Word Processor

[DianthasProphecy]

You should mention in the forum that for what purpose you require a word processor.For article writing,novel writing ,script writing or just for writing paragraphs.By specifying your need you can get more accurate answer.

Novel writing. I didn't specify because I was talking to the same people in another thread about the book. Just didn't cross my mind to specify for newbies who might later come across the thread.

 

[drkpyn]

I know this threads kinda old, but as a computer professional I felt compelled to drop in my two cents. There are many great free programs-I often recommend OpenOffice, LibreOffice, and Google Docs-but it really is true that you get what you pay for. Simply put, Microsoft Word can do more and does it best. The 2010 Office suite is an awesome product and a worthwhile buy if you can afford it.

 

[Helbrecht]

Recent convert to OpenOffice here, but that's more to do with my lacking funding and my raging nerd-on for free software. You can't deny the utility of a Microsoft Office suite, and I've heard some very good things about the likes of Scrivener as well when it comes to novel-writing.

 

[sashamerideth]

Office home and student is cheap, then there is Microsoft Office Web Apps. That is free. And from Microsoft.

Being a geek chick and running Linux, I use focuswriter when I write. Then I fire up something more feature filled for spellcheck and such. We really only need spellcheck and grammar checks, but I don't trust Office grammar. Seems ok for technical writing, not so good for fiction and terrible for dialog. Layout and such, that is for the publisher to worry about.

 

[JBryden88]

I'd love to use something like scrivener or that liquid binder thing, I even downloaded their trials, but just setting it up seems like a trial in of itself lol.

Being able to organize world building notes, plot notes, and the actual writing would be nice.

 

[Telcontar]

I have not met a single grammar check system that was worth paying attention to. Only time I've actually made use of one if for catching doubled words, when I accidentally type 'the' twice or such.

Also, for novel writing, you don't need many features. Edit and save...

 

[M.A.N.]

Microsoft Word is a bit of standard in most countries it seems, even though it's big and clunky. And expensive. But you definitely don't need the whole Office package.
There is a few differences between Open Office Writer (their version of Word) and MS Word, but nothing to justify the cost in my opinion.
I actually don't know anyone who uses all the functions in any of those two programs.

But in my mind there's a big advantage in programs like Scrivener (now available for Windows as well) and Liquid Story Binder XE or the free yWriter. They give you a possibility to "see" the big picture. Something that is much harder to do in linear programs like Word (or OO Writer)

 

[kennyc]

I'll second that - Open Office - probably the best free word processing program out there.

and compatible with many formats.

Another option, if you don't mind Cloud storage is Google Docs

http://docs.google.com

 

[victoria stiles]

Ok. I need a word processor!!! My PC has WordPad on it, but it's not exactly my favorite. I tried yWriter 5 but I'm not sure about it either....

I need one that's free or fairly cheap, or do you think I should keep trucking along with WordPad or yWriter and I'll grow fond of one of them eventually?

So, anyone know of a good Program?

I use AbiWord. It is completely free to download and keep. It has many good features on top of having the word counter. It’s a small lightweight word processor that doesn’t use too much memory. It has mail merge, and other features that Open Office doesn’t have. It is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac OS, QNX, and BeOS. You can download AbiWord from one of the many software download web sites.

 

[Theankh]

I have Word on my Mac. That's about all I need - I want three features: new document, save and word count

That said, I hate Open Office. It's probably fine for casual use but we switched to it from MS Office in one of my last jobs, and it was hideous, very non-intuitive. Things that were useful hidden under obscure headings etc.

I do wonder how useful these writers programs are. At the end of the day, they can't make you a better writer, can they? It sounds like it's adding a lot of bells and whistles to something that should be as simple as pen to paper. Hell, between 13 and 18 I only wrote in notepads.

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

Now see, in contrast to the above post - I've found OpenOffice (actually, I use the LibreOffice fork now) to be very intuitive, simple to use - it's "not in my way", which is important to me when writing.

That said, when I bought my new laptop last winter, it came with the freebie version of MS Office on it, and I've come to kinda like the new Word. Might buy it. Maybe. If it was reasonably priced I'd seriously consider it, but at $140 for even the standalone Word program, it's a LOT of money to drop on something when I can use O.O for free.

I agree about the assorted other programs out there, though. Honestly, I find the vast array of tools just tends to get in the way of the real work: getting words on paper. Or screen, as the case might be.

 

[M.A.N.]

Most posts in this thread talk about OpenOffice, the free version of Microsofts Office. And while free is good, the Writer portion of the suite is a wordprocessing program and as such it can be used to writing. Like Microsofts Word.
But if you want to do writing geared to novels you should do yourself the favour and check out programs especially for that.

And as I stated before, I've tried Scrivener, (Mac and now PC as well), YWriter (PC, free) and Liquid Story Binder XE (PC). These are all good with different features.

But the oher day I stumbled across Storybox and I got that as well. After a few days with it, I can say that it's my new favourite. It has all the features I need without it being clunky, it's easy to understand AND it saves to EPUB/Kindle. What can be better for somebody trying to write and publish something on their own?

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

Thanks for the link - will take a peek! The "Trackerbox" software on that site looks interesting, too.

 

[M.A.N.]

Kevin:

You're absolutely right. I'm not really there yet and feel that I need that piece of software. But for those here that has a lot of novels already written and ready to submit, that program is definitely worth checking out.

 

[SeverinR]

I have Microsoft Office 2010 and it's great. Such a good set of programs, but obviously, very expensive.
If you don't mind being connected to the internet to write, there's always Google Docs.
https://www.google.com/accounts/Ser...s.google.com/?pli=1&authuser=0&ltmpl=homepage
I've never used it because I've never had to but according to reviews it's the best free word processor available.

Before you buy MS Office, you might check at work.
MS offers some companies name brand software for closeout prices. They offer it to cut down on illegal use.
I got MS Office 2007 for $19.99. Then MS office 2010 for the same price.(wife got custody of the laptop with 2007 on it.)

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

I've tried Scrivener - seems pretty good, but I didn't really put much into it. Open Office is fine as a word processor, it's all I use. It's not as flashy as Word, but that's not what's important. Since it's free, you might as well try it and see if it works for you before dismissing it.

 

[Lord Darkstorm]

One thing to point out, if you spend more time playing with software than writing, then it might be time to move back to a pure word processor. When I first started writing I went looking for the magical piece of software that would help it all work and change my stories to gold. Besides wasting a good bit of time playing with overblown software packages (Dramatica anyone?), I learned to stick with a nice word processor and ignore a whole lot of 'tools' that I had no need of.

I do use things like one note for keeping up with the notes of my story, and I have a few toys I like to play with from time to time to help plan out a novel, but the end result is always the same, me and something to write with.

 

[victoria stiles]

Hey..Man!! Thanks for the link. I have searched the link and find very good story writing software there. It is necessary to have good writing softwares as well as good writing skills. I have searched so many softwares in online shops. Some of them works very well.

 

[Xanados]

I use Microsoft Word 2010. My trial period has ran out...but it hasn't effected my using it at all.

 

[grahamguitarman]

Most posts in this thread talk about OpenOffice, the free version of Microsofts Office. And while free is good, the Writer portion of the suite is a wordprocessing program and as such it can be used to writing. Like Microsofts Word.
But if you want to do writing geared to novels you should do yourself the favour and check out programs especially for that.

And as I stated before, I've tried Scrivener, (Mac and now PC as well), YWriter (PC, free) and Liquid Story Binder XE (PC). These are all good with different features.

But the oher day I stumbled across Storybox and I got that as well. After a few days with it, I can say that it's my new favourite. It has all the features I need without it being clunky, it's easy to understand AND it saves to EPUB/Kindle. What can be better for somebody trying to write and publish something on their own?

I'm currently using Ywriter 5, but I think i might have to check out Storybox.

If all you are doing is writing stories then it doesn't really matter what you use - wordpad is good enough even, no software will make you a better writer.

However the ability to write 'scenes' then rearrange them within your story is for me a big bonus - something that the big word processors (Word, open office writer, Abiwriter) don't offer, which is why I use Ywriter. The ability to have notes on my characters and locations all in the same project file - saved with the novel, and accesible at any time while writing is very useful too.

these features won't make you a better writer, but they do make managing your novel easier, and that is more important to me than some formatting feature that doesn't make my story read better.

The downside of Ywriter5 is the lack of spell/grammar checking, though TBH I find that distracting while writing anyway, and I can easily load a doc into open office for final checking & formatting anyway.