What Format Do You Write On?

lejay

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Paper and pen. When I'm ready I type it into LibreOffice Writer, but my daughter has been trying to convince me that Google Docs is better. I might give it a try, but right now I'm still working on the first draft of my current project.
 

thethinker42

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On my own, I outline and track word counts in Excel, and write in Word.

With a co-writer, it depends on their preference. Sometimes we write in Word and email chapters back and forth. Sometimes we write in Google Docs (either writing together in real time or "okay it's your turn, let me know when your chapter is done").

I'd probably use GD more than I do, but I travel a lot and don't always have access to WiFi. I don't like the idea of being unable to access my WIPs when I need them.
 

Marlys

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On my own, I outline and track word counts in Excel, and write in Word.

With a co-writer, it depends on their preference. Sometimes we write in Word and email chapters back and forth. Sometimes we write in Google Docs (either writing together in real time or "okay it's your turn, let me know when your chapter is done").

I'd probably use GD more than I do, but I travel a lot and don't always have access to WiFi. I don't like the idea of being unable to access my WIPs when I need them.

You can work offline in Google Docs and it will sync your changes when you're back online. There's a box you have to check in Settings to enable it, then you're good to go.
 

Yasia

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I write on Google Docs, even just because I can be really forgetful and sometimes and just not have my old Open Office document or notebook with me. It just makes my life easier, and it’s also great for co-writing or having a place for someone who can actively comment your work.
 

maggiee19

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I have written four novels from my current series, from start to finish, by hand. I lost one of those stories because I don't know what my sister did with the binder the story was in (1,990 pages) and I have two right now, one that's complete, and one that's halfway through, and the other one I typed already on Microsoft Word. I am using LibreOffice for my novels right now.
 

mafiaking1936

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I start out the rough draft word salads with pen & paper. It's terrible, mostly illegible, and since I'm left-handed it gets physically painful after a time. Then I recopy into my old pirated copy of Word 97, or more recently Libre office to revise and expand. I like it cause it's not very efficient, making it easier for me to recognize the worst bits and revise as I go. It's still terrible but slightly less so.
 

thethinker42

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I start out the rough draft word salads with pen & paper. It's terrible, mostly illegible, and since I'm left-handed it gets physically painful after a time. Then I recopy into my old pirated copy of Word 97, or more recently Libre office to revise and expand. I like it cause it's not very efficient, making it easier for me to recognize the worst bits and revise as I go. It's still terrible but slightly less so.

Being left-handed makes it painful for you? I'm left-handed too, but have never run into any issues with pain while writing longhand.
 

mafiaking1936

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Being left-handed makes it painful for you? I'm left-handed too, but have never run into any issues with pain while writing longhand.

Yeah, maybe it's just me but after about three pages it feels like I'm holding my pen in a death grip. I get finger cramps and I have to stop for a bit. I've seen some people hold the pen kind of like curled around from the top down, but I never learned to do that.
 

Yasia

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Yeah, maybe it's just me but after about three pages it feels like I'm holding my pen in a death grip. I get finger cramps and I have to stop for a bit. I've seen some people hold the pen kind of like curled around from the top down, but I never learned to do that.

I'm right-handed but for a while I had the same problem. It's just because you are holding your pen, from the very beginning, too tight and with time it just becomes painful. At least that was the reason for me, and my nails, when they were long, duge into my skin leaving marks. I just learned to hold without too much strength the pen.
 

thethinker42

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Yeah, maybe it's just me but after about three pages it feels like I'm holding my pen in a death grip. I get finger cramps and I have to stop for a bit. I've seen some people hold the pen kind of like curled around from the top down, but I never learned to do that.

Yeah I don't do the curled down thing either. Sounds like it might be your grip more than anything? I have tendinitis in my hands, so I had to learn to hold the pen with a bit less force (and go a little easier while typing too). It helped with my pain, but of course your mileage may vary.
 

AW Admin

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I'm right-handed but for a while I had the same problem. It's just because you are holding your pen, from the very beginning, too tight and with time it just becomes painful. At least that was the reason for me, and my nails, when they were long, duge into my skin leaving marks. I just learned to hold without too much strength the pen.

I'd suggest trying to relax when you write, and consider using something other than a ball point pen. Fountain pens are much easier to write with, honest, and you can buy an inexpensive disposable pen to try first. Alternatively, try for a gel pen with a padded grip, or a thicker bodied pencil.

In terms of paper if you're left-handed there are some better options these days, too.
 

ByTXP

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I write in Word, save to Dropbox, and send backups to Gmail. I've tried other solutions, but I've never really enjoyed working in Google Docs (especially once you get into tracked changes) and while I do enjoy all the outlining options in Scrivener, the actual drafting functionality is a bit too fiddly for me.
 

Rob_In_MN

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another way you can get office for free is if you are a professional software engineer... a little more niche, admittedly, but if you have an MSDN subscription, you can get a key for most of Microsoft's products (including Windows itself) through that.
 

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My handwriting's horrible. I can barely read it. If I had to write a book by hand I'd be in trouble. Plus all that writing would hurt my fingers!

Heh... i'm the opposite. My printing could be sold as a new font... its very artistic. And that is exactly why i never really got anywhere years ago and gave up writing... took too god damn long, and editing was a pain. I have literal stacks of filled tomes of pencil and paper. Stacks of ideas, but maybe 10-15K of actual written work. One day i was sitting at my computer, bored (a rare, rare event), and i thought; Hey... i wonder if writing is any easier with a keyboard...???' Pow! 300K words in a year. Hmmm... guess it is.

I like nice things, and decided to make a go of this writing business, so i went and spent some money, and bought Scrivener. Haven't even begun to explore it after a couple years now, but even in the exceedingly limited use i get from it, it slays the Mac text edit i was using.
 

abdall

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I use Google Docs because I do a lot of writing at work and I can access my documents from my work computer and not have to worry about saving it every 20 seconds. I do prefer Word, but where I write on different devices google docs is more conventent for me, personally.
 

CaliforniaMelanie

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I hadn't gotten notifications that I had more replies. I'm so sorry! Thanks so much for the input, everyone. I am writing in Word right now. I bought a flash drive and I'll start saving to that as well. I am also occasionally emailing myself the whole doc, so if I lose stuff somehow, I will still have the writing up to that point. Hopefully this will all have me covered. :Hug2:I appreciate the help.
 

maggiee19

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I don't know if I just don't know how to do it in Google Docs, but I don't use Google Docs because I can't indent the first line. For instance, if I write a paragraph or a dialogue line, I can't indent the first line. I just don't know how to do it. I am currently using Word 2016 and saving my work in Dropbox.
 

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Google Docs. Love it. I also download the file from there and upload it to Dropbox...and every now and then I'll transfer some copies to a USB flash drive and/or external hard drive. 'Cause paranoid.
 

talktidy

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WHEW...l DLd the trial version of Scrivener and the tutorial says it will take "several hours"?? Yikes...

I agree with Kjbartolotta that one can form a working familiarity with the software inside an hour.

I usually bang on about starting off by using the blank template, as it has Draft, Research and Trash folders. Nice and simple.
 

CaliforniaMelanie

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I agree with Kjbartolotta that one can form a working familiarity with the software inside an hour.

I usually bang on about starting off by using the blank template, as it has Draft, Research and Trash folders. Nice and simple.

Thanks...yes...I went back, gave it another go and was up and running in just a few minutes. It looked way more intimidating than it actually ended up being. :D I have my entire first 40,000 words input already. I am liking this quite a bit, actually...it is helping me organize my "next steps" really well!

Thanks, everyone, for the recommendations.
 

vicky271

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I use MS Word. I used Google Documents until we taught at school that Google stores everything, including searches, and sells the information to marketers and advertisers.