What Word Processor Do You Use?

[DwayneA]

I have Microsoft Works and Microsoft Word. What do you use? Which ones would you recommend?

[DamaNegra]

Microsoft Word and WriteWay Pro. I recommend both :)

You may want to look at this thread (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43803) if you're looking for something new, or search for the many threads coverint this topic.

[TwentyFour]

I use Microsoft Word Processor, too.

[Storyteller5]

I use Word. :)

[RumpleTumbler]

Word is nice. Open Office Writer is nice. If you happen to be infatuated with Kate Moss then Kate is for you, but you'll have to run Linux for that one.

That being said, Jack Nicklaus could whip your ass with the shittiest set of clubs from the worst pawn shop in the world with one eye covered and one arm tied behind his back.

[Judg]

WordPerfect!

[DeleyanLee]

Open Office here. MS Word finally corrupted one too many times for my tolerance.

[Kudra]

MS Word, for the most part.

Yeah Write is good for journaling. It can be password-protected.

Q10 is a good one. Completely black screen, and you get the noise of a typewriter when you type. Very cool! I use it for fiction.

[DVGuru]

I use Word 2004 for Mac.

[TwentyFour]

Yeah Write is good for journaling. It can be password-protected.

Q10 is a good one. Completely black screen, and you get the noise of a typewriter when you type. Very cool! I use it for fiction.
Those sound cool, but I have to admit the clickety clack would annoy me after a few days.

[Queen of Swords]

Those sound cool, but I have to admit the clickety clack would annoy me after a few days.

What about the krr-ching! when you get to the end of each line?

[Billingsgate]

Just got Q10. It's very cool! No krr-ching, but there is the ratchet sound of the carriage return.

I dislike Word and even Open Office Write for novel writing, mainly because it's clumsy in both of them to organize in chapters and navigate among them and move them around. I got a program called WriteItNow, which is not perfect, but is meant specifically for writing book-length manuscripts, including easy tab access to notes, chapters, characters and so on. I'm mainly working on a non-fiction project right now, and it's ideal for that. Not expensive either. Exports as RTF, so you can add all the pretty bells and whistles in Word or Write afterwards.

[Kojiro]

I only have MS Works at my disposal, so naturally I'm using that.

[J. R. Tomlin]

Only Word as far as I know has Change Tracker which I use constantly. I've tried a few others such as Write It Now and just didn't find them satisfactory. I don't find organizing chapters a problem. Just set up a folder for the novel and for each chapter. Then when you want to combine them, use insert file.

It would be kind of nice to have a WP that would have all the chapters open at the same time to make it easier if you do need to switch around from one to another, but not nice enough to give up Change Tracker.

[JamieFord]

http://www.jamieford.com/storage/Word.bmp

[maestrowork]

Microsoft Word for Mac and also iWork Pages. I love the way how I can rearrange things using Pages -- I use it for outlines and scene notes -- much better than Excel.

I also use Personal Brain for ideas gathering and organization.

[maxmordon]

Microsoft Word

[Gray Rose]

Microsoft Word 2007. And a notebook.

[benbradley]

I use wordpad, in text mode even, and most of the time that's all I need. It's what I've used to write all my stories in the Flash Fiction challenges. I've edited substantially larger files with it with no problem. MS Word seems like overkill and slow in comparison.

[Cassiopeia]

Word..and Ipages. :)

[RG570]

Wordperfect. It doesn't crash like MS word does, but I'd rather use something simpler.

I'd rather be using a Commodore Vic-20. I guess I could use an emulator, but the irony of using a powerful toshiba laptop for the purpose of making it into a Vic-20 would probably kill me.

[Jamesaritchie]

I prefer Word for most uses, but WordPerfect X3 allows me to open and edit pdf, and lets me use a toolbar with shortcuts to every other program I use, so it's been my choice for several months now.

[truelyana]

Microsoft Word for me too, although I've not actually used it in a long while *yawns*

[GeorgieB]

I use two wp's for banging out first, second, third....nth drafts---yWriter and WriteItnow.

When I'm ready to proof read and do the deep edit, then I use MS Word. Not the best, but it works.

[PeeDee]

I used word 2007. It's the first word that has seemed useful to me (with features like the running word count)

otherwise, I use an eight dollar fountain pen and a three dollar five-subject notebook.

[Azure Skye]

Word, yo.

[Zelenka]

I actually still use Word 97. At some point I suppose I should upgrade, but I have it customised just the way I like it. I sometimes use Wordpad if I'm at work and doing some sly paragraphs of my novel during the boring bits, but I don't like that so much.

[donroc]

Microsoft Word, although I prefer STAR OFFICE 8, but it messes spacing and loses words when converting to WORD, which is necessary for emailing partials and fulls to agencies.

www.donaldmichaelplatt.com

[Mel]

Open Office. You can set your background to black or quite a few other colors. If you don't want any distractions from your desktop then go Full Screen. I've been playing with tables for outlining in Open Office Writer and it's working out nice.

[scottaz]

Scrivener. It is by far the best software for writers.

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

[PeeDee]

Given the number of features I just turn off, my Word right now is pretty much on-par with the Microsoft Works version which I started using when we got our first Windows-based computer. I haven't gotten far past typewriter-with-a-TV-screen. :)

I use DarkRoom, too. I have a major weakness for DarkRoom. It just makes me want to write something.

[DeleyanLee]

I actually still use Word 97. At some point I suppose I should upgrade, but I have it customised just the way I like it.

That's what I was using until a couple months ago when it suddenly started corrupting constantly until it just plain would not open any document. Actually, it just started chewing up memory to the point where nothing ran on the computer at all. I recently moved and can't find the CD to either reinstall (or delete). And MicroSoft doesn't support it anymore.

Be warned that if you're running XP or Vista, you could have some problems on the horizon, so have a back-up plan. I'm glad I did.

[PeeDee]

I remember similar issues with Word '97. It may be why I eventually moved on. Word 2007 is pretty stable, it seems to me, but I still wonder if Word 2000 wasn't the best that program could get.

My backup plan is called "paper" and it never corrupts.

(Well, he says that, hoping you won't point out the amount of tea he's spilled on really useful papers. Sigh.)

That's what I was using until a couple months ago when it suddenly started corrupting constantly until it just plain would not open any document. Actually, it just started chewing up memory to the point where nothing ran on the computer at all. I recently moved and can't find the CD to either reinstall (or delete). And MicroSoft doesn't support it anymore.

Be warned that if you're running XP or Vista, you could have some problems on the horizon, so have a back-up plan. I'm glad I did.

[Voyager]

Is there a software program out there checks for word repetition? I know there's a site that does this but it only works with smaller blocks of text. I'm just wondering if there's something that works in conjunction with word, or different word processing program that's good and includes this feature.

[The_Grand_Duchess]

I use works becuase that's what came with my computer. I know, not very exciting but its true. I really don't understand the fascination with the different programs. I mean it's all words on paper no matter what you use.

[maestrowork]

Roger has a nice program (that works with Word?) to highlight word repetition. It doesn't really beep and say "mayday mayday you used the word 'good' twice in a sentence" but with the highlights you can quickly scan and see...

[Voyager]

Thanks Ray. Uhm, who is Roger? Seriously, yes, I'm THAT puterilliterate

[maestrowork]

Roger J. Carlson, one of the fearsome mods.

[PeeDee]

Roger J. Carlson, one of the fearsome mods.

By fearsome, he means cuddly.

[maestrowork]

Don't put words in my mouth!

[Wraith]

Paper + wastebasket = word processor of choice. (Mainly the wastebasket, lately.)

And Word. I'm scared of fancy wordprocessors.

[Carrie in PA]

Yeah Write is good for journaling. It can be password-protected.

You can password protect Word documents, too.

Just click Tools --> Protect Document and you can enter a password.

[triceretops]

Microsoft Office Word thingy.

Tri

[flightless]

Another vote for Scrivener. God do I love the index-cards-on-the-corkboard feature.

[PeeDee]

Scrivener is the only thing that's ever made me really want to switch to Macs. I wish it were available on Windows.

[vfury]

Word for Mac and Scrivener. Scrivener makes outlining and keeping note of things that have to be changed in rewriting so much easier.

[Shadow_Ferret]

Be warned that if you're running XP or Vista, you could have some problems on the horizon, so have a back-up plan. I'm glad I did.
I use Word 97. I've used it on XP for years with no problems. I'm currently using it with Vista. I have had no problems. But then I've never had any problems with Word crashing, or corrupting my files. Maybe I just know how to use it. ;)

[skelly]

I gave up my addiction to word processors, as some of you may know. I write in dos edit these days. But I *twitch* would like to toss my hat in the *twitch twitch* ring on behalf of Darren Devitt's PageFour. I *twitch* actually paid and registered, and frankly the *twitch twitch twitch* thing works as advertised. It is easy on the eyes and you can save everything to rtf such that you can *twitch* move it all over to Word when you want to make everything pretty. I highly *twitch* recommend it.

*twitch*

What? Why are you all looking at me like that?

[a_sharp]

DOS Edit? No wonder you're twitchy. Ever try a chisel in stone?

I used DOS editors before Windows came on the scene. I've been all over the place since, with various versions of Word, WordPerfect, and just about everything mentioned above in this thread. Wrote Open Office Write most of last year, then ran into macro hell with it and now I'm back to Word 2003. It'll take an 18-wheeler to haul me away again.

[kristie911]

I've used Works, I've also used WordPerfect *ack* but I always go back to Microsoft Word. I love it.

I've heard Open Office is nice but I've never had the patience to try downloading it (on my dial-up!)...and if I love Word, why change? :)

[Kudra]

You can password protect Word documents, too.

Just click Tools --> Protect Document and you can enter a password.


Yep, thanks. With Yeah Write, you can password protect the whole software so that it works like a personal journal of sorts. Helps if you're sharing a computer with family.

[jenstrikesagain]

I use Word Perfect 8.0. Yep. Dinosaur. Thanks. I HATE WORD. I'll use it when forced, or when incorporating a lot of graphics, however.

"Shoe" cartoon: Son: "Dad, why do they call it a 'word processor'?" Dad: "You've seen what a food processor does to food, haven't you?"

[spacejock2]

"Is there a software program out there checks for word repetition?"

I added a count to yWriter - it'll list all the words in your novel, with the number of times each has been used. 'A', 'and' & 'the' are often at the top, oddly enough.

It doesn't tell you when you've used similar words in subsequent sentences though.

[wayndom]

I use and totally love WordPerfect. It just seems so much friendlier than MS Word, but there's one feature that keeps me from looking around at what else is available (especially now, when there are numerous freeware programs that I hear are just as good):

The comment feature.

When I'm rewriting, I'll often wonder if what I just read is said elsewhere in the book (for example). It's not something I'm going to check out while I'm in the middle of a "hunter-killer" edit (killing my babies). So I click on the comment icon and get a comment window. I write, "check to see if this is said elsewhere," and close the window. A tiny cartoon talk-balloon appears in the margin next to the line I was reading when I wrote the comment. Of course the comment won't print out. No big deal, right?

Okay, here's the good part: When I'm ready to go through and read all the comments and do whatever is required, I can click the little "page" icon in the lower right corner of the screen until it changes to a comment talk-balloon. Then clicking on the double arrows (that up until now would have jumped ahead one page at a time) jumps to the next comment, and so on. So I never have to page through the document, looking for comments. I just jump from comment to comment. When I discovered this feature, I thought, "Man, this must have been written for novelists!"

[Kudra]

I really don't understand the fascination with the different programs. I mean it's all words on paper no matter what you use.

For me, because I'm working with words all day long, it's a nice change. Like writing on handmade paper instead of normal paper, for instance. Or with purple ink instead of blue.

Sometimes, I'll work in different fonts or colors in Word itself. But the different software programs provide a different creative environment, if that makes sense.

[bsolah]

I used word 2007. It's the first word that has seemed useful to me (with features like the running word count)

Yeah, I use Word 2007 which is a huge improvement on previous ones. Before that, I used OpenOffice which is ok if you can't get your hands on Microsoft Office, but it's still not the same.

[Jamesaritchie]

Yep, thanks. With Yeah Write, you can password protect the whole software so that it works like a personal journal of sorts. Helps if you're sharing a computer with family.


I don't use Yeah, Write! for writing, but I do use it as a journal, as a PIM, for fiction storage, as a planner, etc. Very, very handy software, if you use it properly.