Creative Reviews discussion

In case it isn't obvious, I'm new to this whole writing thing. I've played with a few approaches to writing, pen and paper, a couple of word processors, reStructured Text, LaTeX, etc. Yes, I'm probably nuts besides being a programmer in my day job. To me, these tools are comfortable as I use them very nearly everyday. What do the rest of you use? Google Docs? Microsoft Word? Something more exotic?

(Apologies if this off topic)

Years ago I used to do everything longhand in hardbacked A4 books (the best was a diary as you could use the date as a page number!) and then type it up and edit as I went; but last-minute essays at Uni cured me of the longhand habit and as my typing speed improved I took to the computer more.

Now I have a teeny notebook that fits on the dropdown table on a train seat, and as I spend several hours commuting, Word does the trick nicely! Or if the train's too crowded, I write in an email to myself on my phone and then copy it across later!

Though am considering Scrivener. Anyone use that? Heard it's good for complex timelines and mine makes the Gordian Knot look easy.

Scrivener looks pretty interesting, but I can't say that I have used it. Just looking at the site, it appears have quite a few tasty features and price which doesn't look all that bad either.

I'm immersed in Scrivener right now. I wrote a novel using a plain text editor on my iPad (w/wireless keyboard) then imported into Scrivener for formatting for epub.

I have to say it is a powerful tool. You can choose to use only a few of its features and that alone is worth the money, but the incredible range of things it can do is just astounding. One of the features I think I'll like in the future is the ability to put reference materials in a file with your manuscript. Having them so handy and not to have to open a browser--incredible. Lots of other good stuff too for organization. Best $45 I ever spent in the app store!

I'm old fashioned: first draft is handwritten on notebooks (yeah, the paper ones, so pen+paper), but then I type it in Open Office (less bugs than Word when I need to upload to the Smashwords meatgrinder, LOL) and save it on Dropbox - because I have a desktop and a laptop at the moment and it's easy to work from any without having to move the document (just open Dropbox and then the file and work from wherever)...
For "historical accuracy": some of my older works are typed with a manual typewriter - I also had an electric one before buying my first PC in the late 1990s! ;-)

Yeah,I LOVE Dropbox since the time I accidentally saved the packing list for my holiday over my MS. A catastrophe if I hadn't been able to roll it back to the previous version on Dropbox!! Needless to say, I now email the MS to myself at the end of every edit and make sure I havemultiple versions saved with the date in the title! Phew!

Sounds like Scrivener might be a goer then...Thanks for the feedback, peeps!
JAC

Yeah, that is definitely a feature Scrivener could add. I wrote my first book on the iPad and the app I used was linked with Dropbox. I could sync the file every time I worked so that I was always assured that even if one of my kids dropped the iPad or something, dropbox had my back. It was INCREDIBLY easy to import that entire MS into Scrivener and format it for epub.

I'm sure there must be ways to do it. All this cloud technology that is abounding now makes life easier, for sure. My next MS will be entirely written on Scrivener and I'll be worried about it unless I come up with a plan. So many, many hours of work in a MS, that is for sure.

Jennifer, what app did you use and will it work with an iPhone / Ipod touch? I bought Pages only to discover it doesn't work with an iTouch! Grrrr.....
JAC

When it comes to writing I think to myself..writing it by hand on paper with a paper and pencil must be so much harder! Thank god for technology! I mean sure I wrote a story when I was a kid but knowing its being created as a book now? I couldn't write it out by hand..at least not all of it anyway..maybe a chapter or two lol.

I recently discovered that Scrivener CAN be paired with dropbox, so that is a fantastic new thing. We also just bought a Mac TimeCapsule to use with TimeMachine which is an investment to prevent disaster and doubles as a router--very easy to install and use.

J.A., the app I used is called Writings. Really wonderful ap for iPad but I don't know if it is available for ITouch or iPhone. It's a really fantastic plain text editor--and when they say plain text they mean it--there's no italics or bold or anything. You have to import the WIP into other software in order to format, but I really liked it because it was so simple--nothing to distract you. In fact I liked it so much I was disappointed when I bought my MacBook Air that it wasn't available for that--nor was there anything else really like it. So I set up my Scrivener to look as much like it as possible and that is a good compromise for me.

Hope that helps you!

Jennifer wrote: "I recently discovered that Scrivener CAN be paired with dropbox, so that is a fantastic new thing. We also just bought a Mac TimeCapsule to use with TimeMachine which is an investment to prevent d..."

Have you looked at WriteRoom? It's something that I remember seeing a couple of years ago that sounds kind of like what you're describing.

Oooh thanks Jennifer, will go have a look. Pairing up Scrivener and Dropbox sounds like a result!
JAC

I wrote my first novel, which is currently between first draft and editing, using Scrivener on the Mac, exporting to Dropbox, and using Plaintext on my iPhone or iPad. I did a LOT of writing while traveling using my iPad and a bluetooth keyboard. It was an efficient way to use time stuck in a car.

Plaintext is another no-frills text editor.

Doc

Have you looked at WriteRoom? It's something that I remember seeing a couple of years ago that sounds kind of like what you're describing.


I own WriteRoom. I guess I'm spoiled (perhaps ruined for anything else is a better truism) by Writings on the iPad. I can't remember the detail about WR that bothers me now. . . but if I can't have Writings on the Mac, I'm just going to compromise by recreating the environment within Scriv as best I can because it's going to be a compromise either way and Scriv is so powerful and comprehensive, it makes sense to just work from there from beginning to end for me.

J.A. wrote: "Oooh thanks Jennifer, will go have a look. Pairing up Scrivener and Dropbox sounds like a result!
JAC"

You are very welcome. I was thrilled when I discovered it. Each layer of protection you have to prevent losing hours of work is worth every second you invest.

Doc wrote: "I wrote my first novel, which is currently between first draft and editing, using Scrivener on the Mac, exporting to Dropbox, and using Plaintext on my iPhone or iPad. I did a LOT of writing while ..."

Yes! Taking advantage of moments like those when you'd normally be bored out of your mind--genius! Something I love to do too. Modern technology! Woot!

This is the 3rd time I've been reminded about Scrivener. I looked it up a few days ago and I'm thinking about buying that.

I like word. .DOC files are pretty universal and read by multiple programs. It also helps if you're looking to publish on Smashwords. They have a 'meatgrinder' program that will automatically format your Word document into Epub, Mobi, PDF, etc.

Plus I just grew up using Word. It's kind of hard to make the switch to anything else. Although now I'm pretty curious about Scrivener.

Thomas,

In Scrivener you can convert a file to Word format, which should make the Smashwords issue a non-issue. I haven't done it. Yet. I need to actually. I have a free book that I'm giving away on my website. It's come to my attention that offering it for free through Smashwords might be a good idea.

Scrivener is too versatile and inexpensive NOT to try. There are tons of features I don't use and I've had some frustrations with it. It's not perfect, by any means...but I'm not going back to huge unwieldy documents or using a separate file for each chapter. Or the insanity of cutting and pasting scenes when they can so easily be rearranged in Scriv.

Unless, of course, something better comes along. Then I'll try it. Always willing to try new things within reason. : )

If you all don't mind, I'm going to perform some crude necromancy on this thread.

Scrivener is a wonderful tool, IF you have the patience to learn it. It is the least intuitive program I have ever used. However, once you start making sense of it, it is very powerful. Just being able to fullscreen my entire ms has been immensely helpful. You can also easily move scenes around and other fun things.

Before that I used WriteItNow. It had some similar functions (story board primarily) but I find Scrivener to be more up to date.