word processor and other writing programs

[Comshaw]

Just for interest, which word processor and other writing programs do you use? Do you use them because you consider them to be the best, or because it's a "They work okay so I just them" thing?

I have used Wordperfect for a number of years. It has a lot more things that can be manipulated as compared to others. I also have the evil empire program Word, which I learned to use at work and do occasionally use now, not willingly. There's a very long story behind my animosity toward MS that goes back to the days of the Internet Explorer/Netscape Navigator wars.

I also have a copy of Scrivener, a program designed to help with arranging the flow of a long written work as well as the notes for it.

I had Grammy for a while but decided to try another program, LT which works Okay.

So what tools do you use?

Comshaw

 

[MrPixel]

Hmm. Never liked WordPerfect. Used it on both Mac and Win because I was in the typesetting biz and had to know and support multiple word processors, and just couldn't warm up to WP.

I've been using MSWord 2008 on an older Mac mini since... uh... 2008. A Word user since 1986, at that time on a Mac Plus.

Will switch to LibreOffice under Ubuntu Linux when the Mac can no longer be repaired. MS, Adobe and the other "productivity tool" giants can stick their software leasing model where the sun don't shine.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Scrivener for initial composition. Word for styling, especially for versions going up on other sites where that matters more than it does here. Occasionally Atom for micromanaging things like HTML tagging.

 

[litfan10]

Scrivener when I was pro writing.

Now I just use MS Word for whatever little stuff comes up now.

 

[NotWise]

LibreOffice Writer with the Language Tool plugin. I have a long-standing preference for using Linux, and it seems to be the best wordprocessor for that platform.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I used WordPerfect and at the time liked if far better than Word, but my job switched and when I got my first computer, I wanted to stick to the same system. Hardly ideal, but it does the job.

 

[TxRad]

I started out writing in Word for Works. Around 2000 my boss gave me a copy of Word 2k. That is what I've used ever since. I have my user copy modified to my liking. I have no problem with formatting and such here or in mainstream.

As for all the other programs and add-ons, I don't use any.

 

[RejectReality]

I used Wordperfect as well. Unfortunately, damn near everything is tooled to Word, so you're always going to have little annoyance issues when using anything else. Here, the text processor chokes on em dashes. Another place, the only option for pasting with formatting intact is Word.

I just deal with the little irritations and continue with WP.

Just for interest, which word processor and other writing programs do you use? Do you use them because you consider them to be the best, or because it's a "They work okay so I just them" thing?

I have used Wordperfect for a number of years. It has a lot more things that can be manipulated as compared to others. I also have the evil empire program Word, which I learned to use at work and do occasionally use now, not willingly. There's a very long story behind my animosity toward MS that goes back to the days of the Internet Explorer/Netscape Navigator wars.

I also have a copy of Scrivener, a program designed to help with arranging the flow of a long written work as well as the notes for it.

I had Grammy for a while but decided to try another program, LT which works Okay.

So what tools do you use?

Comshaw

 

[ElectricBlue]

A Word clone - Office, which works on my Kindle.

Every work place I've been in since about 1990 has used whichever corporate version of Microsoft was around at the time, so Word is a default program for me. I've written a million plus words of erotica and god knows how much corporate content in Word over the years, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[SyleusSnow]

For short stories, most of the time I use FocusWriter for the actual writing part, then the paid version of ProWritingAid in fiction mode to fine tune grammar and style.

 

[SimonDoom]

I use the most up to date version of Word. I've used Word for 30+ years so it makes sense to continue using it. I draft stories at a desktop computer offline 100% of the time, and Word works just fine for me.

 

[PennameWombat]

All of my drafting is done on Google Docs, regardless of platform. Depending on where I am and what I'm doing, I'll edit on any and all of laptop, iPad and Android mobile phone. I created a basic MS Word-compatible template using Libre Office and uploaded that to Google Docs and use it as the base for all of my stuff. I have Google Docs set up to be able to edit offline, so it doesn't matter too much if I'm connected or not (except to upload before I wander to the next device.)

I use Libre Office on either my Windows or Linux laptop for 'final draft' cleanup to specific site standards for submission, depending on whether it's Lit or somewhere else.

For Lit, I almost always submit a .doc (MS Word 97-2003 format, not Word 2007+ (.docx) nor any Word XML formats) file. I've never had issues and have rarely seen what appear to be delays in approval.

 

[LexxRuthless]

Word 2003. My computer came with the latest version of Office, but it was far more annoying than helpful for what I wanted to do. Same thing when some other authors wanted to collaborate and use Google docs. I've used Word for a really long time, so I know how to use the program to do a lot of nifty stuff and I'm comfortable with the editing tools it uses. Newer versions always seem to screw up that utility.

 

[HeyAll]

I started writing 10 years ago, and before I had my own laptop, I shared a computer. So I used to write my stories in AOL emails, then mail it to myself. So I'd copy/paste the work in progress, type more in a new email, email it to myself to save it, then repeat the process. I'd run it through Word for a free check.

Years later I learned about Google Docs for law school, teacher wanted us to do stuff on it. I loved the way it looked and the size of the screen. So I started putting all my stories on there with my heyall account.

Even now that I use my own laptop, I still use Google Docs because Word is just too small. There's too much stuff at the top and I feel Docs has a cleaner page. And I like that you can see different folders easier.

The fact that you can share a Doc with someone is a huge plus.

 

[Handley_Page]

I've used several different Word Procs over the last decade or three.
I liked "Borland Sprint" but eventually settled on MS Word (I use 2003 at present).
I think Wordstar was brilliant and it did not take too much effort to make it jump high enough. If my old PC still worked, I'd be using it yet. . . .

Libre Office is good, though.

PS:
Free Word Procs


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”.

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.

 

[PennameWombat]

<snip>
PS:
Free Word Procs

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”.

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.

Google Docs can switch amongst various English dialects, but only on a laptop. On a phone or iPad, you’re stuck with whatever your device is set to.

But mostly, I just wanted to add another free one to your list.

It’s called “Hanx Writer.” Apparently, Tom Hanks commissioned it (unclear he actually wrote it.) But the UI is, literally, an image of a traditional typewriter typing on a white piece of paper. You even get the sound effects… On all of your usual app stores.

I’ve seen mention of it on other fora, apparently some people feel that it isn’t writing if you’re not using a typewriter. But one restriction, you can only export the file Hanx Writer produces as a PDF.

 

[LongDraw]

I started writing 10 years ago, and before I had my own laptop, I shared a computer. So I used to write my stories in AOL emails, then mail it to myself. So I'd copy/paste the work in progress, type more in a new email, email it to myself to save it, then repeat the process. I'd run it through Word for a free check.

Years later I learned about Google Docs for law school, teacher wanted us to do stuff on it. I loved the way it looked and the size of the screen. So I started putting all my stories on there with my heyall account.

Even now that I use my own laptop, I still use Google Docs because Word is just too small. There's too much stuff at the top and I feel Docs has a cleaner page. And I like that you can see different folders easier.

The fact that you can share a Doc with someone is a huge plus.

Word of caution, Google recently changed their terms regarding files stored on Google cloud storage(Google Drive). If a file is flagged as pornographic, their system will automatically delete it from cloud storage without warning.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Way back before Microsoft, I used WordPerfect on DOS. Then Windows came along and the world adopted it even though it crashed more that it was up. Along with Windows, came Word. I have worked for several companies that gave employees valid copies of the latest and greatest Office for free. That's how I got my current copy of Office so I use Word 2007.

I have a copy of Libre Office and Open Office. I also have used a little program called yWrite.

Tools, I have Grammarly for Word installed, yet a lot of it's suggests are irrelevant, some are worth the work to use it.

I Have tried other's mentioned here but always seem to windup using Word as I have it setup the way I want.

Just as an aside, I don't use any of MS's browsers. I grew a distaste of Internet Explore way back when, and only used Netscape. I have never used Explore except at one company that used everything Windows on the company machines. But at home, never, ever, Windows browsers.

I currently use a browser called Brave. It doesn't keep track of where you go or what you do and report back to the home office.

 

[MrPixel]

Word of caution, Google recently changed their terms regarding files stored on Google cloud storage(Google Drive). If a file is flagged as pornographic, their system will automatically delete it from cloud storage without warning.

Since you brought it up... this is what I don't understand about the big push to get everyone on "the cloud". Convenience? Yeah, right. You have ceded control of your digital property to someone else who can change the rules on a whim. Search for "Photobucket controversy" for a taste of what can happen. Hundreds of thousands of users suddenly had their image collections held hostage for a lot of money.

To me it's a case of ignored history repeating. One of the (many) driving forces behind the adoption of PCs was user independence from a centralized, paternalistic priesthood known as "Data Processing" that pretty much answered to nobody. The whole cloud/mothership paradigm is deja vu all over again.

 

[oggbashan]

I starred training with a dedicated wordprocessor on a Wang PC running CP/M.

My office used two systems:

For the secretaries and typing pool a dedicated wordprocessor that was taken over by Norsk Data. I became the system manager for that. If the error messages were in English the problem was easy to fix. If they were in Norwegian, the shit had hit the fan.

The other system was a Ferranti Wordprocessor on Ferranti PCs, running CP/M.

That was replaced by Amstrad 1512's running Wordstar 1512 from a 360k floppy. That was gradually upgraded to Wordstar 2000+ on ATs and later.

I liked WS2000+ and wrote my first stories at home on it.

Eventually WS2000+ wouldn't work under later versions of Windows so I had to change to Word, and I now use Word 365.

 

[PeytonMirabelle]

Another vote for Libre Office. I've used it long enough that I've figured out the formatting intricacies for hard-copy publishing.

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

Pretty much this.

 

[shakna]

I write in TeX, so my word processor is literally any plaintext editor. My stories get synced across phone, tablet, and computer, automatically, and I use whatever editor best suits at the time.

Using a typesetting language means that I won't run into the "contains HTML" problem (because there's nothing hidden from me), and also means I can (and do) autogenerate copies of my stories in PDF, ePub, HTML and plain text. So I can read over them however I feel, and I have publisher-ready files the moment I'm done editing.

It also means that I can annotate the story as I'm going, which is extremely helpful with the long and complicated arcs that I tend to write for Fantasy/NonHuman.

Finally... Plain text is plain text. I'm never going to be locked out of editing my files because I don't have the right editor on hand. Anything can edit the files.

 

[SyleusSnow]

Since you brought it up... this is what I don't understand about the big push to get everyone on "the cloud". Convenience? Yeah, right. You have ceded control of your digital property to someone else who can change the rules on a whim. Search for "Photobucket controversy" for a taste of what can happen. Hundreds of thousands of users suddenly had their image collections held hostage for a lot of money.

To me it's a case of ignored history repeating. One of the (many) driving forces behind the adoption of PCs was user independence from a centralized, paternalistic priesthood known as "Data Processing" that pretty much answered to nobody. The whole cloud/mothership paradigm is deja vu all over again.

Worse than Google's ever-shifting content policies is that they can (and do) kill accounts and all files associated with them at any time without explanation and without you having any recourse. There is no way to contact Google to argue your case.

If you store everything in Google Drive (or any "cloud" service), keep copies of your stuff elsewhere.

 

[TadOverdon]

Microsoft Word. A generation or so old. Word is the only full-featured word processor that I've ever used on a PC whether Windows or Apple.

Well, except for OpenOffice Writer for a short while a long time ago. It was basically Word.

 

[jehoram]

I use Notebook on my Windows computer. I don't want any frills like fonts, spell-check, or other formatting to interrupt the flow of words from my brain to my keyboard and screen.

I run the story through Libre Office to find the spelling errors. My editor runs it through Word on her Mac. When it comes back to me with her edits, I publish it.