Where do you put your words?

[KillerMuffin]

I put mine in one of two places. WordPerfect 8 or on a piece of paper, which I usually lose. Not that I don't lose things in WordPerfect, it is a big hard drive after all.

Where do you put yours? What kind of word processor do you use and why do you like or dislike it? Do you like to write long hand then painstakingly move it to the computer? What do you write on/in?

 

[Angel]

Heh. I use notepad. Actually I use notepad for EVERYTHING. Writing Erotica, Poems and It's also my HTML editor. Then I copy it into word to spellcheck. I don't know why, I just prefer the simplicity of notepad.

I also have them all on paper in my *Scribble* folder just in case.

 

[Weird Harold]

I use MS Word 97.

It has good grammar and spelling checkers, and the reviewing tools make editing easier. I put comments on sections that need reworked or I need to research something about. I move stories from folder to folder depending on the stage they're in. One folder for "new" stories, one for those in a "cooling off" period before editing and rewriting, and one for submitted stories. I use the Properties/summary feature to track when and where a story was submitted.

 

[SpecialK]

Here, there and everywhere!

Let's see... the first erotica story I ever wrote began its illustrious beginnings at the back of my ENG 3005 (Chaucer) class notebook. I'm sure Dr. Futhey would have been so pleased.

Now I still write in the oddest of places. I usually keep a notebook of some kind in my purse so invariably I jot down story ideas and even write stories in there. The notebook seems to change every second week. I must have a bazillion notebooks with partially finished/started erotica in them. (I usually prefer the small, wire-bound 5 subject notebooks. I don't think I have ever completely filled one.)

If I'm writing directly on the computer, I like using Notepad as well. I find it is the least likely to crash. Besides, in those early writing stages, I don't use any of the fancy features anyway.

When the story is done, then I'll use MS Word 97 to edit. Often I'll save it back into a .txt file.

I also have a laptop. I bought this so that I could eliminate the notebook problem. Well, if you've read my thread in the General Board, you know how well that's going! Grrrr! However, I did use the thing, again (idiotic, I know) to jot down some ideas for a new story last night and to re-type/write the stuff I had written before the POS crashed.

Amazingly enough, both of those new files have been transfered onto my big beast (desktop) without incident! Wheew!

K

P.S. Along with that notebook thing..... I have all kinds of pens. I was recently called the Queen of Coloured Pens. I like to write with cool pens. I don't really think it has any impact on the creative process, but it seems like it. If you scribble on paper, what writing instruments do you use?

 

[Alex De Kok]

I usually use WordPerfect 8. I've been using WordPerfect since version 4.2 for DOS and I like it, particularly the 'Alt-F3' combination which shows me all the strange codes which have slipped in because of my two-fingered typing. Before WordPerfect, Word Star (remember that?) I'm also trying to get to grips with Word 2000 after getting my hand smacked by Laurel for some weird formatting (WordPerfect's 'SmartQuotes' aren't, in translation). I've also looked at the free word processor from Sun (Star Office?) I take the point about the simplicity of Notepad, but I'm used to WP8 now.

I tend to compose at the keyboard, rather than use paper, but I always carry a small spiral-bound notebook which fits in my shirt pocket, for ideas which come to me on the move.

Like SpecialK I'm a pen junkie, although I tend to use a mechanical pencil for scribbles and I always carry an eraser in my pocket. My only regular use of a pen recently has been in examinations (oh, joy!) where I use a Rotring 'Altro', which is a fountain-pen with a tubular nib, a bit like a technical pen but easier to use and doesn't dig into the paper. Otherwise I use a rollerball pen rather than a standard ballpoint. At the last count I probably have about thirty different pens of varying types. Sad.

 

[Closet Desire]

Love pens...

...fountain pens that is...have a lovely Cross and Waterman, but do 99.9% of all writing on a computer. Prefer Lotus Word Pro because of how it handles large documents, but alas, Bill's got me now with Word 2000. We send and receive documents all the time and Word seems to be, well, the word. It also integrates with MS Outlook so we're stuck.

 

[Andra_Jenny]

Word 2000 and using voice, although it is slow at first until we learn about each other (the software and I). Looking forward to the day when computing is hands free, or nearly so. I think I want to aquire a small electronic hand held notepad, those look to be quite the thing also.

 

[Whispersecret]

I use Word97 for most of my writing. I don't know three-quarters of it's features, but the ones I use, I like. For editing it's unbeatable. In fact, I'm thinking of refusing to edit anything that isn't sent to me in that format.

When I'm away from my computer, I have used pen and paper, but typically my head works way faster than my hand, and I get frustrated. I worry that I'll lose a great idea because my hand is still writing some other idea.

Recently I got a Handspring Visor Deluxe Handheld and it's indispensible to me now for more than just writing. I have the little Targus fold-up keyboard for it and so now I can write to my heart's content "on the road" and sync it neatly into my desktop at home. I highly recommend this if you can spare the cash.

 

[Madame Pandora]

I use Word 2000. I've gone from Word version to Word version through the years and I just like it. Tried WordPerfect a few times and, although it wasn't much different (a word processor is pretty much a word processor), I like Word better.

I also keep a mini tape recorder at my bedside. I can't count the number of times I've been half asleep and THAT is when the idea for a plot twist or an article hit me. Instead of having to turn on the light, get up, and fumble for paper and pencil, for the last couple years I just click a few buttons.


MP ;-)

 

[Guest]

Backups, too

I used WordPerfect for many years, but then Word became more of a standard, especially for submissions to publishers and editors. The most important thing I've learned is to back up my work at the end of every session. Since I once lost about 70 pages, I'm a fanatic and I back up to a floppy as well as a Zip disc. The floppy is useful when I travel and use a teeny laptop.

[Edited by pard70 on 01-28-2001 at 07:50 PM]

 

[KillerMuffin]

Floppies are wonderful, just keep them out of the koolaid. Big booboo at the muff's puter. Koolaid and floppies... very bad.

 

[Skibum]

I use mostly Word 2000, but I have a lot of older stuff on my hard drive in Word Perfect 7 and Works 4.0. I also have a lot of real old stuff in Word Writer PC, a PC version of an old Apple word processor from the early '90's.

 

[CreamyLady]

Mostly in my head. I'm getting tired of sharing.

When I am compelled to put them someplace else, Word 97.

 

[Guest]

Got a new iMac and I haven't put Claris or Pagemaker on it yet, so I'm back to using Simple Text - no spellcheck (ouch!). Sometimes I scribble thoughts in perfumed writing books that Gingersnap sent me. I like to be able to smell my Muse's scent.

 

[Ray Dario]

I use MS Word, when it deigns to work and doesn't accuse me of performing an illegal act. (And I didn't even use a hamster!)

Actually my computer and I have a love/hate relationship. When it works I love it and when it blows up I hate it (You thought I was going to do the old corny joke huh). But I have found that most publishers who take electronic submissions want it in MS Word format. Don't ask me why since I talked to one of their techies once and the first thing they do is convert it to a publisher format. Go figure but you must keep the gods happy.

Ray

 

[codeseeker]

The notes for my stories are done the old way. Pen and paper. I find it easier to jot down my ideas with a pen.
The actual writing is done with ms word 97. I find it easier to edit.
Say what you want about ms but the do make a decent word processor.

 

[Tawny T]

I use Word 2000 and always write to a diskette. I have auto save with it. The word processor is such a boon to me.

I don't know how I ever wrote without it. I do know, I rewrote a lot of stories that had 'misteaks' in them! And rewrote, and rewrote. Taking a whole sentence and being able to move it - God how wonderful!

WordPerfect is a really nasty word for me. It screwed up a whole very long story on a diskette. I, and several others, tried in vain to recover it. All I was able to do was print it out with a lot of garbage between each word.

I even tried scanning it, using OmniPage, to try and delete all that garbage. Didn't work, too much garbage. Finally I took the printed mess, and retyped the whole damn thing over again, word for word.

WordPerfect makes a nice bookend on my shelf. It's large enough not to turn over, and heavy enough to stay put. Expensive bookend.

 

[WriterDom]

I like wordperfect.. tried others but always go back

 

[Margaret]

Word 97.

Question: How do you number the pages on multiple documents to be sequential?

I'm working on something I spit into multiple documents for convenience in transmitting, etc. I don't want one word document that is too long.

For example, document 1 goes from pages 1 to 30. Document 2 goes from pages 31 to 54. Document 3 goes from pages 55 to 83. And so on. I want to number the pages like that, without doing it manually. And when I change the first page of document 3 to 57, for example, I want the system to renumber the rest of the pages, 57 to 85. Since I'm constantly revising, the page numbers change frequently.

Can you do something like this on Word 97? If so, how?

Thanks.

 

[KillerMuffin]

There are very few differences between WordPerfect and Word, I've used both extensively. The one thing that WP has over Word is reveal codes. If something in your document is fucking up royally and nothing seems to get rid of it, you just reveal codes in WP and you can find it and see what it is. Helps to fix some things.

 

[bluntforcemama]

I write my stories in Word 97, but transfer them to notepad after the final product is finished so that it can be translated almost universally by any non-Mac computer-based system, that way I don't have a f-cked up file that no one else can read.