Favorite writing app/program?

[BgDaddy33]

Solely out of convenience, Google Docs has been the app I have gravitated towards for the past few years. I like being able to start on my laptop, and continue on my phone or tablet and vice versa.

However, I am sure other platforms now offer the same services and may offer a smoother if not more pleasant writing experience.

To differentiate this from previous asked questions of this nature, I am curious of any apps that you find help the "flow" of words come out and less on "features."

What do you use? Why do you like it, and how do you use it?

 

[mpeters]

I just use MS word on my desktop computer for Lit, I can’t imagine trying to write on my phone!

 

[BgDaddy33]

I just use MS word on my desktop computer for Lit, I can’t imagine trying to write on my phone!

Fair enough! I am finding that sometimes while I am away from my laptop I get a nugget of inspiration and I like being able to jot it down right in the same document so I don't have to hunt for it later. I keep a pocket notebook handy but sometimes its just as easy to tap it out on the phone.

 

[mpeters]

I should mention OpenOffice, it’s a free alternative to MS Office and can open and save in multiple formats. Used it for years before going back to Word.

 

[SimonDoom]

Like mpeters. I write exclusively on a desktop computer using MS Word. I've been using Word so long it makes sense. It doesn't really matter what other features other systems may have. I don't even want to try to write on a phone.

 

[Euphony]

Scrivener is worth both the cost and the learning curve.

It (sternly) nudge me in the planning direction I needed help on and generally makes me more aware of all parts of a story and how even the smallish stuff really ought to be part of a cohesive whole.

Headspace helps a ton in writing and Scrinver has this uncanny way of letting me "steep" myself out of conundrums that would slow me to near stoppage.

All tool are YMMV but Scriveners generous trial is plenty to figure out if it meshes with you and how that may improve your work and/or flow.

 

[BgDaddy33]

Like mpeters. I write exclusively on a desktop computer using MS Word. I've been using Word so long it makes sense. It doesn't really matter what other features other systems may have. I don't even want to try to write on a phone.

I used MsWord exclusively for years too, but when they introduced and started really pushing Office365 they lost me as a user and never got me back. I found it too glitchy at the time.

 

[BgDaddy33]

Scrivener is worth both the cost and the learning curve.

It (sternly) nudge me in the planning direction I needed help on and generally makes me more aware of all parts of a story and how even the smallish stuff really ought to be part of a cohesive whole.

Headspace helps a ton in writing and Scrinver has this uncanny way of letting me "steep" myself out of conundrums that would slow me to near stoppage.

All tool are YMMV but Scriveners generous trial is plenty to figure out if it meshes with you and how that may improve your work and/or flow.

I've never used Scrivener. Looks like I'll have to give it a look. Thanks!

 

[SyleusSnow]

I should mention OpenOffice, it’s a free alternative to MS Office and can open and save in multiple formats. Used it for years before going back to Word.

Development on OpenOffice all but ended years ago, replaced by LibreOffice. LibreOffice is being developed with new releases every 3 months or so with bug fixes, feature improvements and, most importantly, better compatibility with the ever-changing undocumented changes in the MS Office document formats.

 

[Altissimus]

This was asked before a couple times and you might find the answers helpful. You can see them here and here.

Personally, I use MS Word. Been trying out the new dictate feature of late... it has a lot of issues, but on balance it's not too bad.

 

[BgDaddy33]

This was asked before a couple times and you might find the answers helpful. You can see them here and here.

Personally, I use MS Word. Been trying out the new dictate feature of late... it has a lot of issues, but on balance it's not too bad.

Thanks for the link, that was a nice summary of Scrivener. Looks like it could help someone organize their thoughts, especially if they like to write out of order.

I used to enjoy iA-Writer for it's simplified approach. Just a blank page to capture your thoughts. I remember writing tons on it, but I later transitioned away from Apple products and it is only offered for iOs.

 

[ElectricBlue]

OfficeSuite Pro.

It's a no cost Word clone that works on my Kindle, and is compatible with the various Word formats, as well as Excel. It also got a pdf reader, but it doesn't do word-pdf conversions properly.

It's bare bones simplicity, minimum bells and whistles, which I like. On occasion, large files get corrupted, but I just send them to myself, download and save with another name, and keep going. That always removes the bugs, which is nifty (I have no idea how, but I don't care).

I don't even bother with back-ups - a Kindle is a completely solid state device, no spinning drives to crash or damage, so if the software works, it works.

I can't begin to comprehend how many transistors are on the chips to handle all that memory. In ten years, I've still only used ten per cent.

 

[SyleusSnow]

What do you use? Why do you like it, and how do you use it?

All my stories are done on PCs and saved locally in directories encrypted with Veracrypt or Cryptomater. Nothing goes on "the cloud" unencrypted for Google, Microsoft or anyone else to see.

I do initial drafts in FocusWriter, a small, fast and free distraction-free editor. If the story is complex, sometimes I'll use SmartEdit Writer instead, since it has outlining and other things. (I have Scrivener, but never got comfortable with it. It's overkill for short works. If I write a novel I'll force myself to use it).

When things are mostly in shape, editing moves to MS Word with the ProWritingAid plugin. There I do a proof-listening with ProWritingAid's real-time checking enabled. That finds mixed tenses, awkward wording and other lower-level grammar and stlye issues. Then it's over to the ProWritingAid's fiction writing tools to get opinions on pacing, overused words, sticky sentences, consistency, overused adverbs and so on.

Then one more proof listen using Word's text to speech, then convert the MS Word to HTML via a macro, and submit the story.

(then the instant I click the "submit story" button, hundreds of improvements to the story spring to mind, so I edit it, submit the changes and rinse and repeat until I get totally fed up and go to bed. But that's another story )

 

[HeyAll]

Google Docs. Simply put, it looks the best, easiest to use. Everything is big and clear. From the selection screen to the writing page.

I use Word when submitting Illustrated stories, everything looks small and cluttered by comparisson.

 

[visioneer]

For a desktop application, like Erozetta and Euphony, I recommend Scrivener. It has many features, all of which are geared toward the task of writing and the organization of writing. The learning curve is somewhat steep, so working through the excellent tutorial is time very well spent.

 

[BgDaddy33]

(then the instant I click the "submit story" button, hundreds of improvements to the story spring to mind, so I edit it, submit the changes and rinse and repeat until I get totally fed up and go to bed. But that's another story )

Haha. Everyone's story I am sure.

That is quite a process! I like the text to speech to hear how it reads. I think that might save me from some awkward sentences sometimes.

 

[SyleusSnow]

Haha. Everyone's story I am sure.

That is quite a process! I like the text to speech to hear how it reads. I think that might save me from some awkward sentences sometimes.

Text to speech catches so much stuff. No matter how many times I eyeball the text and regardless how many grammar checkers it's run though, simply listening catches stuff without fail, especaily dialog and sentences that just don't flow.

Before MS Word had text to speech, I used Balabolka. The voices are less natural, but for me that made errors stand out even more. Tiresome in long stretches, though.

 

[WyreBendr0417]

Most of the time I use and older program called Jarte Plus. It isn't stuffed with all the features that office suites have that I will rarely or never use. As it stands, it is missing only one feature that I could really use, and that is the ability to autocorrect the capitalization of the second letter of a word. My finger is quite often a bit lazy in letting off the Shift key fast enough.

Other than Jarte, I occasionally use Libre and Open Office suites, but I always go back to Jarte in the end.

 

[samhasstories]

I use Word. I’m not really sure what features I should be using. I type and the characters I type are added to the document, generally in the order in which I type them. That’s the long and short of what I’m looking for.

 

[TheDeepThinker]

I actually use SimpleNote/StackEdit (depending on my mood). They both use Markdown, sync online, and work on mobile.

One of the things I'm able to do with Markdown is render it with a pandoc template so it comes out looking exactly like it will once published. I can even use this to determine how many pages it will be. That's how much of a perfectionist I am.

 

[theWriterInTheNude]

Office365 with MS Word let's me write on the same work on my tablet, laptop, or desktop. I know Google Docs would allow the same, but there's something about Google's propensity to mine through data that makes me wary about putting my Literotica writings on the platform. Since I'm paying MS for the program, it feels like I'm the customer and not the product. As others have mentioned, text to speech is essential to my editing process and catching things that Grammarly misses.

 

[DaedalusX]

Office 365, equipped with Word, serves as my primary choice for creative explorations and casual writing endeavors. However, when the task at hand shifts to more structured and complex projects like novel writing or screenplay development, I find Scrivener to be unparalleled.

I avoid Google-related products and services as much as possible. Yet, in a delicious twist of irony, I find note that my account here is linked to an age-old Gmail address. Life is funny that way.

 

[Lumiere_Amie]

Solely out of convenience, Google Docs has been the app I have gravitated towards for the past few years. I like being able to start on my laptop, and continue on my phone or tablet and vice versa.

However, I am sure other platforms now offer the same services and may offer a smoother if not more pleasant writing experience.

To differentiate this from previous asked questions of this nature, I am curious of any apps that you find help the "flow" of words come out and less on "features."

What do you use? Why do you like it, and how do you use it?

I'm in the Apple universe so I use Pages for writing, Notes for quick capture of ideas, and the free version of Grammarly for grammar and spelling. Sometimes I'll paste a paragraph in Quillbot to get suggested rewrites if I'm not happy with what I've come up with.

 

[BgDaddy33]

Sometimes I'll paste a paragraph in Quillbot to get suggested rewrites if I'm not happy with what I've come up with.

I have not heard of quillbot. I will check it out. Thanks!

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I use Word and store everything in my OneDrive so I can get to it from my big box, laptop, of Surface depending on where I am. Word is just a great editor. i like the formatting I can set(that Literotica summarily ignores) and the add-ons that help me with grammar and punctuation, i, have, this, thing, for, commas...
Plus it has this Immersive Reader feature than helps me find incorrect words and stuff like that.

All that, and I'm just a Microsoft geek. They've been indirectly paying for my life for a long time. (Windows stack developer)