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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: Dresdenus Prime on June 30, 2011, 02:05:19 PM
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I was just looking at the Tools for Writers post in the board and I was taking a look at a lot of the writing programs that were posted. The three that caught my eye were:
- Scrivner
- WriteitNowv4
- Writeway
I'm just not sure which one to get. I know Scrivner isn't available until August, and I have no idea what the cost will be (probably could have found out with a little more research, or visited the Mac versions site.)
WriteitNow4 looks good with the videos I watched, but it's pretty expensive.
WriteWay right now is the one I'm leaning towards. The standard version is $25 which I could easily do, and watching the video tour it looks like it would have a lot of feautres that would help me organize my work, but maybe the others would too.
So my question is does anyone have a preferance over these programs? Or do you think there's a better one out there?
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Scrivener for Windows is available in beta form. Mac version was I think $40, though it's been over a year since I bought it.
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Storybook is also good(and free). Though the ui leaves a bit to be desired, though that might just be me.
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What exactly does your personal writing process want a writing program to do beyond plain text editing ?
(For me, the answer is "nothing", so I have no recommendations on specific programs other than that emacs rules, but that would seem to me to be the way to approach the issue; define your requirements first.)
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What exactly does your personal writing process want a writing program to do beyond plain text editing ?
(For me, the answer is "nothing", so I have no recommendations on specific programs other than that emacs rules, but that would seem to me to be the way to approach the issue; define your requirements first.)
It's tough to list my requirements when I'm a first time author. But I can say that my biggest weakness is probably organization. I was looking through authorcraft boards and saw the one with tool listings. I went to the WriteWay website and looked at their video tour and I loved how everything could be organized by folders and subfolders. It had tabs and locations to put your characters, their feelings at the moment, what the scene should be. I feel like these are normal things I should be considering for every chapter.
So I went ahead and downloaded the demo, haven't messed with it much as of now, but I wanted anyone elses opinions on if they have a preferred writing tool like the ones I listed. I have no problem just using msword to type it up, but i feel like my cluster**** of a mind could really use a program like this.
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I can't help you either, since I just use MS Word. I mainly need writing software that lets me type, save, print, and edit.
My problem with trying any software designed for writers specifically is that when I get the urge to write, I wanna write. I don't want to have to figure out all the bits and bobs and bells and whistles. And what if I want the bell, but all I can find is the whistle? By the time I figure out where the bell is, whatever it was I wanted to use it for may well be gone clean outta my head.
So I like MS Word. It does what I need it to, which is mainly stay the heck outta my way while I work.
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Kali I definately agree with you, I use msword a lot and it's nice when I have some ideas and I'm not around my main computer I can go on any other one and save whatever I wrote to my flashdrive. Sometimes I just get the urge to write as well, but when I'm home on my main writing computer it's nice to be able to copy everything into my writing program and look at all my notes and editting questions.
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I do the majority of my writing with pen and paper. After reading an article the other day, I think it's something to do with disconnecting from everything-getting away from the computer and all that. The article was about why people tend to be more creative when in the shower or driving.
I used Word in the past, but don't have it anymore since I bought a Mac. I do have pages, but I use that pretty much for converting into formats readable on PCs and to copy to my iPad. I use Scrivener because it allows me to keep all my notes and everything in the one program, and it's extremely easy to keep everything together when I have a tendency to keep multiple copies of everything when I change stuff. The way I learned to use it was to take one of my older stories and import it. Then I started a new project and figured out more. Plus there are video tutorials.
I've heard with Word that there can be issues with crashing when you get huge files, plus I remember at one time, last year I think, I saw Jim tweet that he lost a couple chapters because of Windows updates, even with the Word automatic save.
And since I have an iPad, iPod, and iPhone, I've got lots of apps on those, too, though so far I haven't really used too many of them. Though that's more my issues with not writing much lately.
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I use Scrivener because it allows me to keep all my notes and everything in the one program, and it's extremely easy to keep everything together when I have a tendency to keep multiple copies of everything when I change stuff. The way I learned to use it was to take one of my older stories and import it. Then I started a new project and figured out more. Plus there are video tutorials.
This is exactly why I'm interested in picking one of these up. I decided to download the 30 day trial of WriteWay, and I might take a dip into the beta of Windows Scrivener, although I think the full version releases in August.
I already love the possibilities I have with this program. I'm able to keep every chapter seperate so it's easy to find where I need to go. Each chapter box has tabs about the characters and scene in the chapter. It has a full character biography page, and it has a research folder to throw in all my ideas and research I need to write the book.
Right now I have all this info.....on that notepad....and that notebook, and this laptop......and that computer...I mean like I said in previous posts my organization at the moment is next to none, so these programs, while not necessary, I think will help me concentrate all my information into one program, only a click or two away
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I'm not entirely certain, but I do think WriteWay was recommended as a PC program comparable to Scrivener, at least until that went into beta for Windows.
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I definately saw some similarities when I was looking at photos and abilties of the two programs. So far so good!
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I just use Word too. Outlines, research, character sheets, etc, all go into a loose-leaf binder with tabbed pages for easy access.
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It's tough to list my requirements when I'm a first time author. But I can say that my biggest weakness is probably organization. I was looking through authorcraft boards and saw the one with tool listings. I went to the WriteWay website and looked at their video tour and I loved how everything could be organized by folders and subfolders. It had tabs and locations to put your characters, their feelings at the moment, what the scene should be. I feel like these are normal things I should be considering for every chapter.
Fair enough. I tend to work with the chapter files I am working on, the overall plan of the order the chapters go in, and a "notes" file in which any ideas I have about any of those topics that isn't for immediate application gets put, usually under the chapter where it will go. (I tend to rearrange chapters a fair bit in early drafts.) none of this needs more than a text editor which can have half a dozen files open at once.
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I just use Word too. Outlines, research, character sheets, etc, all go into a loose-leaf binder with tabbed pages for easy access.
Gosh, people do vary. Print copies are in my mind for agents and editors, and if the agents and editors in question did not want it that way, I would not be doing it even then.
Some of my rough notes are on paper, only because I feel leery of taking writing notes on my work computer and sometimes I get ideas in work, but I never feel entirely confident until they have been put in a notes file on a computer.
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So I like MS Word. It does what I need it to, which is mainly stay the heck outta my way while I work.
I wish it stayed out of the way enough for me to write in it comfortably; I used it for the last 20kwords of my 45-kword eight-day deathmarch last September because my laptop went into a coma and it's what I had on my desktop, and I just find the ways in which it wants to be a formatter as well as a text editor intensely irritating.
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I use WriteWay and like it. It keeps my characters and research organized, and alllows me to make notes about the story in a number of different ways.
The outline format of organizing scenes, chapters and acts is awesome. I'd hate to have to move scenes around if using Word.
It has more features than I use. It can color code scenes in a variety of ways, and I don't use the storyboard feature much.
I also like the Future Book Ideas section. Any brainstorm I can record there and have it has instant access in whatever book I'm writing.
Writeway has full screen mode so you can be alone with your text, so to speak.
Some things I don't like:
- I want to organize characters into folders.
- In the research window, I wish I could list a bunch of links to websites, pics or pdf files and just click them and see them in a full screen browser / jpeg viewer / acrobat reader etc. The tiny browser window that comes up is not useful to me.
More later.
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I second the comments some have made about writing software having too many features. Writers Cafe was like that for me and I fiddled with the features and didn't write.
I wrote an article on storybibles on my blog that no one reads. http://distributistatlarge.blogspot.com/2011/04/story-bible.html (http://distributistatlarge.blogspot.com/2011/04/story-bible.html)
PS. Is there a maximum limit to posts? The forum software was giving me fits as I finished that last post.