What's your preferred writing program?

[FortySixtyFour]

I'm not really much of a writer aside from roleplaying on forums some years back, but for most of my life I was typing out posts in notepad exclusively. The plainest of the plaintext editors, I didn't have to worry about formats or loading speed because everything was the simplest .txt file.

I've only in the last year switched over to using Google Docs, as there was an unfortunate catastrophe where I lost several days of work copying the wrong file between my PC and my mini (overwrote the new version of the chapter with the old version, how effing stupid can I be?!). I'm not a big fan of a lot of the Google services, and it DOES always require internet connection, but there are a lot of pros.

I can access my doc and make little proofreading edits from my phone while on break at work, for instance, and it's (usually) pretty easy to link the doc to editors who can highlight text and leave comments beside it.

My girlfriend is a Microsoft Word snob, and several of the other writers I know in person can ONLY get their creative juices flowing when using pen-and-paper, which boggles my mind.

 

[karaline]

I'd always used word, I changed to googledocs when my lap top started to die and i needed to back it up, I then worked in docs until I moved somewhere very remote and found googledocs didn't work so well when the internet was patchy (i think they recently changed that), but I went back to word.

Very recently I purchased scrivener and now I work exclusively in that with drop box backing it up automatically.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I use WORD because its on my computer. I accepted a free trial and the free trial fucked up all my existing files, so I hadda buy it or lose 100s of files.

 

[_Lynn_]

I use Word 2007. Whenever I tried anything else, I went back to Word.

 

[TxRad]

I started with Works, which is a cut down copy of word. Then somewhere along the line I found a copy of Word 2000. Someone i worked for gave it to me. Over the years, I've turned off this and that and parred down other stuff until i have it just like I want it.

I've used Googledoc to co-write with other authors and that works well. We use different colors and then black for finalizing. We use red to question something. Other than that, I don't keep anything on any cloud. One author here on Lit had everything she owned lifted and then deleted when she got hacked.

As for backup, I keep everything on one thumb drive but it is updated to my main computer and my backup drive every five minutes when there have been any changes at all. Anytime i plug the thumb drive into my laptop it updates the file in there.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I started using WORD back in 1995 - Office95. I have become quiet proficient at driving the programs in Office. I have used all the Office programs, from '95, '97, '00, '03, and now Office 2007, so I use Word 2007 for most things.

For large writing projects I use yWrite 5.0. Once done, you can export to .doc format and run it through word for grammar and spell check. And as most of the publishing sites require Word .doc files for submission that works our pretty good.l

 

[Hypoxia]

I use the free tabbed editor Jarte and its excellent free WordWeb dictionary-thesaurus. (*) I do final spelling-grammar checks with Word 2003 but just find Word too bulky for agile editing. I had used the Dropbox cloud service but now prefer Copy -- it fits better on my laptops and tablets.

(*) To supplement the WordWeb thesaurus, I usually have a PDF reader open with a copy of The Bald-Headed Hermit and the Artichoke: An Erotic Thesaurus.

 

[Handley_Page]

After using many Word Procs, from DOS-based stuff like WordStar (I mourn its passing), I now mostly use Word 2003.

I think it's worth reminding writers about 'other' ~Word Processors which seem to do OK. The beauty of them is they are FREE.

Jarte; This neat add-on slots over Microsoft’s own Word Pad Text Ed.
What comes out is a quite handy little gadget for writing a bit more that “Dear Aunty”. And it damned good.

AbiWord: A neat little thing that includes a separate dictionary for American and British.

Kingsoft Writer: This looks very like Microsoft Word and has a very, very similar command structure.

Libre Office: Microsoft Office in drag. It does the lot!

Lotus Symphony: I’ve never used it but I managed to download a free copy.

There’s also “Office Now” and “yWriter” which I’ve never seriously tried.

 

[NotWise]

LibreOffice Writer. LibreOffice is a suite of programs that provides the functionality of MS Office, but it's free.

 

[CeasarBoobage]

On whatever laptop I'm currently using, it's either OpenOffice or LibreOffice. On my iphone, it's the notepad app, and Kingsoft on my tablet. Either way, there's some cloud or another that I use to back up everything in progress. Its a tedious system at times, especially since my phone doesn't easily do ODT or DOC.

Out of all the 'office' apps I've used for years, I find that I prefer OpenOffice or LibreOffice to anything else. It runs on almost every platform, its powerful enough for my needs, it's consistent across platforms and versions, and it's free. Unlike the behemoth in Redmond USA, which sucks on the previously mentioned items. Word is still a good app, it just doesn't have the flexibility I need.

Oddly enough, I've written the most on my iPhone. Between the long commutes for work, travel by train or airplane, and a family road trip, my phone's screen has taken a beating. Unless you've done it, you have no idea how odd it is to write/edit a 20k story on a tiny screen in an app with almost no features (except basic spell check).

 

[sr71plt]

Word. It's the program of publishing.

 

[HeyAll]

Google Docs

Everything is saved online. Plus you can go back and view your previous history of a particular document (in case you want to restore something you've deleted.)

 

[Nathan_Brazil]

Bic

I use a pen.

Why?

I tend to write at work, or in a waiting room, or at gatherings.

I always take my clipboard with me whenever I go anywhere that requires getting out of the car. I sit in the corner and write. Yes... Those of you who have been lucky enough to see the film, Crumb, might have the correct idea.

 

[GoldenCojones]

Word

I use Word because Wordstar is no longer available. The newest version of word is still not as easy to use and problem free as Wordstar was but it is usable and amongst all the clutter there are a few features that I actually like.

 

[Boxerwing]

Pages

I have all Apple products, and I use Pages across all my devices: desktop computer, iPhone and iPad. Saves to the cloud, updates across devices, and I can share my work either through a link or as a file. Works for me.

 

[someoneyouknow]

Notepad, then toss into OpenOffice and Word for spell checking along with Firefox's built in stuff.

 

[rjordan]

When I was writing professionally, I had to use Word or at least submit Word files. When I no longer had to satisfy a publisher, and had to buy my own copy, I switched to Open Office which I much prefer and it's free.

I had one client that insisted I use PowerPoint. They were huge and a major source of income so they could demand stupid shit like that. The work was heavy with illustrations, so I was essentially writing copy and doing a rough layout at the same time--tedious and distracting for a writer. The idea was the first draft was in a form that made it easier to read for the client instead of galleys and a stack of photos. Money talks. I would have written on clay tablets if they had required it.

A little over a year ago, I switched to Scrivener for all my writing. The "word processor" part of it is totally adequate for drafts and simple formatting. It's Rich Text Format. It's not a full blown WP like Word, but who uses even 10% of the power of Word for fiction or any draft writing for that matter? And if you want to use Word or any other editor, you can. I sometimes write in OpenOffice, then import it into Scrivener later. It reads almost all wp formats, though it's rtf and will strip some formatting that doesn't conform.

The real power of Scrivener and the reason I switched is for the organizational features. Basically, it is a free form database manager, with a rtf text editor included. Everything is almost seamlessly integrated.

I store miscellaneous scenes, scraps of dialog, character studies, graphics of possible story locations, rough outlines of stories, newspaper articles that suggest a story all in a Scrivener file called Story Ideas.

When a story starts to gel in my head, I create another Scrivener file just for that story and move all my notes over from the Story Idea file. Everything in one place for a particular story. If I have a few minutes and want to play with the idea, it's all right there with everything I've done so far and all the research materials I had been saving. Writing becomes more productive because I never have to hunt for anything.

After the story is done, all the materials you used for research are still in the Scrivener file for that story. If you want to rewrite it at some future date, all your notes are right there in front of you. Amazing.

I bet I could have doubled my freelance income if I had had something like Scrivener.

Authors writing as a hobby (me, now) don't need something like Scrivener, but it sure makes it a lot more enjoyable, and that's what hobbies are for. A totally worthwhile $40 investment as a hobby tool.

rj

 

[MayorReynolds]

My programs are Notepad, Word and OpenOffice.

Notepad is a quick, hassle-free and easy way to jot down notes, timelines, statistics and ideas for stories. The .txt format is perfect for open-and-shut referencing.

I use Word/Office for professional projects, such as the manuscript I'm currently working on and documents for my day job. I do not like the fact that the MS Office suite now has a goddamned annual subscription fee, but Word contains all the fancy formatting tools and widgets that I need—it's also the only program that does not have restrictions on saving and editing Microsoft's proprietary .docx format.

I should get this out before continuing onward with my day: fuck fuck goddamn mothershitass fucking son of a shiteating cocknobbing bukakke up your eyeballs go ahead and take my $120 again this coming February Microsoft, you whores. Yes, I'll renew early to get a "free month." I hope the sperm you've guzzled down chews away your stomach lining. Okay.

I've started using OpenOffice for Literotica submissions, mainly because the settings are tuned to using straight and double quotes instead of smart ones. In other words, it's set for web formatting. I can copy/paste directly from the document into the Lit submission window without my browser thinking that contractions using smart quotes are misspelled words, which irks the shit out of me.

OpenOffice and Word also display completely different word counts for my documents and I don't know which one is telling the truth.

 

[rjordan]

OpenOffice and Word also display completely different word counts for my documents and I don't know which one is telling the truth.

Obviously, it depends on the formula each uses. There are some surprises. I don't remember many of the differences, but I do know that open quotes (I think they call them smart quotes, not the straight quotes like "), count as a word. Alt-0147 generates an open quote of this kind.


This sentence counts as 8 words in OO.

"This sentence counts as 8 words in OO."

“This sentence counts as 9 words in OO.”

What's the difference? The last one uses smart quotes. That open quote in the 3rd sentence that leans to the left is counted as a word in OO. Even if there is no space (which there shouldn't be, of course.) The close quote (Alt-0148) is not counted as a word.

Straight quotes as used in the middle sentence are not counted as a word in OO.

If you are writing dialog as most of us do, those extra words from open quotes add up quickly.

There are several other anomalies which escape me at the moment. I think they have been discussed on the Apache OO forum, but I haven't looked in there for a couple of years. That "feature" goes back before Apache had the suite.

I remember experimenting with the two and Word was pretty accurate according to what most human beings determine is a word. OO was usually 20+% higher.

If you are writing for a publication that requires a specific word count, this is important. I still write a lot of short explanatory sidebars to go with articles by other writers for motorcycle mags. Accurate word count is extremely important for those.

But it isn't so important for Lit stories, of course. A ball park count is usually quite enough for me.

rj

 

[Gorza]

It's good to see so many other Luddites here. I use a Vim, an ages old text editor. It's like Notepad, but has a few more tools. I write on a black screen (not a window, the whole screen) with just a flashing cursor. Vim doesn't do any fonts or formatting stuff, which just gets in the way and looks like shit on Whatnot Office. Vim just saves plain-text files, which is all you need to upload to Lit.

I've been using Google Docs for some time. I don't like that it emulates all those word-processor things, but is a great tool for collaborative writing. When I do volunteer editing for Lit, my writers can login and watch me edit their text live! It's good at doing version control, and allowing one person to change the text, while others suggest changes. Email documents back and forth lacks all of this.

 

[legerdemer]

Scrivener, for all the reasons RJordan gave, but sometimes Word and Pages as well. More and more I use Scrivener, then copy into, strangely enough, Gmail, correct some line spacing issues, and move into the Lit text box from there. I prefer Pages to Word but need to use Word for work too much to make Pages practical, though it's much more stable.

 

[lovecraft68]

I like word, I'm using 2007. I dread the day they make it obsolete and force us to go into a newer version. 2010 and up kind of suck.

 

[49greg]

I use Libre office now, and for the last few years. Open office before that.

I have used word, and own a copy, but I like Libre/Open office better.

I stared out in the eighties with Lotus Symphony, using the attached word processing function. It was pretty basic, but it was a long time ago in the age of 5-1/4" floppies.

I went to Professional Write. then Professional Write for Windows.

Then MS Word/office at work, and at home with a CD they gave me to use at home for work at home.

Then MS Works that came with a home laptop after I retired.

On and off between Works and Office.

Then Open Office and now Libre Office. I tried them and like them better that anything Microsoft came up with. I can save to word any time I need to share anything with someone else, and open word documents.

Probably one or two that I forgot.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I like word, I'm using 2007. I dread the day they make it obsolete and force us to go into a newer version. 2010 and up kind of suck.

2010 is exactly like 2007. I had an evaluation copy of 2010 and the interface was exactly the same as 2007. That's why when the evaluation expired, I deleted 2010. Nothing new. I also have a working copy of Word 97. I doubt they will obsolete it. What they will do is stop updating it. And if it still works who cares if they update it. I don't.

Now Office 365 is a ripoff. You pay a monthly fee to use it. Don't pay. It don't work.

 

[litfan10]

I use Word 2010 for short stuff and Scrivener for the big stuff. I find the majority of my students use Word, but plenty hit me with Google Docs and Open Office enough so I make sure I'm versed in them as well - but Word (prior to 365) and Scrivener are my preference.