What writing software do you prefer?

[eroticstoryspinner]

I use Google Docs because of the ease of working across platforms. I use Grammarly and Prowriting aid for editing. I got Scrivener but I have not had time to train myself on it. I have head good things but that it has a steep learning curve.

 

[KeithD]

By the way, the basic word processor for writing fiction is your brain, using imagination; a dictionary; a good grounding in grammar; and regular practice. You don't really need to look for fancy program aids and crutches if you take the time and preparation effort and have the innate talent to master the basics.

 

[AllenWoody]

By the way, the basic word processor for writing fiction is your brain, using imagination; a dictionary; a good grounding in grammar; and regular practice. You don't really need to look for fancy program aids and crutches if you take the time and preparation effort and have the innate talent to master the basics.

I get this, and agree. Creating artful prose has nothing to do with a piece of code running on a silicon processor. No grammar checker, no matter how sophisticated will make me more eloquent or sharpen my craft.

On the other hand, there are tasks I wish to better organize, and dumb errors that the neurons between my brain and fingers sometimes let slip through. I'm always looking for ways to improve the process of transferring stories from my brain to the page.

Cheers!

 

[Rustyoznail]

...and dumb errors that the neurons between my brain and fingers sometimes let slip through.

Thats teh truth!!!

 

[PaxNurgle]

MS word 2013 is my preference. Good for spell checking but mediocre for grammar checking, but mainly it's what's installed on my computer, so...

 

[AllenWoody]

G'day Allen

Welcome. I use Google Docs on the work laptop, iPad and phone. I use the Grammarly Chrome extension on the PC for editing, as the iPad and phone versions are a bit clunky.

I save the GD file as a MS-Word docx file and upload that to Lit.

Wordperfect 5.1 Rules!

Thank you! (and other respondents who have recommended Grammarly). It loves commas a bit more than I do, but has already caught several errors in my current draft chapter for Lost Colony. I'll continue to check it out.

 

[mfan2112]

MS Word. I've been using it for almost 3 decades for work, so I know it well and have no interest in learning something else. It has all the functionality I need.

The reality is that there are probably plenty of options that will give you all the functions you need to write stories. Choosing the "right" writing software, in my opinion, is like choosing the best diet or best exercise plan. The best one is the one you'll actually use. Follow your gut.

I agree with Simon, the best program is the one you have and will use.

I use Word and when I have something resembling a coherent story, I run it through both Grammarly and ProWritingAid. Then listen to my story read to me by Word with the read aloud function. Between these three, I catch many of the silly little mistakes on my own so my editor and beta readers can help me focus on the bigger stuff.

 

[QuillPig]

Scrivener suits the way I write.

Before starting a first draft, I almost always brainstorm a bunch of notes on a single page without any order or structure.

Then, when I have the whole story worked out, or most of it, I organize my notes into individual scenes and sequences, with each getting its own page in my project file. I can arrange these in the binder to form a sort of visual outline of my story.

Once I start drafting, I can rearrange the sequences as necessary. This is helpful, as I typically restructure my stories several times while writing.

I also tend to write nonlinearly. Scrivener has icons I can set beside each page to mark which are completed, uncompleted, in progress, or needing revision.

There's also a section to store research clippings, pictures, character and place sheets, older drafts, and other stuff that isn't part of the story proper.

All of this might be overkill for writing short sex stories, especially for pantsers or people who always write linearly. But I find it helpful to break even single-scene stroke stories into smaller sequences and work on them out of order as inspiration strikes.

Once I'm finished writing, I compile the final draft into Word for archiving.

 

[SyleusSnow]

I loved WP for DOS. When Corel took it over, it seemed to go downhill

Heh. I used to love WordPerfect too. Good news for anyone wishing to revisit those days: you can run WP 5.1 through WP 6.2 on modern windows computer using an emulator.

And you may or may not be able to find the programs themselves from various easily googleable places like this page.

 

[NotWise]

Heh. I used to love WordPerfect too. Good news for anyone wishing to revisit those days: you can run WP 5.1 through WP 6.2 on modern windows computer using an emulator.

And you may or may not be able to find the programs themselves from various easily googleable places like this page.

You guys sound like earthworms digging through a graveyard. Some of you earthworms might care that there's a WordStar clone named WordTsar that's available for Linux systems.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

You guys sound like earthworms digging through a graveyard. Some of you earthworms might care that there's a WordStar clone named WordTsar that's available for Linux systems.

LOL. Indeed. Nothing beats the ability to work on stories or capture ideas while standing in line, or sitting in a restaurant or park or even hiking in the woods.. that is why Google docs is my basic go to

 

[Emirus]

Pages of words.

I write the original using Pages because I can use either my laptop or iPhone to write the story as it’s shared between the two. Then convert to Word for submission making any changes I deem necessary before submitting. I just want to keep it as simple as possible because I work with my iPhone the vast majority of the time.

 

[SisterJezabel]

I use Office 365 on my Mac as I got it through work and have always used it. I rely a lot on Endnote for my academic work, but I know I can get Endnote to work with other platforms. OH uses Open Office and raves by it, but he is a Linux geek from way back...

 

[Sonatatre]

I use Office 365. I feel it is nice and clean and lets me focus on the words. It is probably mostly about being used to everything, and when trying out other programs it feels distracting.

For sharing I use Google Docs. I have tried to write on it when in situations where it is the only option I have, but I do not like it very much for writing.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Agree that the best one is simply the one you'll use.

I write on my phone using Jotterpad - up to 10k words in one document, other docs for notes and future plot points. Then I save them to Dropbox and use LibreOffice on my desktop to stick the sections together and do a spellcheck.

I then send it back to my phone for final editing and posting. I rarely use a grammar checker as it alerts for every speech fragment, but I do do a check through for every pronoun and ensuring it's clear what or who is being referred to.

Works for me.

 

[Ada Stuart]

Scrivener suits the way I write.

Before starting a first draft, I almost always brainstorm a bunch of notes on a single page without any order or structure.

Then, when I have the whole story worked out, or most of it, I organize my notes into individual scenes and sequences, with each getting its own page in my project file. I can arrange these in the binder to form a sort of visual outline of my story.

Once I start drafting, I can rearrange the sequences as necessary. This is helpful, as I typically restructure my stories several times while writing.

I also tend to write nonlinearly. Scrivener has icons I can set beside each page to mark which are completed, uncompleted, in progress, or needing revision.

There's also a section to store research clippings, pictures, character and place sheets, older drafts, and other stuff that isn't part of the story proper.

All of this might be overkill for writing short sex stories, especially for pantsers or people who always write linearly. But I find it helpful to break even single-scene stroke stories into smaller sequences and work on them out of order as inspiration strikes.

Once I'm finished writing, I compile the final draft into Word for archiving.

So true After I started using Scrivener there's no going back to Word or any other tool. It's just fantastic and it saves me a ton of work when I need to publish in pdf, doc and epub. The best investment I ever made, since I don't have any time to waste.

I even use it for shorter stories because sometimes the shorter story develops into a much larger one, LOL.

And to have one file per scene seems to work so much better when you develop and build your story, compared to write the entire story in one long file.

Still, I export it to Word to run it through Grammarly, but the original stays in Scrivener. Hopefully the next version of Scrivener will include Grammarly or something similar.

 

[Bramblethorn]

So true After I started using Scrivener there's no going back to Word or any other tool. It's just fantastic and it saves me a ton of work when I need to publish in pdf, doc and epub. The best investment I ever made, since I don't have any time to waste.

I even use it for shorter stories because sometimes the shorter story develops into a much larger one, LOL.

And to have one file per scene seems to work so much better when you develop and build your story, compared to write the entire story in one long file.

Especially handy when posting stories across multiple platforms. At the start and end of each chapter I have blocks labelled "Literotica Header" and "Literotica footer", and occasionally a short copyright trap in the middle. When I compile them for other sites, it's trivial to exclude them from the compile, leaving only the text appropriate for that site.

 

[SamScribble]

Many, many, many years ago, I used WordStar - I think. And then (I can't remember why) I started using Word Perfect.

In the mid-1980s, when I started writing non-fiction books, my then-publisher had a preference for Word. And that's what I have used ever since.

I have the 'grammar checker' turned off and, after 59 years as a professional writer, I trust myself to know where I want to put a comma or a semi-colon. You may not agree with my choices, but that doesn't keep me awake at night.

 

[Hypoxia]

Yes, the primary storytelling device is the wetware between our ears, not the warez at our fingertips. Alas, our cerebral wetware fucks up and flounders, which is why we employ robotic aides aka spellcheckers etc. I increasingly rely on assistance for my decaying optics and thoughts.

At least I now have better tools than a line-editor -- anyone recall the CP/M ed app? Yikes.

 

[Handley_Page]

Yes, the primary storytelling device is the wetware between our ears, not the warez at our fingertips. Alas, our cerebral wetware fucks up and flounders, which is why we employ robotic aides aka spellcheckers etc. I increasingly rely on assistance for my decaying optics and thoughts.

At least I now have better tools than a line-editor -- anyone recall the CP/M ed app? Yikes.

Ah; Wordstar 4 running on CP/M.
Magic !

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Currently using Word 2007 for everything. In the past I have used several of the things mentioned in other's posts.

I have used a free suite of a program called yWriter. It not only lets you break things down into the chapters, but let you break those down into scenes. It also has character sheets and a lot of other stuff that I never really got into. I haven't used it for a while though.

 

[8letters]

I use Scrivener. I like the spell checker, integrated dictionary, and being able to click on a word and look it up in Google. I regularly use words that I'm not sure of the meaning, so being able to check the meaning quickly is important to me.

But the biggest reason I like Scrivener is how easy it is for me to version my stories. Every so often, I'll rewrite a scene or rip out a scene and then later decide I liked the original better. Before I do any drastic changes to my story, I create a new version of the story. The old version is still there in my binder, so it's easy to switch back to it.

 

[Hypoxia]

Ah; Wordstar 4 running on CP/M.
Magic !

W*4 was galaxies beyond ed and similar line editors, like the one I used on an IBM 370 mainframe-connected Teletype 33 for routing application outputs. Tedious stuff; focus was forced; error was not an option; throughput was slow. W*4 was handy on micros, transitioning from CP/M and MP/M to MS-DOS.

For some reason, WordPerfect and CorelWrite never grabbed me, maybe because I wasn't authoring fiction then. Haiku can be written on a line editor.

 

[Handley_Page]

W*4 was galaxies beyond ed and similar line editors, like the one I used on an IBM 370 mainframe-connected Teletype 33 for routing application outputs. Tedious stuff; focus was forced; error was not an option; throughput was slow. W*4 was handy on micros, transitioning from CP/M and MP/M to MS-DOS.

For some reason, WordPerfect and CorelWrite never grabbed me, maybe because I wasn't authoring fiction then. Haiku can be written on a line editor.

I never rated WP, somehow; it felt stiff & unresponsive.
Never tried Corel write.

I have a copy of Wordstar 6; and bloody good it is !

 

[gordo12]

I've been using Libre Office because it's free.

For grammar and punctuation, I finally shelled out for Grammarly. I'm glad I did. Even though I thought I did well, I discovered hundreds of issues using their app, and I agree with most.

But what I like best is a new feature. The program learns from your mistakes and what you've accepted and changed. It will now pop up and say you have 192 errors you've accepted and changed in the past. Then you can correct them with one click.

The downside, it will only accept up to around 18,000 words at once. You may have to break a story down into chunks. It doesn't have an extension for Libre and requires a cut and paste into the app, then saving an edited version that I eventually use to replace the original file.