Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Thanks for the comments. David, I like your idea of formatting a blank document and importing his stuff as plain text. That way it won't matter whether he is actually using the formatting tools or just using space bars for indentations, etc. I forgot to mention he writes in MSWord 2013. I guess I should be surprised I can even read it in Word for Mac when MSWord 2007 can't. Oh, for the days of Wordperfect's "reveal codes" feature!

Oh, for the days of Wordperfect's "reveal codes" feature!

Your prayers have been answered. For many years now, Word has had a open-source text-based XML file format. You can open or create a Word file with Notepad, create one or modify it with almost any programming language, or with any XML editor. It's the ultimate "reveal codes." Far more flexible than WordPerfect ever was. Enjoy.

Penny wrote: "Do ywriter and Scrivener work for windows8?"

The makers claim Scrivener does. I know it works on Windows 7. You can probably download the demo and check.

Randolph wrote: "pencil and paper"

You're talking hardware, Randolph.

Scrivener every time - perhaps because I weaned myself off Word for web building as it bloats the code and weighs down the web pages. Now I rarely use Word for anything. Scrivener is a very specific and specialized tool. Even if you only use a fraction of the functions available it is still very useful. I read through the full manual the other day to refresh my memory and was amazed at the possibilities the software offers for the control and organization of your written material and research processes.

If you want to try Scrivener out, I found this 30 day free trial. http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scr...

Could save a little money.

For me. Word. I write non stop. From beginning to end. I have a second word doc that I call 'ideas' where I dump names, characters, etc.

Both Scrivener and Ywriter, which have been mentioned before, are very good and share a lot of similarities. I prefer Ywriter, not just because the fabulous programmer and writer offer its free, but because I really like the way it works.

In my previous post I forgot to mention that I also find XMind very useful if I am in the early clustering stage. You can build great mind maps with it, and if I remember rightly, you can download it for free.

Add my vote to the Scrivener crowd.

I posted about some of the reasons why I love this software a while back:

http://www.djedwardson.com/wednesdays...

DJ, you have a lot of company in your software preference. I've never looked at XMind, which Janys mentioned. I find using writing software in general to be such a vast improvement over a word processing software only. Writing software really helps with novels spread out over time (both in terms of the story and in actually writing it).

Im a total freaking idiot... i swear. I just read this thread, said "hmmmmm let me try this Ywriter for my linux" and before it installed it removed my OpenOffice--- now it is saying I have an error while installing. So i have nothing :( :::banging head against wall:::

Mariel wrote: "DJ, you have a lot of company in your software preference. I've never looked at XMind, which Janys mentioned. I find using writing software in general to be such a vast improvement over a word proc..."

Mariel
I am adding the link to my blog page where I have listed several useful resources for writers. Forgive me if everything is doubled up - I only made my first attempt on the blog this week and have muddled myself! But anyway - there is a web site to look up names and their meanings if you are looking for realistic choices in your writing - plus other bits and pieces.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
I will add others now and again as I do have quite a few resources lurking around my pc somewhere.

I seem to recall that Scrivener also offers a name generator in amongst the writers' tools.

Janys wrote: "Mariel wrote: "DJ, you have a lot of company in your software preference. I've never looked at XMind, which Janys mentioned. I find using writing software in general to be such a vast improvement o..."

Yes it does with some nice settings for nationalities etc. I combine my Scrivener use with Aeon timeline which is excellent for complex calendars (in any era) and links database data into Scrivener so you can link the timeline to places, characters, objects etc.

If you write complex timeline based stories especially with multiple time zones then Aeon allows things to be kept straight.

Rhoda wrote: "Im a total freaking idiot... i swear. I just read this thread, said "hmmmmm let me try this Ywriter for my linux" and before it installed it removed my OpenOffice--- now it is saying I have an er..."

Oh, no! The most awful feeling in the world. No backup anywhere? I'm not a techie person but check your trash folder. Maybe you can retrieve it.

Philip wrote: "Janys wrote: "Mariel wrote: "DJ, you have a lot of company in your software preference. I've never looked at XMind, which Janys mentioned. I find using writing software in general to be such a vast..."

Thank you Philip - I have bookmarked that one. Sounds very useful.

Hello all, I'm just new to this group today. I haven't tried much software specifically for writing, I mainly write all of my content straight to wordpress on the internet. If you fancy writing on the internet however, I would obviously recommend wordpress, because of it's easy to use interface, which allows you to write without any distractions from a single box by the press of a button. If you would like to see some of my recent work on how to write books, check the following link: http://www.thebrokenson.com/how-to-wr...

Pages. For me it takes all the fight out of everything. I'm an unabashed end-user. I do not want to have to fiddle and program and twiddle and invoke various binary gods. I want to turn on the machine and do my thing.

I started out on DOS based computers, taught myself to use WordStar, all the dot coding (big fun—NOT), then went to WordPerfect, which I loved. I've used the various MSWord/Works and still can if it's unavoidable, but usually I can sidestep that exercise in irritation since Pages will export in .doc without losing any formatting.

And yes, in Pages you can opt to see the coding!

I haven't tried Scrivener or any of the other writer-specific type programs I've heard about. I may, someday. If I ever have a bit of discretionary income, just out of curiosity.

Never heard of Pages. Do you have a link?

Andrea wrote: "Never heard of Pages. Do you have a link?"

Pages is Apples word processor program, their version of Word if you will. Just type "Pages" in a search engine and it'll likely be the first link returned.

Humberto wrote: "For me. Word. I write non stop. From beginning to end. I have a second word doc that I call 'ideas' where I dump names, characters, etc."

Ditto. I often keep a few separate documents, one with a character list including notes (easy enough to do in Word using a table), maybe a notes and/or backstory file...and then often late in a project I'll do a "what's really going on" document to help guide my later writing. I don't work from outlines or pre-determined plotting. That spoils the fun of writing!

I actually keep all my writing projects in Dropbox so I can access them from any of my computers. I make a folder for each project. Inside that folder I place two more folders: Development and Drafts.

While I'm writing I put my Word docs in the Development folder. Every day when I pull up a file to write more, I do a Save As, adding today's date onto the file. That way I can keep track of how the manuscript changes through time.

I write linearly and use a very plain manuscript template. I never have to fiddle with the styles and all that. This is just to get stuff down on page.

Once I finish my first draft, I move a copy of the manuscript to the Drafts folder. And as I edit, I do the same thing I did beofre: Open/Save As/Add the date.

I'm only publishing right now in eBook format, so MS Word's formatting issues don't affect me. I do a few Find/Replace functions in Word, then import text to Notepad++ where I do all my XML.

Although recently I've also started using Sigil to do eBook formatting as well, which lets you easily break a continuous document up into separate XML files for each chapter. The only time I used it I was working from an existing XML file created in Notepad++ so I guess I'll have to see if I can skip that and go directly from MS Word to Sigil.

I believe I've looked at Scrivener before and conlcuded that I'd need to spend too much time trying to learn how best to use it.

I've got no problem with that concept, but I find myself more and more unwilling to sink time into learning new software, time that I could be spending writing and editing.

That's also why I won't consider doing my own book covers. Photoshop and its like would just be another huge time-sucking hole to fall into.

Write more. Worry less.

Saw some of the comments above- I do have a fellow writer that writes everything in Wordpad or some vanilla text equivalent.

Another vote for Scrivener here. Even if you never pick up more than 10% of what it does, the ability to easily write and rearrange scenes and view them in a window next to your open document (scene) is well worth it. Plus, export to standard manuscript format is a one-click process.

Recently figured out the binder as well. You can create scene labels and pull those scenes up in a single tab click. So, all scenes with a specific character or setting or theme.

Even just scratching the surface, it was worth sticker price IMO ($40 last I checked).

Andrea wrote: "Never heard of Pages. Do you have a link?"

As Micah said, it's the Mac word processing program. It's less convoluted than the Windows derivatives. It's usually packaged together with iPhoto, Numbers, Spaces, and, I believe Keynote.

Okay. No Mac here.

Celtx

Scrivener is suposed to be great. I plan on trying it out on my next project as it looks like it might be dificult to import a nearly completed one.

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but on http://www.Literatureandlatte.com , there is a support page and also video tutorials for Scrivener.

Also, if you click on the "Buy now..." link, and scroll down to the bottom of the product selections, you can purchase an eBook called "Take Control of Scrivener 2" from TidBITS Publishing for $10 (USD):

"Experienced author and senior Macworld contributor Kirk McElhearn walks the reader through using all of Scrivener's main features for a real-world writing project. The guide covers both Scrivener 2.x for Mac OS X and Scrivener 1.x for Windows.(ePub, PDF and MOBI)."

I mainly use ywriter but lately have been using write it now due to time lines. I used to use word perfect 8 but then win7 does not like. I hate word & open office's goofiness so i used rough draft also win7 do not like. after hammering out my books then I run it through page 4 smart edit & stylewriter and lastly lay it out in page plus. blergh

David wrote: "I have tried yWriter (which is FREE) and Scrivener, but found Write It Now to beat both of these in terms of tools and usability. (Characters, Notes, Submissions recording, Timelines, Locations and..."
Hi, newbie to the group and to writing on a full time basis. I have been looking at software all day!!
WriteItNow was what caught my eye as well. What do you like best about it. My daughter recommended yWriter, but I think maybe I need something that will offer a little "hand holding' in some areas.

Jo wrote: "I hadn't hear of yWriter before - I'll check it out. Thanks so much.
Jo"

My daughter recommended yWriter, she swears by it.

Allan J. wrote: "Jo wrote: "That's a good question, I only use it on my laptop. However they have what they call a Household License so that you can actually install it on a few. It's noted on this page of their we..."

Jo wrote: "it does allow it, so its great actually and under $50."
Thanks you answered my question.

I came across this post quite a while ago while publishing my first book. What struck was that there isn't a single tool that combines these killer features into one simple, powerful application. I wanted to be able to collaborate in real time with my editor, write in a beautiful interface and then format my document in one click. Frustrated, I decided to so something about it. Check out the Reedsy Book Editor (https://www.reedsy.com/write-a-book). A beautiful free production tool that takes care of the formatting and conversion, before you have even finished writing.

Let me know what you think about it!

My favorite novel writing website is http://www.wordcradle.com/. It's free and it provides many of the same services as Scrivener, ex: character profiles, chapters, plotline organizer and brainstorm note cards. It's also web based so you can access your work anywhere with internet.

I don't like writing online, so I settled with a desktop app called Moopato ( https://moopato.com/ ). It did not confuse me and I could publish my book. But hey, I love minimalism.

For those still interested Scrivener now has an iPad version with full sync to main version

I write linearly from beginning to end and I've never found any use for Scrivener or yWriter.

Libreoffice serves all my actual writing needs. For assembling things like characters/bios, research, and plot outlines I use Zim, a freeware Wiki creator.

http://zim-wiki.org/

@V.W. How do you organize it all in zim? Do you follow a system like Zettelkasten? I happen to have a mess sometimes and get lost in my notes organization. So I am curious who others solve it. Mind sharing your approach?