What do you write on?

[redzinger]

It's coming to that time when my battered laptop is showing signs of giving up the ghost. It's nothing fancy, just a wide, glass screen Toshiba with Win7 & Word.

I use it with a laptop stand I made myself so I can lie down on my bed and type (pic attached if you're interested, the stand is brilliant).

So, what do you use and is there anything you'd recommend for a writer?

 

[Handley_Page]

It's coming to that time when my battered laptop is showing signs of giving up the ghost. It's nothing fancy, just a wide, glass screen Toshiba with Win7 & Word.

I use it with a laptop stand I made myself so I can lie down on my bed and type (pic attached if you're interested, the stand is brilliant).

So, what do you use and is there anything you'd recommend for a writer?

I use a tower PC and Word.
[I do wish someone would write a new Word Proc.]

 

[sr71plt]

A desktop PC with Word in front of me and a laptop PC with Word at my elbow. One for writing and one for research and flipping through the Internet on breaks.

 

[lovecraft68]

I have a lap top and a docking station to link a large monitor to.

I write on the larger screen and have the other screen for e-bay or surfing.

The cool thing about that set up is being able to have browsers open on both. Comes in handy when I tracking more than one auction up around the same time.

I'm interested in that new microsoft tablet with the kick stand and detachable keyboard. Nice little travel machine.

 

[Kethandra]

It's coming to that time when my battered laptop is showing signs of giving up the ghost. It's nothing fancy, just a wide, glass screen Toshiba with Win7 & Word.

I use it with a laptop stand I made myself so I can lie down on my bed and type (pic attached if you're interested, the stand is brilliant).

So, what do you use and is there anything you'd recommend for a writer?

After desktops and laptops, I write almost exclusively on an iPad, using the virtual keyboard and Storyist. Still don't trust the dictation, but use it occasionally. The advantage is it is almost always with me for whenever inspiration strikes.
At least any portable solution you go with, you have the stand already. Nice.

 

[SamScribble]

I use a Toshiba Satellite Pro laptop with MS Windows 7 - but 90 percent of the time it's docked to a full-sized keyboard and 26 inch monitor.

 

[oggbashan]

I use a tower PC and Word.
[I do wish someone would write a new Word Proc.]

I use the same.

I don't need Word for my writing. Any wordprocessor from the 1980s onwards was good enough.

But I need Word for my community activities because so many documents are sent to me as .doc, .docx or .pdf.

 

[TxRad]

A desktop with word 2000 on it for here at home and a Toshiba laptop with the same word 2000 on it for when I'm not at the desktop.

I used laptops for when I traveled for work but now it is my sundeck, park at the lake, back porch, wherever I go writing device.

 

[R. Richard]

I use a tower PC and Word.
[I do wish someone would write a new Word Proc.]

Someone has, it'd call LibreOffice.

 

[Handley_Page]

I use the same.

I don't need Word for my writing. Any wordprocessor from the 1980s onwards was good enough.

But I need Word for my community activities because so many documents are sent to me as .doc, .docx or .pdf.

One day, I'll clear my shack and install a laptop with DOS and Wordstar 6.
Add a decent DTP (Ventura) and I'm in!

 

[DreamCloud]

I write on many different machines. I work in the cloud now. Auto saves, auto backups and never have to worry about where I am or if the right software is installed.

No more version headaches. It even keeps things straight when I accidentally leave a doc open on multiple machines.

The tools are weaker than Word (spell checker, etc.), but I have learned to live with it. Google Drive is my current tool set.

 

[lovecraft68]

I write on many different machines. I work in the cloud now. Auto saves, auto backups and never have to worry about where I am or if the right software is installed.

No more version headaches. It even keeps things straight when I accidentally leave a doc open on multiple machines.

The tools are weaker than Word (spell checker, etc.), but I have learned to live with it. Google Drive is my current tool set.

But isn't the cloud....public?

 

[oggbashan]

One day, I'll clear my shack and install a laptop with DOS and Wordstar 6.
Add a decent DTP (Ventura) and I'm in!

I had an early cheap laptop with a French keyboard and plug in chips for WordStar, SuperCalc and Dbase (in French of course). The storage was on answering machine mini-tapes.

At the time I was going to a French conversation evening class. They asked me to explain wordprocessing, databases and spreadsheets since none of the class actually used computers.

I spoke for half an hour, explaining how the software was used. I stopped after that half an hour because their non-comprehension was painfully obvious. I had to repeat my talk in English! None of them knew any computer vocabulary in French, and most of them were clueless in English too.

 

[PennLady]

But isn't the cloud....public?

No. As I understand it, you essentially have an account on another, remote machine. There is space dedicated to the account, and so you secure your stuff with a username and password, and if the service you're using is on top of things, there will be a second-level security measure as well.

Someone can hack your account, but that can happen to anyone anywhere.

 

[lovecraft68]

No. As I understand it, you essentially have an account on another, remote machine. There is space dedicated to the account, and so you secure your stuff with a username and password, and if the service you're using is on top of things, there will be a second-level security measure as well.

Someone can hack your account, but that can happen to anyone anywhere.

Okay, I thought it was wide open like the google program where people could work on the same doc together.

 

[PennLady]

Okay, I thought it was wide open like the google program where people could work on the same doc together.

No, it's not like that. I haven't used Google docs much to share with someone, but I don't think it's out there for just anyone to see.

When people say "cloud," there's no fuzzy place where stuff is virtually stored. It's just someone else's computer -- Apple's, DropBox's, Amazon's, wherever -- where you have space to store files.

 

[GothAngelBabe]

Microsoft word at the office. Send to my personal email and then continue at home when I get the time and inspiration to continue writing and elaborating on my poetry.

 

[DreamCloud]

But isn't the cloud....public?

As PennLady pointed out, no. You set up folders on a remote drive (somewhere in the ether) and just created documents. Standard office apps - I just use the word processor.

You can share and also joint edit - haven't done that yet.

 

[PennLady]

To get back to the original question -- I use Word for Mac on my Mac. I try other programs from time to time but I keep coming back to Word, mostly because I've used it for so long. I'm familiar with the features, or at least the features I need, and nothing else I've tried has made me really want to change.

 

[Over_Red]

I use Word on my Lenovo Thinkpad T61p. It's six years old, now. It was bleeding edge when I got it for school, so it's still quite capable even today. Age has definitely given it a few kinks and quirks, but they're usually solved by restarting.

I'm sure it'll cut out on me at some point. I've sent it in for repairs once already when it overheated. I back up frequently.

As for a recommendation? Word has been the standard since it was made. Mac's version of the program, Pages, works great too. I wrote on a family member's Mac when my computer was out for repairs; it was pretty easy to get used to. They both do the same things, they just come packaged in different UI wrappers.

Either way, writing is not a computer-intensive task. It's been a primary function since the dinosaur days. Any computer will do, so in the hypothetical situation in which a person needs a computer exclusively to write, I'd recommend something cheap and built to last. Also, an external hard drive. Always back up.

 

[Hypoxia]

I sat at desks and poked at various workstations for many years. No more. My workplace is now a recliner couch with a side table for lamp, books & maps, phone, Android tablet, and remote for the music system. I lay back here punching my Sony Vaio 10-inch notebook till it died after 12 years. Now a Lenovo ThinkPad x201 occupies my lap atop a 10.5x13-inch drawing board. I got the x201 on eBay as an authorized refurb for about US$250 with Win7 loaded. The x201 is light enough to haul almost anywhere.

I prefer multitab text editors to WYSIWYG word processors. I used the CuteHTML editor on the Vaio. I now write with the free Jarte editor and its bundled WordWeb thesaurus-dictionary. Yes, I also use Word 2004 (it came with the Vaio) but only for its handy spelling and grammar checking, better than even the latest OpenOffice Writer package. Newer word-proc apps may do better but I haven't tried them. My texts are saved in the cloud by DropBox so I can also access them from other machines.

In case anyone cares: I'm not sure of my first digital editor -- maybe Edit in RSTS-E on a DecSystem 20 around 1978. When I moved to an IBM mainframe shop in 1979, I used ISPF and SuperWylbur. My first real micro editor was WordMaster which evolved into WordStar. I can't count the number of editors I've used since then. What I have now, works for me. YMMV.

 

[Bramblethorn]

To get back to the original question -- I use Word for Mac on my Mac. I try other programs from time to time but I keep coming back to Word, mostly because I've used it for so long. I'm familiar with the features, or at least the features I need, and nothing else I've tried has made me really want to change.

Same here. I've used OpenOffice, Word, Pages, and some others, and IMHO any of them is more than adequate for writing short stories. Most of the differences are in functionality that I don't use anyway, and they're mostly compatible with one another.

But I ended up with Word because I do some freelance work where "mostly compatible" isn't good enough - my client uses Word, and occasionally Pages and OO hiccup with things like embedded graphics.

For longer stories I'm experimenting with Scrivener. It's good for organising multiple chapters etc, but I haven't yet finished a piece in Scriv (not the tool's fault, I just keep getting sidetracked into other stuff).

 

[jakecarter]

I use a small Mac laptop, and I use iA Writer. It's a nice piece of software, very good for keeping distractions out of the way. Though the Internet is always there, lurking, waiting, calling.

 

[JagFarlane]

Okay, I thought it was wide open like the google program where people could work on the same doc together.

Google Docs are only open to other people if you authorize them to view the document, otherwise they are closed off from public view. Unless. of course, you count that Google can see it, but really at this point there are probably NSA and MI5 workers who can't wait to download your latest works anyways.

Generally I just use my laptop as I have that with me to do all my homework. Slowly starting to use Google Drive to keep a copy on the cloud and tinker with the writing from my phone or tablet when an idea hits me.

 

[jomar]

Lots of machines will do the trick. But I love my Lenovo X1 Carbon. It's light, fast, has solid state memory, touchscreen, and the screen is semi-glossy so doesn't reflect much light at all. You would need to get an external disc drive, but they're pretty cheap these days.