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Underground > Creation >

Writers' software

The Return Of Rothkoid

12:07 / 24.08.05

Searching for recommendations, I am. Mostly, I do my writing using just Word and a fair amount of tea. However, I know people who've claimed that the different packages constructed to benefit writers have aided them.

Where does Barbelith stand?

14:08 / 24.08.05

brainstorming - Microsoft Notepad
writing - Microsoft Word
research - Mozilla Firefox

I've always found that any sort of fancy software just gets in the way of actually getting things done.
That being said, I had a chance to use Final Draft last week, and for screenwriting at least, it can be nice to have something to speed past all the formatting. For prose writing though, there's really no need for anything beyond that basic word processor.

14:26 / 24.08.05

Just me using the raven's feather and virgin's blood then?

ONLY NICE THINGS

19:44 / 24.08.05

Unfortunately, you can't get the Raven's Feather for Mac...

00:38 / 25.08.05

I heard a rumor that there's an iQuill Pro in the works though.... shhh don't tell anyone though

15:21 / 25.08.05

On the Mac, for notes: BBEdit, usually, or they go straight into my tool of choice (which I also use for proper-writing):

Copywrite

Stonking. Like a cheap version of Ulysses. Things it does: projects can have multiple docs with multiple states (draft, complete). You also have a seperate fly-out "general" notes panel. You can set wordcount (or pagecount, with a definable number of words per page) goals, and then the goal metre shows you how far there is to go. It handles basic formatting - bold, italic - but that's it.

One killer feature, though.

Fullscreen. Not just "filling the screen"; literally, a blank white screen, with text, and a pull-up menu at the bottom to flick between documents in the project. Nothing beats your screen being filled with double-spaced arial on a white backdrop. It's imposing, and blanks out all distractions - the dock can't bounce over it, there's nothing but the white.

Check out the website. It's very good.

Other than that, Word, but I hate it. I try and do everything in Copywrite. I have one project set up just for writing copy for articles, which works very well. I'm thoroughly happy with it, and it makes writing very enjoyable.

15:24 / 25.08.05

Oh - and Copywrite also does version control (rolling back and forth) and saves automatically, like, every five seconds. Which is helpful.

All Acting Regiment

19:45 / 26.08.05

This thread, among other things, tells you how to get cut-up software to automate Burroughs-esque hatching and slashing:

Still better to do it yourself, mind, but you can get some interesting ideas. Some other text manipulation here.

Probably the best software a writer can get is an internet browser, simply because it makes getting ideas and research so much easier.

The Return Of Rothkoid

03:27 / 29.08.05

Paleface: am intrigued by the package you mentioned... but like most decent writing software, it appears to be Mac only, goddamnit.

Anyone have any experience with the PC stuff?

(Bearing in mind that I write professionally and am familiar with word et al - even atex. I'm looking for something to vary my routine a bit, more than anything else...)

wembley can change in 28 days

06:19 / 31.08.05

I've used the ScriptSmart macros that are available from the < href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scriptsmart/>beeb. They're not software, but you do get lots of extra ugly little buttons at the top that you can click for stuff like SCENE EXT.-DAYTIME and whatever. I found them very useful when writing scripts, because they kept me in a very readable format and made me remember to put in bits of technical information that I otherwise wouldn't bother with.

I've tried some other free software, but nothing sticks in my head as useful. Mind, I was usually also looking for something in dramatic format. And frankly, I am a little unnerved by all these fancy software sites featuring clean photographs of budding novelists stroking their chins (although that's one chin per budding novelist; these can't be real writers) and the claim that the software will help you organize characters and plots et cetera. I mean, perhaps yes that's a fantastic tool but doesn't that take a lot of the skill/fun out of writing something long and plotty?

Anyhoo. Copywrite's full-screen thing does indeed look nice. Good idea.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

14:13 / 09.09.05

I use Final Draft because it was what people used when I started and it remains sort of the industry standard. People look at you funny if you say you use Script Thing or what have you. Or they look at me funny. Maybe that's just how they look at me. And it exports to things like MovieMagic.

I did try one of them newfangled story organising software things, but I never really got into it. And I have this suite I've designed in my head which would be really cool but no one actually makes it.