# Writing programs: Useful or Tedious?



## Game (Oct 5, 2012)

I've been really wondering about writing programs; the ones that help organize the plot and scenes. Take yWriter5 for example (not trying to advertise, it's a freeware) I've been trying to work with it a bit, writing ideas and such.
I'd like to hear your opinion on writing programs and softwares, which is the best and why?


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## Philip Overby (Oct 5, 2012)

I'm not really interested in them much, but I can see how they're helpful for people.  I did find an editing website that I've found helpful that someone posted a link to here.  

I hear Scrivener is good, but I don't much else about it.  It's worth a look if you're interested in writing programs.


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## ThinkerX (Oct 5, 2012)

I await the day when I walk into the bookstore and see:

'Epic Fantasy Novel' by 'AC Program'.


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## Steerpike (Oct 5, 2012)

yWriter and Scrivener are both useful. They're good organizational tools. Another one that does similar things is Liquid Story Binder. If you are not able to write a good story and want software that will take some of that burden off you - it won't


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## CupofJoe (Oct 5, 2012)

Other than LibreOffice the only software I use is TiddlyWiki.
It's a really simple file/database program based around html and only needs a browser to work. The current tiddly has headings for Time line, Characters, Places, Events, Artifacts, Countries. I can write out relevant information and get to it quickly. It doesn't replace the workup character profiles etc. so it is far from perfect but quick and easy.
When I want a new Tiddly I just copy the few files in to a new directory and start adding...


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## pskelding (Oct 5, 2012)

I love Scrivener because of the tools it gives a writer to organize. The scene list is a great outlining tool and you can drag and move them around just like if you used index cards. It has been worth every penny to me and I'll buy a new Mac license when I upgrade to a Mac Air next year as the Windows license is not transferable.


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## Sheriff Woody (Oct 5, 2012)

I don't use them. I do all my outlining on my own. I find that I have to do it that way or else I can't concentrate on the story _as a story_. I need to forget about planning everything to let the creative juices flow.


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## shangrila (Oct 5, 2012)

I find them tedious. But that's just me. Different things work for different people.


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## Kevin O. McLaughlin (Oct 5, 2012)

I've used Scrivener a little bit and found it works pretty well. I'm still not entirely won over, but the outlining feature is pretty cool. Michael Sullivan was the one who won me over to give it a second shot (he wrote a nice blog article about using Scrivener a while back), because the way he described using it for outlining seemed very functional to me.

That said, I still use LibreOffice for much of my writing. Even with a copy of MS Word on my laptop now, I still tend to favor LibreOffice. Been using it for years and never had a problem with it.

My current challenge is finding a good iPad app which fits into my workflow well. I'm doing more and more writing on that device these days.


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## writeshiek33 (Oct 5, 2012)

i use mynovel which lets you write in word i use to put my disjointed notes and in now i got organise them still learning to use this software


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## Steerpike (Oct 5, 2012)

If you run Linux, there is a free version of Scrivener for that platform. 

I don't write in LibreOffice (even though I use it for work), or MSOffice, etc. They just seem too bloated, since when I'm writing a story I don't need the vast majority of those features. I prefer a simple text editor. For a longer work, yWriter, Scrivener, LSB, etc are good to keep organized.

As to the poll: "they're useless" seems like a silly option. Whether you like them or not, anyone can see that they have certain utility, even if just from an organizational standpoint. You might find something works better than you, but that doesn't mean the software has no use.


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## Agran Velion (Oct 5, 2012)

I have Ywriter and a demo version of Storyboard, but I don't really use them. I'm terrible at outlining, and I haven't attempted a  novel in sometime,  so I haven't had much chance to really test them out. 


What I do use is WriteMonkey, which is probably the best thing I've ever downloaded. It's a full screen writing software. There's a calming dark green background, a courier like font, and best of all, you can make it sound like a typewriter whenever you press keys! There's a bunch of extra stuff you can use (bookmarks, strings, and loads of stuff I haven't tried) but it's all hidden away so that all you can see is your words.


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## Weaver (Oct 5, 2012)

Agran Velion said:


> There's a calming dark green background, a courier like font, and best of all, you can make it sound like a typewriter whenever you press keys!.



The typewriter sound could be fun, and dark green is a pleasant color, but you actually _like_ Courier??!?    That would drive me nuts.  (I suppose that if the program is meant to mimic the classic typewriter experience, it makes sense, though.)


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## Butterfly (Oct 5, 2012)

I have my own system. Other programs get in the way of it as I always tend to revert back to my own way.


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## Agran Velion (Oct 5, 2012)

Weaver said:


> The typewriter sound could be fun, and dark green is a pleasant color, but you actually _like_ Courier??!?    That would drive me nuts.  (I suppose that if the program is meant to mimic the classic typewriter experience, it makes sense, though.)



I love courier, I have a thing for typewriters. It seems a bit different than normal courier though, and I'm pretty sure you can change the font (along with the color of the background and turning off the typewriter sounds).


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## Penpilot (Oct 5, 2012)

I love Scrivener. I used to do everything using Word, Supernote Card, and Wikipad. Now I do everything in Scrivener. One of the best features is the ability to take multiple snapshots (versions) your scenes/chapters with a simple click of a button. You can revert back to a previous snapshot. You can view and compare the various versions without having to go through a song and dance. The program takes care of formatting your manuscripts into standard submission formats and output them into what ever type of format you want. 

It's all there, and for me at least, it's all simple to use and fits my needs almost perfectly.

Sure you can do what scrivener does with a different program or programs, but scrivener puts it all into one package.


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## Game (Oct 6, 2012)

Agran Velion said:


> I have Ywriter and a demo version of Storyboard, but I don't really use them. I'm terrible at outlining, and I haven't attempted a  novel in sometime,  so I haven't had much chance to really test them out.
> 
> 
> What I do use is WriteMonkey, which is probably the best thing I've ever downloaded. It's a full screen writing software. There's a calming dark green background, a courier like font, and best of all, you can make it sound like a typewriter whenever you press keys! There's a bunch of extra stuff you can use (bookmarks, strings, and loads of stuff I haven't tried) but it's all hidden away so that all you can see is your words.


That sounds pretty neat, I might try it out myself


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## Varamyrr (Oct 8, 2012)

Penpilot said:


> ... Sure you can do what scrivener does with a different program or programs, but scrivener puts it all into one package.



This is pretty much how you can describe Scrivener. It's basically a bundle of all different applications. Although I would like to add 2 nice features:
- Scrivener allows you to save your research in a certain (sub)folder, which you can later access easily. Eg: You can add a webpage to your research folder. On a later moment, you can access the downloaded page even when you are offline.
- Scrivener allows you to export your work to latex-format which is a very nice/setup to send to a publisher.


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## Grimbold (Oct 8, 2012)

I use scrivener, i don't bother with the organisation tools as i write though, i save them for days off (HA) or downtime when i can just drag and drop/highlight/ect ect


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## WyrdMystic (Oct 8, 2012)

i find Scrivener really helpful when organising the plot and editing, then switch to Word when compiling and collaborating.


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## Gypsyharper (Oct 8, 2012)

I love Scrivener.  It's two most useful features as far as I'm concerned are its ability to put everything in one place (I always seem to collect a ton of documents related to whatever I'm working on, in addition to my actual manuscript) and the compile feature.  It has lots of other bells and whistles, too (some have been mentioned above) so how you use it really just depends on your preferred workflow.


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## J. S. Elliot (Oct 9, 2012)

Regarding Scrivener. I just downloaded the trial tonight, but I recall it being mentioned somewhere that the product key is non-transferable. Does this mean that, if I buy the full version, I'll have to pay another $40 (or more) when the time comes to replace my laptop?


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## Steerpike (Oct 9, 2012)

You can install it on multiple machines of your own, including your new laptop, unless you change operating systems. The product key for the Windows version won't work on the Mac and vice versa.


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## J. S. Elliot (Oct 9, 2012)

Ah, okay. I misunderstood it, then. I was under the impression that you could only use the product key on one machine before it was void.


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## Lord Darkstorm (Oct 10, 2012)

Writing software is only valuable if it helps you organize what you are doing and write more.  I have been working with LSB which is interesting, but more as an organizer than anything else.  Tools are great if they help, but I find many of the programs waste more time than help.  I looked at Dramatica, and it is a beast of an application that appears to be more work than help...I could be wrong, but I failed to see any value in it.  

Writing involves writing, be it Word, or any other word processor..or even text editor, that is where the storytelling takes place.  The tools are just to help make sense of what goes on in the story.


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## Game (Oct 10, 2012)

I loved your opinions and am thinking about buying Scrivener, is there anybody here that had good experience with it?


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## Game (Oct 10, 2012)

Scrivener isn't helpful to me, I like yWriter5 though.


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## brokethepoint (Oct 10, 2012)

I have yWriter5, have looked at Scrivener which looks really nice but I am cheap so haven't bought it.

What is LSB?


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## Lord Darkstorm (Oct 11, 2012)

Liquid story binder, it is an interesting program, and it had one feature I found worth paying them for...timeline.  It isn't really that impressive as a feature by itself, but it does do a good job.  I think it has some value personally, but it won't really make your story any better.  It could be helpful in organizing it, but well, it might just distract you as well.


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## Game (Oct 11, 2012)

brokethepoint said:


> I have yWriter5, have looked at Scrivener which looks really nice but I am cheap so haven't bought it.
> 
> What is LSB?


yWriter5 is nice, but I realize now a simple notebook is much better.
Scrivener is plain clumsy, too many features and the basic ones aren't that helpful.


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## Steerpike (Oct 11, 2012)

Game said:


> yWriter5 is nice, but I realize now a simple notebook is much better.
> Scrivener is plain clumsy, too many features and the basic ones aren't that helpful.



I'd reverse that. I think they're both good, for what they are doing, but I've found Scrivener to be the more useful and intuitive of the few. LSB is good. It can take a while to learn all the features.


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