What's your preferred writing program?

[sr71plt]

My backup storage is Lit. and a few other Web sites. (And that's exactly why I started posting to Lit.)

 

[le_kitty]

On my laptop I use MS Word. But I have always had to keep an eye on what it does to format as it does sometimes like to jig things about without permission.

I also take the time to back up on a USB stick at the start of every month. Something that has given me real peace of mind.

Out and about I would love using pen and paper but until I can get an assistant to type up my work I actively try to avoid it. The write up process just takes me SO long! When making far shorter notes I tend to use my phone and Microsoft's OneNote app. If you are connected online it will back up automatically.

A word of caution about notes/stories that aren't backed up. A few years back I had all my best ideas and writing on my iPhone, however I did not trust Apple to keep my ideas safe online so chose not to back up online. Then my phone died suddenly from water damage and all was lost. Nowadays of course I use OneNote, but I also make sure to write up my ideas onto my computer asap and then my USB back up is hidden away. Peace of mind.

My process is the same. I use word on PC and pages on Mac and both save to Dropbox so everything is synced across my systems including my phone.

I probably backup to a portable hard drive once in a blue moon. The added benefit of cloud storage is that it exists on my computer as well as on a cloud. Which again, could be vulnerable, but the convenience! Hidden away... unlike me, my hard drive sits innocently on my desk.

The great thing about submitting work to Lit and other places, is that once it's on the internet, it's there forever. No need to worry about losing it. Though if you take it down later, it will still remain discoverable.

 

[LastLostIdols]

I use word and then grammarly to edit.

Www.grammarly.com

 

[Zeb_Carter]

On my laptop I use MS Word. But I have always had to keep an eye on what it does to format as it does sometimes like to jig things about without permission.

I also take the time to back up on a USB stick at the start of every month. Something that has given me real peace of mind.

Out and about I would love using pen and paper but until I can get an assistant to type up my work I actively try to avoid it. The write up process just takes me SO long! When making far shorter notes I tend to use my phone and Microsoft's OneNote app. If you are connected online it will back up automatically.

A word of caution about notes/stories that aren't backed up. A few years back I had all my best ideas and writing on my iPhone, however I did not trust Apple to keep my ideas safe online so chose not to back up online. Then my phone died suddenly from water damage and all was lost. Nowadays of course I use OneNote, but I also make sure to write up my ideas onto my computer asap and then my USB back up is hidden away. Peace of mind.

Just need to use this set up...

 

[soflabbwlvr]

My preferred program is Wordperfect. Unfortunately, I live in an MSWord world.

 

[sr71plt]

Wordperfect was a favored system for book editors too--it just couldn't hold its own in replacement costs in the industry.

 

[SamScribble]

Wordperfect was a favored system for book editors too--it just couldn't hold its own in replacement costs in the industry.

Yes. Most of the guys I work with abandoned Wordperfect back in the mid-90s - and I'm pretty sure that cost was the main reason.

 

[Handley_Page]

All-time favourite: Wordstar 6.

[Let us hold a moment of silence for a brilliant Word Processor. . . .]

 

[Zeb_Carter]

My very first was WordPerfect for DOS...a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

 

[CoryKing]

Notepad on PC or Plaintext for the iPad. It syncs with Dropbox so I don't lose work.

 

[rjordan]

Wordperfect was a favored system for book editors too--it just couldn't hold its own in replacement costs in the industry.

WordPerfect was my favorite at the time. I depended on WP and Lotus 1-2-3 very heavily for my work, sharing files between the two. Every time there was a conflict and I called for help, one would point at the other as the cause. So after a brief trial, I switched to Word/Excel in 1991 or so. It stopped the fingerpointing as both are MS products.

At the time, Word had a WordPerfect mode. You could continue to use WP keyboard shortcuts in Word. Smart move.

rj

 

[lovecraft68]

Using word 2007 on windows 7 which I have never had issues with.

But my lap top is beginning to shit the bed and I'm going shopping for a new one this week. The new ones come with windows 10, but I'm going to look for something that only has seven or 8.1 at the most recent.

I've heard there's a lot of bugs in 2010

 

[rjordan]

Using word 2007 on windows 7 which I have never had issues with.

But my lap top is beginning to shit the bed and I'm going shopping for a new one this week. The new ones come with windows 10, but I'm going to look for something that only has seven or 8.1 at the most recent.

I've heard there's a lot of bugs in 2010

I must be immune. I have 2 desktops and 2 laptops on Win 10 in our household. Absolutely no issues. The laptops were purchased with Win 8 installed and upgraded online. The desktops were purchased with Win 7, later updated to Win 8, then Win 8.1 and now Win 10 with no issues. Fast, stable, runs all my Win XP and later software, sometimes faster than it ran under XP.

I've always found that Windows works better for me when I ignore the advice of anyone who uses the term "Windoze" in any context or admits to using Linux.

rj

 

[Hypoxia]

I've always found that Windows works better for me when I ignore the advice of anyone who uses the term "Windoze" in any context or admits to using Linux.

I used to be a CP/M guru and a DOS wizard. I say Windoze and I have since around 3.1 but that's my OS of choice -- and I've tried many. Our two little ThinkPads run 8.1 and 10 with no system problems. Our big old Toshiba and HP run 7 -- haven't bothered updating since they'll be phased out this year. Our two little Vaios are revived with Linux but I don't really 'use' that OS (which took me way too long to get a clean install), I merely look at stuff. I won't try to tell anyone how to make Windoze run better. That's your own problem.

 

[EmpressJosephine]

I have used a variety of word processors. WordPerfect is the best. It is both very versatile and very user friendly. I use it for all my personal work and some of my professional work.

It is also important to become proficient with MS Word. While it is significantly inferior to WordPerfect, it is essentially universal in academia and much of the commercial world.