Writers!

[telophase]

Writers who use special software for your writing other than, say, Word: what do you use (that is compatible with Windows)? I was casting about for something that would let me organize notes and things into one file along with the draft, but OF COURSE when I'm not looking for such a thing, people post reviews and mentions all over my f-list, but when I am looking for such a thing, I can find nary a mention. (and Googling gives me lots and lots of people willing to sell me such software, but nothing giving me honest reviews...)

Comments

[yhlee]

inkstone has said good things about Storybox, although it's apparently not a finished work yet. (I don't do my writing on a Windows box so can't report on it myself.) Mentioned in a locked post so I can't give the link to her notes here.

[telophase]

Thanks! I'll go poke through her archives and see if I'm on that filter. :)

[yhlee]

Ahahahaha, I am so bad at keeping track of who is reading who these days. ^_^ Apologies!

[telophase]

No prob! I have no idea who reads who on my f-list until I run across their name in a comment, which, after a moment of "Huh. So they're here, too," I promptly forget. :D

[inkstone]

Heh, that was a simple access lock but here's the link in case you couldn't find the post: http://www.storyboxsoftware.com/

Just a note: branewurms reports that it's glitchy on her PC. I haven't encountered the same glitchiness with the menus but it might be a possibility. Also, it is nag ware so everytime you boot it up, it'll ask for money.

[kore]

Do let me know, because all the Mac-users I know rave over Scribendi and I'm jealous as hell I can't have it (I use a Dell desktop from, yes, 2001).

[kore]

SCRIVENER not Scribendi, argh.

[telophase]

I was misremembering it as Scribd earlier. :/

[ailelie]

OneNote. Utterly fantastic and part of the 2007 and 2010 Office suites.

(A cool feature? You can tag individual sentences for easy searching later on.

If you're jealous of the notecards in Scrivener (like I am), then in OneNote, you can make each 'card' its own block of text. Each block can be moved around independently, even on top of other blocks, if you so desire).

[l_elfie]

i just use openoffice--writer can let you put notes in the sideline? but it's still basically word, so if you're looking for something radically different, this probably isn't it.

Test comment for futzing with the CSS

[telophase]

Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. Test test test test. vvv

[lnhammer]

I'm not much help here -- I write first drafts (including my notes files) in an ascii editor called TextPad, and when I'm done decant into FrameMaker to get proper manuscript formatting. Which is, yes, a way overpowered way of doing that last, but it's what I have (for work). And I hate Word with a very professional hate.

(Whatever you did with the CSS test has done interesting things with the heading of the journal, btw.)

---L.

[tessercat]

Oh hai, fellow Frame user. I do a lot of drafting in plain text (NoteTab), and once tried pulling it all into Frame as a learning exercise, but it seemed like overkill for what I was working on. (Well, that, and I only have a valid license for using FM at work; was playing with a trial at home.)

[lnhammer]

Definitely overkill. The amusement factor of this is part of why I do it.

My company's Frame licenses allow it to be installed on two 'puters as long as they aren't running at the same time, as in at work and at home. Or at least, that's my company's official position.

---L.

OneNote=Ultimate

[ailelie]

OneNote. That program is one reason I'd think twice about ever leaving Windows.

You can create a notebook with the draft on one page and notes on another and web clippings on another. You can move blocks of text around easily. If you want to add something at a weird spot, you just click and start typing. You can make a ToC on one page and link within the notebook easily. You can make subpages. You can do a notebook within a notebook. You can take a picture of handwritten notes or scan them in and search handwritten text.

Basically, it is one of the ultimate writing tools and apparently a secret one since Microsoft never talks about it.

Re: OneNote=Ultimate

[ailelie]

Oh, also? It is part of the 2007 and 2010 Office suites. So... if you have those, you already have the program.

[beckyh2112.livejournal.com]

I tried yWriter4 before discovering my own writing process finds such things really frikkin' annoying. However, the program did seem pretty good for what you're going for.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I may find out that that sort of thing annoys the hell out of me also, but I'm willing to give it a try for this particular piece, as I have lots of notes and wrangling several files isn't working very well at this point.

[grendelity.livejournal.com]

I highly recommend RoughDraft. I used and loved it for many years, and it kills me that there is no Mac equivalent. It doesn't lump notes into the same file, per se, but the interface has an option for notes, and it saves it as a linked txt file in the same location as the main file.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Awesome, thanks!

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I use Liquid Story Binder, but it has a steeeeeeep learning curve. I'd recommend searching for tutorials on YouTube to see if it's something you might get use out of, because if you start looking at it from that perspective, it may be easier to figure out.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

I use Liquid Story Binder, too. They've got some tutorials on their website now, I think. I really like it, but it can be strange at first. It has the option of displaying *nothing* but the text on your screen, which I find invaluable. (Not even the toolbar at the bottom of the page.)

[chisotahn]

Ooh, the question is relevant to my interests too! I will read your comments avidly. I hear people freaking out all the time about Scrivener, but that's Mac-only.

[nekonexus.livejournal.com]

But wait! I have heard direct from the Scrivener folks (http://twitter.com/ScrivenerApp/status/21900342652) that they are working on a Windows version! I am so damn excited because it was the one app I really regretted losing when I killed my MacBook.

I have tried Liquid Story Binder, but bounced off it (well, it's not Scrivener), and have tried the trial version of PageFour, but it was frustrating me with the trial limitations and not making me sure that I wanted to shell out for the paid version.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Hopefully they'll release it before too long. :)

[nekonexus.livejournal.com]

I've seen rumours of October (I forget where...) for a beta release. *fingers crossed*

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Same here. XD