What software do you use when writing?

[stickyfate]

I have been having some issues with formatting and editing and was wondering what other people use to write their stories with.

 

[Handley_Page]

MS Word, but it's no longer designed for what we do!

 

[_Lynn_]

MS Word, but it's no longer designed for what we do!

What do you mean, HP?

 

[sr71plt]

MS Word. It's what publishers almost universally use. I write to publish. Don't know if others are doing that or not--or are stuck on thinking it's all about them.

Both as a writer and editor I preferred Word Perfect. Never found a publisher who wanted it in that program (although early on in the digital era some publishers used it for editing).

 

[Leeloo777]

The WordPad that came with my computer.

 

[_Lynn_]

I've used MS Word from the beginning and will stay with it unless publishing guidelines change.

 

[TxRad]

I use MSWord 2000.

 

[stickyfate]

formatting

Does anyone have trouble with the formatting when you upload? That's where I have my biggest issues.

 

[_Lynn_]

Does anyone have trouble with the formatting when you upload? That's where I have my biggest issues.

I never upload them. Copy and paste works fantastic.

 

[PennLady]

I never upload them. Copy and paste works fantastic.

Yep. I use Word and copy/paste my stories. Any problems almost always end up being a typo of some sort on my part.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Word. Word. Word. yWrite. yWrite. yWrite.

Then there are all the others out there that people have in the past, on oh so many threads just like this one, have said they use...

(the list is long a distinguished)

 

[Tx Tall Tales]

I write in Notepad++, a free text editor with spell check and some basic macros that do the < > formatting. For some reason I write a lot faster when I strip away all the other crap.

When I'm done writing I do my editing in Word 2007. I can use the grammar checker (configured how I like) a different spell-checker, my homonyms macro, and the review capabilities.

Final version gets copied back to notepad, to strip out any junk that MS Word added, and is copy-pasted into the submission page.

Like sr71plt says, anything going into the eBook publishing stack stays in Word. It gets formatted differently, with standard paragraphs, chapter headings, all the good stuff.

I'm another fan of Word Perfect, back in the day. I've also written a lot in vi, a unix/linux text editor. It's what I write code in. It's blazingly fast, since your fingers never leave the home keys, and it's great for dealing with words and sentences. When I stopped coding on a daily basis, and had to deal with Word since it's all that's used in business, my vi skills waned.

 

[RjThoughts]

MS Word 2010

 

[Handley_Page]

What do you mean, HP?

I was a little bothered about saying anything, bearing in mind we not long ago had a longish thread about this very subject. However,
I get the impression that MS thinks there is no real function for a WP than writing for business. In Word 97 there were one or two handy features on 'style' (casual, legal, business, etc..) but v2003 seems to have lost that, for some obscure reason and I do not fancy putting my stuff in the Cloud where 'anyone authorised' may see it. NSA & GCHQ, take note.

I'm beginning to like JARTE (wordpad with several useful bells & a whistle or two); it has the advantage of being free.

 

[stickyfate]

my fault

I have never posted in the forum before but I did attempt to search this out first and nothing poped. When I have used Word then copy and paste, my paragraphs get messed up and sometimes get some crazy characters.

From the tone of responses, it is clearly something I am doing.

Has anyone attempted to write in a mobile device like a tablet? Any good app recimendations?

 

[Idarrau]

I use word 2010.
I was using google docs, it works well to go between the ipad and laptop. It's not a bad way to transfer things but the word processor pisses me off because I can't right click cut and paste, it always yells at me to cntl x like I'm a bad teenager. Or, maybe it just is fine but I have a bad attitude. That is possible, I've been known to be cranky.

Word 2010 made the front of my book, the TOC and stuff mucho easiero

 

[desertslave]

I had some rough patches in the beginning, but I'm learning to love OpenOffice.

 

[sr71plt]

I was a little bothered about saying anything, bearing in mind we not long ago had a longish thread about this very subject. However,
I get the impression that MS thinks there is no real function for a WP than writing for business. In Word 97 there were one or two handy features on 'style' (casual, legal, business, etc..) but v2003 seems to have lost that, for some obscure reason and I do not fancy putting my stuff in the Cloud where 'anyone authorised' may see it. NSA & GCHQ, take note.

I'm beginning to like JARTE (wordpad with several useful bells & a whistle or two); it has the advantage of being free.

There's nothing fancy any publisher, including Literotica, wants you to do that basic Word doesn't do. You are the author, not the book designer.

Now if you want to write something and have it look real zippy to you to then just print and stick in your drawer . . .

 

[soflabbwlvr]

I use WordPerfect. I've used it for almost 20 years. About 10 years ago my profession migrated to MSWord. With my next computer I'll probably have no choice but to make the switch. I already have to convert everything I produce into word before it can be disseminated.

 

[_Lynn_]

Someone advised me to go with MS Word when I started writing, back in early 2007. I tried Open Office and Google Docs, but never liked either of them. I'm comfortable with this program and find it easy enough to use, even for someone as computer illiterate as I am.

 

[3113]

Scrivener!

Scrivener for long stuff, MS word for short stuff. Scrivener is very good if you want to write a novel—and the program lets you transform your novel into an MS word document when needed.

 

[lovecraft68]

Word 2007 Its better than 2000 and also I like it better than the 2010 my wife uses.

 

[lovecraft68]

I was a little bothered about saying anything, bearing in mind we not long ago had a longish thread about this very subject. However,
I get the impression that MS thinks there is no real function for a WP than writing for business. In Word 97 there were one or two handy features on 'style' (casual, legal, business, etc..) but v2003 seems to have lost that, for some obscure reason and I do not fancy putting my stuff in the Cloud where 'anyone authorised' may see it. NSA & GCHQ, take note.

I'm beginning to like JARTE (wordpad with several useful bells & a whistle or two); it has the advantage of being free.

2007 has a lot of options for style.

 

[horrorotica]

I use Open Office - it's free and does the job well

 

[StrangeLife]

Scrivener for long stuff...

Always wanted to try that one... or alternatively Ulysses.

It's not the first time I've heard it recommended by people writing large texts for publishing. It seems to be all the rage at my university for people writing dissertations.

Maybe it can be my stocking stuffer this year... in my virtual stocking.