why I started using the wall (as shown in my progress journal).

And being a typical techno-geek, if I had a 42" 4K monitor, I'd likely find something else to want and I still wouldn't be satisfied. So for now, it's the wall.

 

I have dual monitors and had to use them last night... for some reason Karen's and my edit exchanges got out of sync, and I had to put her mark up on one screen and manual put them into my master on the big screen (not 42" but big enough)

I may deny being a planner but I actually did a lot of planning. For the 17,000 mile route I used a military planning tool with a variety of map overlays. I laid out each individual chapter as a route segment, with intervening stops. I could right click the route and find out precisely how far it was. That distance went into an Excel spreadsheet, I put in my estimate of the Speed of Advance (SOA), so I knew how much time it took, when they started, when they got there, what season it was, etc. Going down the Red Sea, for example, they were being escorted by three galleys. Sounds like fast going because a trireme can get up to 13kts. But that is a sprint! Cruising 1500 miles means saving your crew for the pirates you are defending against, which means getting underway on oars, then setting their awkward little sail and lugging along at about 4kts. And putting in every 24 hours or so (~100 miles or so) for water and food... 170 men/galley need a lot and the boats don't carry much. And no underway replenishment back then. So that slowed the big ships SOA quite a bit. . With frequent stops, I gave them three to four weeks to transit the 1500 mile Red Sea leg. They dropped their escorts off at Socotra at the mouth of the Red Sea, and that night stretched out their legs, the skippers like three charioteers urging them on through the night. Maybe 7-8 kts with the June monsoon cranking up at their back, 200 ft three masters plunging through the waves... the soldiers stayed up all night to watch, and almost slept through the hijacking the next day.

Going through the Irkeshtam Pass in Kyrgyzstan on the way back, I went down to detailed terrain maps on the planning, to make sure I followed their route exactly. Not just a straight line through the Pamirs, but it turned out to be much easier than I expected, 12,000 ft max altitude, high enough to experience shortness of breath and dizziness, then back down to 7-9K through an alpine valley.

So I didn't cover my wall with notecards but I did fill up my research folder. I may have resign from the pantser club and turn in my card!

 

LOL! I'll try not to be smug about it.

 

I have to say the writing software I like the most is google docs. Any lack of features is made up for in the fact that I can use it anywhere. It's great for jotting down notes, or working on things from anywhere even your phone.

 

For short stories I use Open Office. It's free and does the job. For novels, not that I've written one yet, I use a combo of ywriter and onenote. Both are free. Onenote is awesome for outlining since you can share your notes with all your devices and with other people if you want. I messed around a little with ywriter and it seems pretty cool. You can find tutorials on how to use ywriter on youtube. I should mention Onedrive. You need that to use Onenote. Onedrive is Microsoft's version of Google Drive. It allows you to work on files among multiple devices.

 

My perfect combination were pen, notebook and MS Word - I prefer writing by hand and then typing it, and I already have MS Office on my laptop so I didn't really think about anything else. But, yesterday I was reading this topic and try Scrivener - my god, this software is really motivating! Just having those cards with ideas for scenes and characters in the same place make me want to drop everything else and go back to my story

 

Scrivener helps keep me organized in an unorganized mind.

 

Lately I've been using Google Docs. I have multiple computers/tablets with various different operating systems, so unifying it on Google Drive makes sense. It's also good to know a computer crash won't erase my work. Most of the computers in this house run Windows, but my favourite laptop (which I'm using right now) runs Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (a Linux OS). When I'm on breaks at work, or up at the cabin, I use my iPad with itsbluetooth keyboard case. My iPad is on a datashare package with my cellphone, and work has wifi, so it all works together nicely.

 

Snowflake Pro and Google docs!

Snowflake for the scene list and the lectures
Google docs because word count and I can just open and close it anywhere without worrying about if I saved it or not

 

Good old Microsoft Word for me. Especially the XP Version.