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What Do You Write On?

Bruce McKnight

Troubadour
Took a cue from Brandon Sanderson and started using Word with the navigation panel. Makes things so easy to organize and find quickly.

As much as I don't like supporting Microsoft, I found that feature and the automatic Table of Contents very helpful.
 

kennyc

Inkling
Ever try LibreOffice? All the core functionality at a 100% lower cost.

I've used MS Word/Office for ages but switched over to LibreOffice this past year.....EXCELLENT!

(full disclosure....once I write the first draft etc in my spiral notebook I then enter it into the computer user LibreOffice or Word)
 
FIRST DRAFT: Notebook and Pen

I went several years without handwriting anything, but one fateful day back in 2008 my printer ran out of ink when I urgently needed to post a letter. With no time to buy a new cartridge I wrote the letter by hand, and I was so shocked at how bad my handwriting looked (I used to have beautiful handwriting) I decided that from that day forth I would always write the first draft of everything I write by hand.


SUBSEQUENT DRAFTS: Laptop or Desktop PC

At the moment I'm using an ASUS laptop running Linux Mint 17.2
 
I bit the bullet and picked up a copy of Scrivener. When you open up your first project, under the binder it has a whole bunch of default stuff. Can you change the settings so that doesn't show up? Or do you just have to delete all of it?
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
I bit the bullet and picked up a copy of Scrivener. When you open up your first project, under the binder it has a whole bunch of default stuff. Can you change the settings so that doesn't show up? Or do you just have to delete all of it?

What default stuff are you talking about? Are you talking about the folders and the trash bin?
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
You can start a new empty project. That will have the minimum stuff. Or you could learn to work with the Novel default project. It's not too bad.

Like any sophisticated tool, Scrivener does take time to learn; you do not, however, need to learn everything at once. Just treat it like a word processor and charge ahead. It's difficult to put a foot wrong, and you will soon be looking for Cool Thing #12 (and 25) to up your skillz.
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
Like the sample output.

I'm definitely gonna have to watch some tutorials to get the hang of everything.

Not 100% clear on what you're saying, but anyway, if I create a new project using a blank template, I end up with a blank document, which I can edit to my needs.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
Ever try LibreOffice? All the core functionality at a 100% lower cost.
I've tried a few times and it never completes its download, neither will its mirror sites. I've asked for help on their site several times and never got any responses. So I've stuck with Google Docs.

I'd like something I can use offline though, things would go far faster and I wouldn't need to depend on a connection. I would probably still use Docs though, because I can share it with people.
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
I've tried a few times and it never completes its download, neither will its mirror sites. I've asked for help on their site several times and never got any responses. So I've stuck with Google Docs.

I'd like something I can use offline though, things would go far faster and I wouldn't need to depend on a connection. I would probably still use Docs though, because I can share it with people.

That's weird. What you could try is maybe have a friend download the install packages onto a USB stick for you and install from there.
 

Ireth

Myth Weaver
I'm struggling to figure out LibreOffice right now. I can't find some of the things I need most, like the thing that lets me put accented letters and symbols into my document. Very important when the majority of my characters have accents in their names. Copying and pasting from other documents is a pain in the butt. I much prefer Microsoft Word.
 
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