# Writing Software



## Dreamhand (Dec 9, 2011)

Michael Sullivan wrote a fabulous review of the new Scrivener software release (read his blog post here, and check out his other posts... the man shares superb insights here).  After reading it and checking it out on the Scrivener site, I added it to my Christmas Wishlist.  It looks like a fabulous program to support good writing habits and give writers more freedom in the construction (and de-construction and re-construction) of their work.

I was curious if anyone else out there is either A) Using writing software they enjoy or B) using conventional software (MS Word, etc) in a unique way that might help others get the most out of our keyboard time?


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## Steerpike (Dec 9, 2011)

I've tried Scrivener, Liquid Story Binder (which has been around quite a while for Windows, and which I like better than Scrivener), the online program Yarny, ywriter, and others. I end up going back to a simple text editor where I can just write what I want to write.


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## Larkin (Dec 9, 2011)

As just a plain word processor, rather than story-writing software per se, I very much enjoy Atlantis, as I've found it quicker/more responsive than Word and also packed with useful tools such as an overlong sentences analyzer and an overused words analyzer. (As someone who tends to fall prey to the curse of "slightly/a bit", that last one is extremely helpful for me, anyway.)

It has a 30-day full trial, and the cost of a registered product is a small fraction of the cost of Microsoft Word. If you want to, you can set it into a locked-down/distraction free format with some monkeying around, too, and, though it's designed for Windows, it runs well on WINE on my Linux-equipped netbook, too. (I have no idea if it runs on a Mac.)


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## Steerpike (Dec 9, 2011)

Larkin:

Looks interesting. What are the advantages over a free, lightweight word processor like Abiword?


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## Dreamhand (Dec 9, 2011)

Larkin, I'd never heard of Atlantis... looks like a pretty cool app.  I'm gonna download it and kick the tires. 

Steerpike, what was it about Liquid Story Binder that put it above Scrivener in your opinion?  At first glance, they both appear to be packed with features.


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## Larkin (Dec 9, 2011)

Steerpike: Those tools mentioned above, PowerType to remember long and stupid words (think your typical fantasy hero name of Grignr McG'kglgowkrh), and a live word count (the lone reason I'm not using something like OpenOffice, either). The live word count alone was enough for me to pony up for Atlantis, which I use for Ph.D papers as well as writing and have never had problems with in that environment.

The advantages are worth $35 in my book anyway. I wouldn't say they were worth $100.


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## Steerpike (Dec 9, 2011)

Dreamhand said:


> Steerpike, what was it about Liquid Story Binder that put it above Scrivener in your opinion?  At first glance, they both appear to be packed with features.



I didn't use Scrivener as much, but in general I liked the set up and customization of LSB. The developer, Jesse, stays in close contact with the community and actually adds features people request on the listserv, so that was nice. I think the learning curve is a little steeper, but once you get into it I think you have a lot more room to make LSB work any way you want it to. But I didn't use Scrivener as much, and since I use linux now LSB isn't an option. I've reached the point where I just like a nice, clean full-screen text editor like Focuswriter


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## sashamerideth (Dec 9, 2011)

Steerpike said:
			
		

> I didn't use Scrivener as much, but in general I liked the set up and customization of LSB. The developer, Jesse, stays in close contact with the community and actually adds features people request on the listserv, so that was nice. I think the learning curve is a little steeper, but once you get into it I think you have a lot more room to make LSB work any way you want it to. But I didn't use Scrivener as much, and since I use linux now LSB isn't an option. I've reached the point where I just like a nice, clean full-screen text editor like Focuswriter



Props for Focuswriter, I use it and yWriter for my stories when on my computer, linux desktop, yWriter works well under Mono.

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## Codey Amprim (Dec 9, 2011)

Hmm. I might have to check some of this stuff out sometime. For now, though, I'm content with Word 2010. Although that bit about PowerType remembering names was pretty alluring as was the bit about Atlantis and the overused words deal. Although basic, I think Word is good enough. Sometimes I think trying to find new things to help you write and whatnot actually hinders it because you're thinking of the next best thing to help you write when all that needs done is a little focus.

On software though, I think my parents might be thinking about getting me that Dragon software (the one where you speak and it writes what you say), but I'm rather skeptical about it. How is it going to pick up if I mention the completely made up name of a character? Maybe there's a program within it that I can create a custom voice recognition for that. Who knows. In terms of efficiency, it might be a go, but I do tend to write the same sentence fifty times over until it says what I want it to.


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## sashamerideth (Dec 9, 2011)

Codey Amprim said:
			
		

> Hmm. I might have to check some of this stuff out sometime. For now, though, I'm content with Word 2010. Although that bit about PowerType remembering names was pretty alluring as was the bit about Atlantis and the overused words deal. Although basic, I think Word is good enough. Sometimes I think trying to find new things to help you write and whatnot actually hinders it because you're thinking of the next best thing to help you write when all that needs done is a little focus.
> 
> On software though, I think my parents might be thinking about getting me that Dragon software (the one where you speak and it writes what you say), but I'm rather skeptical about it. How is it going to pick up if I mention the completely made up name of a character? Maybe there's a program within it that I can create a custom voice recognition for that. Who knows. In terms of efficiency, it might be a go, but I do tend to write the same sentence fifty times over until it says what I want it to.



I used Dragon a while back. Couldn't deal with my speech at first. I also found that when it did, I couldn't speak very fast, slower than I can type in fact. 

I was faster typing than fighting with Dragon.

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## myrddin173 (Dec 9, 2011)

I use a combination of yWriter and Word.  Once I actually have money to play around with, I might look into purchasing Scrivener...


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## Reaver (Dec 9, 2011)

I've just googled Scrivener and I'm sold! It looks amazing!


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## Larkin (Dec 9, 2011)

Codey Amprim said:


> Hmm. I might have to check some of this stuff out sometime. For now, though, I'm content with Word 2010. Although that bit about PowerType remembering names was pretty alluring as was the bit about Atlantis and the overused words deal.



Quick clarification -- PowerType is a tool within Atlantis.



> On software though, I think my parents might be thinking about getting me that Dragon software (the one where you speak and it writes what you say), but I'm rather skeptical about it. How is it going to pick up if I mention the completely made up name of a character? Maybe there's a program within it that I can create a custom voice recognition for that. Who knows. In terms of efficiency, it might be a go, but I do tend to write the same sentence fifty times over until it says what I want it to.



I know in text-to-speech programs, if it bungles the word, you can edit and type it in as you want it to sound (ie, for "cliche" [assuming it doesn't know that], if you type "clishay," it will pronounce it correctly). I'm not sure how it'd work the other way around, though. I am a faster typist than speaker (having done secretarial work back in the Dark Ages of about 2000 AD), so it's of no use to me as speech-to-text.


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## writeshiek33 (Dec 11, 2011)

i use mynovelso far so good works with ms word


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## Leif GS Notae (Dec 11, 2011)

I just used my NaNo discount to get Scrivener and I can say I enjoy it so far. I think (as the pitch and software tutorial states) is geared more for getting your ideas together and getting a first draft finished with ease. It does have a lot of bells and whistles that will appeal to any writer, but I get the feel that this program isn't meant for the heavy load.

I tinker with New Novelist, just for the readback features and the analysis of my writing. The real problem is that it is laggy as heck and demands I write in Word first before I use it.

I will have to check out Atlantis, see what the craze is all about.

EDIT: Oh yeah, White Smoke. Duh. $300 for the full version but SOOO worth it. It has helped me tighten my writing and gives me little tips to figure out what I am doing wrong.


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## Ness (Dec 11, 2011)

I must have been living under a rock because I didn't even know there was awesome software like this available! No longer will I have to have my writing in dribs and drabs spread over multiple word documents and folders. Hooray! Scrivener looks perfect for me. *Adds to Christmas wish list*


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## zizban (Dec 13, 2011)

I used to use FrameMaker (which is to a word processor what a sledgehammer is to a nail) but now I use only OpenOffice. It does what I need it to,


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## danr62 (Dec 13, 2011)

I'm actually using Google Docs so that I can be completely portable. Being able to work from any computer or my phone without having to worry about synching anything to a central location is very freeing.

A downside to this is that I have to have internet access. This can be a problem because at home the only internet connection I have is my phone, which I tether to the computer when I need it. If I go over my limit for high speed data my connection slows to a crawl. As long as I'm not watching a bunch of videos, this doesn't seem to be a big problem.


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## Ness (Dec 14, 2011)

I bought Scrivener and am so far finding in really useful. I like its layout and it keeps me organised and motivated.


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## Neurosis (Dec 14, 2011)

I use a combination of OpenOffice and vim.


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## sashamerideth (Dec 14, 2011)

Neurosis said:
			
		

> I use a combination of OpenOffice and vim.



Show off. !wq

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## Benjamin Clayborne (Dec 14, 2011)

Neurosis said:


> I use a combination of OpenOffice and vim.



**hi-fives you**

That's exactly what I do; OO for the writing, vim for turning its HTML exports into something useful for converting into mobi format (using html2mobi). Although once Amazon finally makes KF8 available, that'll change (and hopefully make substantially easier) this kind of thing.  OO's HTML output is still pretty bad, though not as bad as what Microsoft manages to do.


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## Steerpike (Dec 14, 2011)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> **hi-fives you**
> 
> That's exactly what I do; OO for the writing, vim for turning its HTML exports into something useful for converting into mobi format (using html2mobi). Although once Amazon finally makes KF8 available, that'll change (and hopefully make substantially easier) this kind of thing.  OO's HTML output is still pretty bad, though not as bad as what Microsoft manages to do.



I've had luck saving as HTML in Libre Office, or as a filtered HTML page in MSWord, then using find and replace in Notepad++ or Geany to strip out the recurring HTML tags are unwanted. I've never tried vim.


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## sashamerideth (Dec 14, 2011)

Steerpike said:
			
		

> I've had luck saving as HTML in Libre Office, or as a filtered HTML page in MSWord, then using find and replace in Notepad++ or Geany to strip out the recurring HTML tags are unwanted. I've never tried vim.



Vim is a blast. So many things built in to it. At least it isn't emac; the only feature emacs lacks is a decent word processor, does just about anything else. 

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## Steerpike (Dec 14, 2011)

What advantages would vim have over something like Geany or Jedit. I use both of those in Linux, and usually Notepad++ if I end up in Windows.


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## zizban (Dec 14, 2011)

How do you use vim as a word processor? I use emacs and like you said, no word processing modes.


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## Neurosis (Dec 14, 2011)

vim is pretty much a console based word processing tool that came with GNU/Unix. Its power lies in the fact its infinitely extensible and customarily. It has a bit of a learning curve though, I learnt due to using it religiously throughout years of programming competitions.


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## Otherlands (Dec 15, 2011)

Back in the good old days of typewriters and correction fluid and carbon paper, I hammered out a couple of novels, I have no idea how I achieved this epic across four drafts! BUT I did find my organising abilities worked well with paper and index cards. With computers I find I cannot get myself organised with Word and suchlike. So I am going through a number of writing software looking for something I can work long term with. I have played with Y-writer but not too keen on it. I have Liquid Story Binder but it seems so overly complex - but is starting to show results. Now taking a look at Scrivener which has a terrific tutorial and might well be what I need.
I wish LSB had an in-depth tutorial like this, as I think it could be such a powerful tool


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## Steerpike (Dec 15, 2011)

Has anyone else tried Yarny? And what do you think of the Cloud in general for purposes of your writing (e.g. Google Docs, Zoho Docs, and the like).


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## writeshiek33 (Dec 15, 2011)

Steerpike said:


> Has anyone else tried Yarny? And what do you think of the Cloud in general for purposes of your writing (e.g. Google Docs, Zoho Docs, and the like).


never tried it but willing to try it out


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## Steerpike (Dec 15, 2011)

writeshiek33 said:


> never tried it but willing to try it out



I've done a little bit with the Beta. Seems kind of cool, and I like having my work available on all computers (though I get the same general effect with Dropbox). I've been saving local copies from Yarny so I don't have to be connected. I'll have a better idea of it after a couple of months of use.


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## Otherlands (Dec 15, 2011)

I have looked at Yarny and it looks very basic - which to me equates with ease of use and not a headache of a learning curve. But I am not getting into it as I purchased LSB and apart from looking at Scrivener free trial, will stick with LSB. I don't think I will ever master all the bells and whistles -  but hey - It works well as a planner and organiser!


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## Steerpike (Dec 15, 2011)

I like LSB as well. I use linux most of the time, however, and I find it is quirky running it from WINE. Yarny appeals to me because it works whether I am on a Windows machine or Linux one. Though to be honest, I use a simple text editor most of the time. I'm looking at moving to Yarny, or maybe working some more with LSB if I can get it working better on Linux, for novel-length projects.


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## sashamerideth (Dec 15, 2011)

I will look up yarny today, see what I think.

I have probably said this before, but I have installed yWriter to my Dropbox, and I store the yWriter files there as well.  I can run it on whatever machine I have available, except my phone. There I use a basic text editor for writing but various reading programs to proofread my yWriter stuff.  Though seriously, how hard can it be to make a rtf editor for Android!

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## Ravana (Dec 16, 2011)

One of the things I noticed, in my limited time spent looking into epublishing, is that markets seem to prefer texts submitted in .doc form—and specifically not .docx, which is what current versions of Word use. (Second choice seems to go to .rtf; some don't even want that.) I imagine just about any program will save as .doc these days, but it still might be something to keep in mind, if your interest leans this direction.


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## sashamerideth (Dec 16, 2011)

Ravana said:
			
		

> One of the things I noticed, in my limited time spent looking into epublishing, is that markets seem to prefer texts submitted in .doc form&mdash;and specifically not .docx, which is what current versions of Word use. (Second choice seems to go to .rtf; some don't even want that.) I imagine just about any program will save as .doc these days, but it still might be something to keep in mind, if your interest leans this direction.



I have decided to take one of my short stories, serialize it and sell it through Smashwords, they have very specific .doc requirements, not even rtf.

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## wildsea (Dec 26, 2011)

I like the organization options of ywriter.


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## The Din (Apr 21, 2012)

Just wondering if anyone knows the solution to lost indentations in ywriter? When I try to print my work, the indentations disappear from my paragraphs...? Any insight would be appreciated.


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## Ankari (Apr 21, 2012)

I like Scrivener.  To be honest, I started using Word but I have so many documents that I needed a new program that keeps them all on one screen.  Scrivener fit the bill.  I didn't try anything else.  I'm opposed to services like Yarny.  Perhaps because of paranoia, but I don't trust programs that I don't have direct control over.


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## Penpilot (Apr 21, 2012)

I've pretty much used everything that's been brought up in this thread, and have settled in on using Scrivener. Other programs I use are Wikipad/Voodoo pad to keep my story ideas. I also use Super note card for notecarding my stories. I use sonar for keeping track of submissions.


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## Ireth (Apr 21, 2012)

Microsoft Word and OpenOffice have always worked for me. I tried Celtx once for scriptwriting, but it ended up being very confusing. Not sure how it works for novels or the like.


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