Writing software.

I just use word also, if i want to make notes about characters etc i just open a new file for it.

Although sometimes i'm lazy, i dont want to have to open a new file so something that you could add notes to as you write with a right click option would be nice?
 
I've just downloaded and started playing with Ywriter5.

Early days, but it seems to be quite useful. Especially as it approaches things in a similar way to writing software in a project format.

So far though I've spent more time entering characters and locations than actual writing, but as that's the kind of thing I thought I needed, I'm hoping the effort will be worth while.

It does seem to help with the POV aspects though. It sounds daft but when you have a POV reminder against each scene it does stop you wandering off.
 
I recently got some novel planning and writing software called "MyNovel". You should look into it, it is actually very good.
 
I'm a big fan of Scrivener, which is available for Windows and the Mac. Well worth a try.
 
Free word processing tool. I just downloaded Download Apache OpenOffice .

I had been using Word 2003, but I just got a new laptop and was looking for a free alternative. I've been using it for about an hour and have not run into any issues. It opened a 276K, 79K word .docx file without issue. To save, I needed to use the native .odt format and the file size shrank to 179K. The menu bar is slightly different, but no problem to navigate. One minor difference is that Word displayed the word count in the bottom left corner of the page, while Open Office requires me to select Word Count from its Tools menu. The only downside is that Open Office seems to be a little aggressive in suggesting the next word for me as I type, but I have quickly just learned to ignore it.

Open Office seems to be more than adequate for my writing needs, free to use, runs on the computer without needing an active internet connection, and does not require registering an email address.
 
Hi Wayne,

Open Office is known to be buggy. You're better off with its equally free open software brother Libre Office. The two programs were developed together as I understand it. I use it, and it's had a couple of probs but nothing major and only very rarely.

Cheers, Greg.
 
Yea, Libre Office is the one that gets better support and more regular updates. Personally I have OpenOffice myself but I don't use it for long stuff, mostly just pasting in work stuff to send over in compatiable formats if I need to.
 
iansales said:
If, on other hand, you're interested in novel-writing software - i.e., software designed to assist you in structuring a novel... There are quite a few available, such as Scrivener or Writer's Café. I picked up one - Novel Writer, I think it's called - from a local 99p shop. It's rubbish.
Click to expand...

I am a Scrivener user, and I absolutely recommend it for writers. It is pretty much completely customizable, and you can keep all your notes/worldbuilding/outlining right in one place. It has some pre-made templates for novels, non-fiction books, and even screenwriting. As far as computer software goes, it is relatively inexpensive, and you don't need to constantly buy new versions every couple of years.

It also comes with an interactive tutorial to help you get familiar with the features. While formatting can be dependent on the publishing route you decide to take, Scrivener does have some built-in templates for Front Matter, where you can add a cover, a dedication, copywtire page, title page, all preformatted. When you compile your project (export it to a word processing document like MSWord), the Front Matter will be compiled with the rest of your manuscript, making it look more "official" if you will.

There are a lot of decent writing/writer programs out there. I've tried a few of the open-source/free options, but they've never measured up to what I've been able to get with Scrivener. Honestly, I wasn't sure at first, so I used the 60 day free trial to play through the tutorial so that I knew it was something I'd want to spend money on.
 
For writing (short) stories I use LibreOffice, Linux version. As so many Linux programs, it's free, requires no registering or accepting (unacceptable) EULA's, nor hungers for your personal data.
For the Linux and/or Scrivener addicts; have a look at this site: Scrivener for Linux
So far I have not yet seriously worked with it, nor do I have any comparison with the Windows version, but it looks fine to me.
 
bretbernhoft said:
I've been using LibreOffice Writer for my story documents. It's an excellent word processor, and (I believe) it's open source, as well as free. But this is just my opinion.
Click to expand...
I've been using it for years. I love it.
 
Thiswriterinme said:
I am a Scrivener user, and I absolutely recommend it for writers. It is pretty much completely customizable, and you can keep all your notes/worldbuilding/outlining right in one place. It has some pre-made templates for novels, non-fiction books, and even screenwriting. As far as computer software goes, it is relatively inexpensive, and you don't need to constantly buy new versions every couple of years.

It also comes with an interactive tutorial to help you get familiar with the features. While formatting can be dependent on the publishing route you decide to take, Scrivener does have some built-in templates for Front Matter, where you can add a cover, a dedication, copywtire page, title page, all preformatted. When you compile your project (export it to a word processing document like MSWord), the Front Matter will be compiled with the rest of your manuscript, making it look more "official" if you will.

There are a lot of decent writing/writer programs out there. I've tried a few of the open-source/free options, but they've never measured up to what I've been able to get with Scrivener. Honestly, I wasn't sure at first, so I used the 60 day free trial to play through the tutorial so that I knew it was something I'd want to spend money on.
Click to expand...
I absolutely agree with you on Scrivener. I also use DEVONthink for notes and Plottr for the in-between part. Finally for publishing I forked over for Vellum. Only Plottr is subscription-based.

I also use the beta for LegendKeeper for keeping track of my world's details. I chose this over alternatives because the developer is close to having an offline solution that doesn't need to go to the cloud--which I like.

DEVONthink is also mac and ios only, but it can synchronize using wifi and has end-to-end encryption. Vellum is mac only....
 
Wayne Mack said:
Free word processing tool. I just downloaded Download Apache OpenOffice .

I had been using Word 2003, but I just got a new laptop and was looking for a free alternative. I've been using it for about an hour and have not run into any issues. It opened a 276K, 79K word .docx file without issue. To save, I needed to use the native .odt format and the file size shrank to 179K. The menu bar is slightly different, but no problem to navigate. One minor difference is that Word displayed the word count in the bottom left corner of the page, while Open Office requires me to select Word Count from its Tools menu. The only downside is that Open Office seems to be a little aggressive in suggesting the next word for me as I type, but I have quickly just learned to ignore it.

Open Office seems to be more than adequate for my writing needs, free to use, runs on the computer without needing an active internet connection, and does not require registering an email address.
Click to expand...

Wayne, do not use Open Office for the 75, 100 or 300 challenges. The word count is inaccurate.
 
Problems. A couple of months ago I was obliged to switch to windows 10. I thought I had solved all the usual problems but now I have another issue. I would normally call my tech-savvy nephew but he's off the grid. So here's the message:

Sign in required. We can’t upload or download your changes because your cached credentials have expired. Sign in.

I never had this problem with windows 7. And what the heck is cached credentials??? It will not allow me to save changes. Since I'm just finishing off my rewrites for my book, it's a major pain.

HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLP, please.
 
Droflet said:
Problems. A couple of months ago I was obliged to switch to windows 10. I thought I had solved all the usual problems but now I have another issue. I would normally call my tech-savvy nephew but he's off the grid. So here's the message:

Sign in required. We can’t upload or download your changes because your cached credentials have expired. Sign in.

I never had this problem with windows 7. And what the heck is cached credentials??? It will not allow me to save changes. Since I'm just finishing off my rewrites for my book, it's a major pain.

HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLP, please.
Click to expand...
This is a message from Windows 10 or some other software you are using?
As far as Windows is concerned, you must be signed-in otherwise you can't work on anything, make changes or get messages such as these at all.

At what point did you get this weird message?
 
Droflet said:
Problems. A couple of months ago I was obliged to switch to windows 10. I thought I had solved all the usual problems but now I have another issue. I would normally call my tech-savvy nephew but he's off the grid. So here's the message:

Sign in required. We can’t upload or download your changes because your cached credentials have expired. Sign in.

I never had this problem with windows 7. And what the heck is cached credentials??? It will not allow me to save changes. Since I'm just finishing off my rewrites for my book, it's a major pain.

HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLP, please.
Click to expand...

Copy and paste your work elsewhere before you do anything else.
 
Okay, Mosaix, I guess you're the man, but just one thing.
I have five, word files on my desktop and they all suffer from this affliction. Thoughts, while I copy and paste?
 
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Elckerlyc said:
This is a message from Windows 10 or some other software you are using?
As far as Windows is concerned, you must be signed-in otherwise you can't work on anything, make changes or get messages such as these at all.

At what point did you get this weird message?
Click to expand...

Thanks for replying. Ah, about three or four weeks ago. I'm not entirely sure. When I write, or in this case rewrite, I lose all concept of time. Thoughts?
 
Ah, you were working with Word. That wasn't clear to me. And probably the online version? Likely for which you have/need a Microsoft account.
If that's the case you need to (re)- log in to you account.
I don't have an account myself, so am not sure where and how to do that.
 
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