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Scrivener, yWriter, or other?

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satyesu

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What's your favorite writers' word processor and why?
 

jimbro

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What's your favorite writers' word processor and why?

Here's my 2 cents:

For many years, I was using UltraEdit, a plain-text Notepad clone. Plain-text is extremely portable.

I'm using yWriter right now because it is lightweight, basically no-frills, so I can concentrate on just writing (typing). It works great on my little Netbook. The advantage is that it is scene-based and super easy to move scenes around from chapter to chapter. Files are saved natively as *.rtf (WordPad) files, almost as portable as plain text files. There is a bit of a learning curve to take advantage of all its features, but I'm very happy with it now. Because it is a free program, I can move my work from one computer to another (back and forth between laptop and desktop) very easily without license problems. Spell-check doesn't really work for me, I take care of that later in MS Word.

I test-drove Scrivener and liked it very much. The only disadvantage, IMHO, is that it requires a large monitor, the bigger the better if you want to get the full value, and because of this it isn't ideal for a netbook or small laptop. There is still a free trial, so take advantage of that and see for yourself.

These tools are more properly called book organization tools, since that is their strength.

After the second draft, I import the finished novel into MS Word and use the spelling and grammar checker to help produce a (final?) copy to share with my betas.
 
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Storyteller5

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I use MS Word because that's what I started with. I'm familiar with the features. I like that I don't have to worry about changing formats if I want to submit somewhere since MS Word seems to be universally accepted. (The only problem I run into is sometimes the grammar correction it wants to make isn't the right one.)
 

CrastersBabies

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Word here. For 10+ years on word. Not gonna change. I know it in and out so well that formatting is never an issue.

It's easy enough to convert it to plain text or PDF or X_format.

My only gripe is 2010 annoys, but over time I imagine I'll get well-versed enough to be 100% comfy again.
 

fadeaccompli

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I use Scrivener. I occasionally do writing on other word processors for something short and in passing--if I'm just writing a poem, or a short story, I don't really need much more than a blank page--but I find Scrivener useful for helping me outline things. More than that, it happens to fit the way my brain works for organizing all of my character/setting notes; it's easy to shove things around between folders, with them easily accessible from my writing area, but not actually showing up in the way.

One of the things I do like best about Scrivener is that it's happy to get the hell out of my way if I don't want its features just then; the feature for seeing nothing but the bit of document I'm working on is nice, and I don't have to turn off or move out of the way anything I don't happen to be using. So it happens to suit my thought processes pretty well. Lots of things it can do, but they won't harass me when I don't want them.
 

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I want to point to two free Mac OS X stripped-down word processors/rich text editors, in addition to TextEdit which is not even a little bit shabby and come with Mac OS X:

1. Bean http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html

It's just plain elegant. Does RTF, and most of what you'd want, including word count and basic font/line/paragraph formatting. No footnotes/end notes.

2. iText Express http://homepage.mac.com/lightway/iText/iTextExpress/TryiTxtExp.html

This is one that's new to me; I've not yet used it, but I've heard really good things about it. It has footnotes, for those who want 'em.

And I quite like Scrivener too; note that there's a special demo and price deal going on for NaNo:

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/nanowrimo.php
 
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Midian

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I heart Scrivener.

I can outline, summarize, develop, move, highlight, organize, and all kinds of other badassery.

I've used Word. It was okay. But I was too limited. I don't write linearly. I write whatever scene I feel like writing. Which means I need to be able to put it where it goes. It's not nearly as easy to do in Word and when you can sort of get it to work in Word, you have to do all the work of setting it up. I left word for StoryMill (by now you've probably figured out I'm a mac user). I liked StoryMill quite well but wanted to check out Scrivener. Scrivener was StoryMill on steroids and I never left.

Here is my comparison.
 

atombaby

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I've been using Write Monkey for all my first drafts, but then I discovered that unless I'm taking external notes while I write (to remember all those details), I end up making a hell of a lot of mistakes, forget a lot of things I wrote, and it makes the rewrite a lot harder.

Typically, I do keep a lot of hand-written notes in my notebook, but not all of it stays in one place or gets remembered. I'm using yWriter for nano this year and really, it has just enough bells and whistles for me to actually like it. Helps with consistency, you can make notes on any scene or chapter, general notes, and character and location profiles. The only thing I wish it had (like some other writing programs, I've forgotten their names atm, sorry) was a timeline.

I downloaded Scrivener, hoping to see an ability to put a timeline in there, but I didn't find it. Something about Scrivener just puts me off, whether it's the fugly corkboard (I'm a customizing geek :/ ) or the bubbly-looking notes on it, the wordpad look of it, just something about it turns me off. I can't get into Scrivener no matter how much I try and want to like it. Fortunately, yWriter is free, and I like its bells and whistles much better.

And yes, MS Word is for editing and rewrites. I love Word. The synonym finder and research tab is just way too distracting for writing a first draft, that's its only "downside."
 

mephet

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atombaby: You can actually customize the corkboard. ;)

I've been using Scrivener for a year now, ever since the beta for Windows started running. It's proven to be an extremely helpful tool now that I've started organizing and editing, though all its endless features can still get a little distracting. I wouldn't use it for anything shorter than novel-lenght though, so for smaller works I still use Word or experiment with other programs (recently downloaded OmmWriter, but not sure if I'm going to actually use it or not).
 

Bushrat

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I test-drove Scrivener and liked it very much. The only disadvantage, IMHO, is that it requires a large monitor, the bigger the better if you want to get the full value, and because of this it isn't ideal for a netbook or small laptop.

So true. I only have a netbook, and when I tested Scrivener last year, found it came with too many bells and whistles to be of any use on my netbook. So I went back to using OpenOffice.

For jotting down ideas, working out my plot and fiddling with my outline, writing down the character list etc I use a notebook (the paper version!). Being able to put arrows and on stuff, and see what I crossed out is really important to me for these aspects of writing.
 

bearilou

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Outline and organize in Scrivener. Love that corkboard!

Spiral notebook and gel pens for the writing.

Seriously. I've discovered the true value of handwriting out. I love the ease of writing with the gel pens. While they run out of ink faster, they are much easier on my hand to write with. And I like thick bold lines, what can I say?

And then transcribing to my computer. For that, I will use Scrivener since it will allow me to rearrange text easier and with less confusion for me.
 
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Jamesaritchie

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Pen and paper, and then Word for long projects. Q10 for anything short and fast.
 

san_remo_ave

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I used yWriter for years on my PC. Now that I use a Mac, it's Scrivener (which is now avail for both Mac & PC).

Love them both because of the organization structure and ease of use, neither one will bog you down fiddling with settings and things.
 

Starstryder

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I am with the others on Scrivener...seriously love it. :) I do prefer the mac version over the pc version but just personal preference.

As well as a spiral bound notebook for when I am out and about and have to wait for things to happen, also with a gel pen. lol
 

goldmund

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I used to be your vanilla Word writer... until I've discovered Dark Room.
Now it's nothing else for me.
Be it short stories, chapters of a novel, scripts for film trailers for my job -- it's always this tiny fella who has the keys to unbound my imagination.
Later I organize everything, spell check, do indents etc. in Word, but the first draft it's always DR.
 

Hiroko

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Writing section or pieces and having to organize/categorize them has never been a way I've written. With Word I just get everything down, bookmark and make notes or what have you, and I just fix the MS up from there. Works for me.
 

blacbird

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Sarcasm and witticism aside, honestly, I am always bemused/a bit mystified by this kind of question, which arises here as regularly as dandelions in the lawn.

The underlying implication of such questions is broader: Is there some software that will help me be a better writer?

To which my answer is No. The single important piece of software that will help you be a better writer, you already have: Your mind. Stop searching for technical gimmicks. Your tools are words, not word-processor templates or tricks. Understand that, and you'll be able to use your tools regardless of the technology of getting them recorded.

I write stuff as it is convenient to do so, at any given moment. Often this remains pen and paper. Sometimes even pencil and paper. If I have a computer conveniently available, I'll use that. With whatever standard word-processor happens to be there.

Many many many great books were written with quill pen and an inkwell. I've often wondered if the great writers of the past got to be great because that technology forced them to slow down, just a little, and consider more carefully the words they were committing to the page.

I don't, God knows, claim to be a great writer. But I also accept that the reason for my failure to be a great writer lies with my personal software, not with my l lack of software I can by from somebody else.

caw
 
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RobinDelany

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Microsoft word. Though I use Writer's Cafe for the pre-planning outline. I do want to try yWriter for outlining, because I've heard good things about it.
Robin
 

SRHowen

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Word Perfect x5, I also use Word 10--I prefer WP in that the grammar checker makes sense, I love the little drop down thesaurus box, and the control I have over work space etc., and the reveal codes window is fantastic--not just the tabs and so, it shows you everything.
 

fadeaccompli

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Sarcasm and witticism aside, honestly, I am always bemused/a bit mystified by this kind of question, which arises here as regularly as dandelions in the lawn.

The underlying implication of such questions is broader: Is there some software that will help me be a better writer?

To which my answer is No. The single important piece of software that will help you be a better writer, you already have: Your mind. Stop searching for technical gimmicks. Your tools are words, not word-processor templates or tricks. Understand that, and you'll be able to use your tools regardless of the technology of getting them recorded.

And yet, I'm a better writer because of my tools. Including my tech-based tools.

I've become better at plot organization and pacing since I got Scrivener. It's not going to work that way for everyone, but it does for me. I got much better at editing when I moved from working in a notebook to working on a computer. I got more writing done overall when I got a laptop and could move to different environments to do my writing. Hell, on the topic of Useful Writing Tools, getting online to be able to speak with more writers, and not being dependent on a few writing books from the library, has helped me learn more about writing.

Technology has helped me enormously in my growth as a writer in several different ways. I'm here speaking with other writers because of it. A computer lets me write faster than I am physically able, and compensates for memory and organization issues I wouldn't be able to handle on paper.

Maybe in a perfect world we could all compose novels without writing down anything at all, and recite them like Homer did the Iliad. It's not a perfect world. I need technology. I'm glad I was born into a place and time where I have access to that technology, because I'd be a worse writer otherwise.
 
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