Software to help you write your novel!

I use My writer it has both a Spelling checker and word count...I like to be able to have my information handy.

 

I don't think so much bashing of writing software is really necessary or helpful. Some people need more organizational assistance than that which is provided with MS Word or Open Office. I should know, I've tried both and I'm still a mess when it comes to keeping my thoughts and ideas and notes together.

Just because one method works for one person doesn't mean that it's the right method for someone else. One person might consider novel writing software a waste of money (although how people could know that without trying at least one, I don't know) but another might find it to be their savior.

If you're considering novel writing software, my best advice would be to find one that looks like it might help you and try it out. Most offer a free demo. If it doesn't work for you, you haven't wasted any money - but if it does, you just might have the thing to keep your creative juices flowing, and that is a good thing.

 

I agree completely.

Writing software seems to be a bit like coffee.

There are purists who insist that it should be black, no sugar. Unadulterated.

There are those who need it a little sweet with a dash of cream.

There are those who take their coffee Kool-Aid style. Super sweet, lots of cream.

And there are even those who think the purists aren't pure enough and only consider that little shot-glass of Cuban lightning to be "real" coffee.

It all depends on what you need and on what you like.

The only thing that really matters is that it contain caffeine.

Caffeine = Your Creativity in my little protracted metaphor.

 

Writing software

Hi there

I've been away from writing for a bit but I'm now trying to re-write the manuscript I started a couple of years ago. I've always used Microsoft Word and just tried to make sure I kept it in the proper manuscript format as I went along. I'm just wondering what everyone else uses and if there's anything around that has a pre-set template for manuscript format that would make it easier. Does anyone know of anything, or am I best just sticking with Word? just dread the thought of having to go through the manuscript with a fine tooth comb at the end looking for things like spaces missing!

Cheers

 

This is a rather well trod subject here at the forum....

What program do you use to write?

Novel writing software?

 

Thank you kindly . I figured it might have been a common one but I must have missed those threads when I checked back through the history

 

I personally hate microsoft for many reasons, I would recommend openoffice.org, its free and has more features.

 

I use word. I find it best and I enjoy the writing. However, there's online things, like Google Docs, and other things, like Rich Text Format. I would recomend sticking with what you know.

 

like it or not, ms word is the lingua franca of the writing/publishing world, so if you have it, use it... you don't really need anything else and there's no magic formula or program that will keep you from making mistakes, or do all your proofreading for you, though ms word's spell/grammar checkers will catch some misspellings and things like missing/extra spaces...

btw, rich text format is just a document FILE format developed by ms for exchanging files with those who don't use ms word... it's not a writing software program...

 

I use Word 2007. It has a bunch of manuscript templates to choose from.

 

Ywriter - I can't recommend it enough!

I love this program!!! - it's saved my sanity and for the first time I've kept going with what I started. I'm nearing 40,000 words now, and ywriter is a big reason why I'm still slogging on.

It's free novel writing software. It allows you to organise and write your novel and easily track down scenes, drag them around, work out how many words you've done overall, in each scene etc. I don't use a lot of the bells and whistles, such as the tension rating etc, but there's a few things in it which have really helped.

There's a word target tool - type in how many words you're aiming to write today, and it'll tell you how many more you've got before you reach your target. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten to a hard part of my work, a part where I'd normally pack it in and call it a day, and if I'm lucky pick it up later, but I've checked the target count and it'll say 'you need to do 243 more words' in red letters. I'll think to myself 'well, that's not too many, I'll try and keep going and at least reach that'. By the time I've reached the target, I'm past the hard bit and I keep writing.

Another handy thing is that it allows you to listen to your story being read back by a computer lady with a voice tool. I've used that heaps and I've caught typos that I probably would have missed reading it myself. While I'm listening to her read it, I am thinking to myself - so what happens next?

You can export your story to .rtf (rich text format) which can be used in Word.

I know many people just like to write with something like Word. When I first downloaded it it seemed a bit too complicated to bother. I took about 20 minutes to check out what you can do with it, and I'm glad I did.

So, anyway, I've been so impressed I wanted to share what I thought about it.

 

Greetings from a newcomer interested in the writing process

Nice place you have here - if it's not an intrusion, I'd like to hang out a bit.

I use Personal Brain, expensive, but extremely versatile, for gathering notes. I end up with a hyperlinked map of ideas.

Being of a programming and tool-building background, I wrote a couple of Python scripts (little programs) that will export to and from Personal Brain.

So, a mind map from Brain will flow through my scripts to an outlining tool or to a word processor. To my muddled thinking a mind map organizes the relationships of things, and an outline maps an exposition. Last week I downloaded the trial version of WhizFolders and I'm considering whether it's the outline tool for me.

Alphasmart hooked me quickly on their little Neo, but I had to replace my failing laptop and ended up with 64 bit Windows 7. Unfortunately, Alphasmart doesn't support 64 bits. My Neo, with regrets, is sidelined. If I can budget it I may get a Quickpad.

The most valuable tool, thought, is probably a short and colorless precis, and writing them makes for good exercise. If a plot looks interesting laid bare in two or three short paragraphs, without benefit of characterization or embellishment, it's probably a good plot. Writing a precis after reading a book makes good food for thought.

I have this site bookmarked - thanks for your hospitality!

 

A Special Literary Software Tool -- or Three?

A Special Literary Software Tool -- or three?:

I am seeking one (or more) programs that will analyze selected literary text and display each word’s part of speech, plus how they interrelate in a sentence. It might also have a sentence/paragraph analysis feature, which displays sentence type, clauses, etc.

Lastly, I sometimes need a tool to estimate total characters, especially when submitting information via online text blocks. Suggestions?

Am I “asking for the moon” here -- or is there software out there that even approaches what I’m seeking?

My setup includes two computers: main desktop (WIN Vista Business); standby laptop (WIN XP Pro). Software includes: MS Word 2003 (for rudimentary spelling, grammar and readability checks); plus RightWriter 5 (for deeper grammar and readability capability.)

Many thanks.

 

Open office is what I use, but I'm indifferent to Word. It just is not worth it to pay for something then the rival product is free and gets the job done.

 

Don't think so. Although docx is XML-based, it's then compressed. So to most revision control systems it's still binary.

 

Yes you are, and no there isn't. Unfortunately, computer language comprehension isn't up to that yet. The people that compile language corpora still use linguistics students to do it!

There are tools that will do analysis of text -- WordSmith Tools is a reasonably affordable one that will give you word frequencies, type-token ratios, repeated phrases and so on, but will only do grammatical analysis if the text is already marked up with grammatical details.

 

For entering the text I use whatever word processor is to hand, and for creative writing it frankly makes no difference which one. A spellchecker is useful, but frankly my grammar is better than that of any word processor I've encountered so far. I really wouldn't advise people to depend on WP grammar checkers unless they're really struggling.

I also use Anthemion Writers' Cafe sometimes, as a creative-writing oriented database that helps me organise characters, storylines and so on. It does just what most writers do with 6x4 filecards, but I'm a geek.

 

I currently use use OpenOffice, mostly because I got a new computer with Microsoft Office Word 2007 which I frankly found too intimidating.

I didn't even know there was such a thing as actual novel writing software, though. Might look into it.

 

ok, my opinions on software/tools for writing.

Essentially, all that is required to write is paper, a pen and a brain.

Due to the computer becoming more and more important in life, obviously it has become an important part of writing also.

In terms of a word processor, I use Microsoft Word exclusively because I have the recent version, and it includes everything I require.

In terms of software that helps write my novel, I believe yWriter is th best i've come across, though sometimes I prefer to organise my notes and research in my own method,as occasionaly it makes the work seem less limited and less stuck in stone from the beginning.

 

why not just try a page layout or desktop publishing program like Adobe InDesign? you'll be able to create printer spreads as well.

 

I'm currently using Microsoft word 2010(yes, it's still in beta)... I don't try to write something yet.

Anyways, I have a software before, it's called grammar checked anywhere(I forgot the whole title) and it checks your grammar(obviously) and also the spelling. try searching it. Unfortunately, it ain't freeware, so you need to buy it.

 

Used to train on MS, WP, and others. Have tried, and despised, OO. As one IT friend once told me... "OO is built by the users. It is free network software. You get what you pay for. It doesn't cost anything and that's about what it's worth." I would tend to agree.

 

As far as spending money on any novel writing software, I wouldn't recommend it. You know what your basic parameters are for a novel and anything you are unsure about, you can ask someone or research online. Same goes for scriptwriting. Any money spent on some software program to do it for you is a waste of money in my opinion. The one exception ... if it truly makes you feel better about your ability to get the words out, then it is worth the price. Go for it.

 

DTP seems to me to be the wrong tool for writing a novel, as it's more about presentation than content. It might be the right tool for some children's books where the layout is crucial, but for anything else -- well, I for one would spend all my time mobing text frames arount to look pretty instead of getting the words on paper.

 

...you'd do better to use a fully-functioning earlier version, till that's up and running as an official upgrade...

...you should not have to depend on software to check your grammar and spelling... if you want to be a professional writer, you'll have to be able to do that on your own... besides, those programs are not always correct and often mistake a real wrong word for a misused one that is spelled differently from the one you intended to use... such as when you mean 'though' but leave off the final 't' by mistake...