The Writing Process: Writing Tools

Today's Earworm: Black Black Heart (Slow Version) by David Usher

Today's Date: 

I first want to say this: the reason why these are separated the way they are is because I don't want you guys end up reading long ass posts that drive you nuts and gives you way to much information than what you need. 

So that's why I've separated them the way I have and why they tend to be shortish. 

That and so you can skip over what you already know.

Just a warning though: Due to the subject of what I'm covering, this is going to be a split post, so please feel free to skim through what I'm writing when it comes to the software. Thank you.

Let's start today's post shall we?

What are you going on about this time?

Well, today we're going to talk writing tools.

Such as?

Well, for starters, pens, pencils and paper. This will be kind of short and simple because there's really not a lot to it, but still, we must talk about this.

Why? It's paper and pens or pencils.

Because it's a way that a lot of people do actually still write by. I myself do use pen and paper to write notes, some writing of actual chapters, and a few other things that I do.

Really? But...why? Really?

Because it can help the muse. While a person puts pen to paper, it slows them down so that they have time to compose the next line that they need to write. It's also a lot easier in some cases to carry pen and paper around with them instead instead of a computer. I prefer using a pen and paper when I'm traveling since I don't need power to keep my electronic working.

I can also rewrite and organize my notes and outlines a lot easier. This way I can shift and make notes on what needs to be changed and where. 

When it comes to actually writing a chapter, I tend to be able to add more details as I type up the story, fix up lines and the such. I usually do this in the first rounds of rewrites if I'm writing on my computer, but by hand writing, painful as it is, I can pretty much write out what is really a long information filled outline. 

It helps me with some of my stories, especially when I'm trying to figure out where I want to go with them.

Are we going to go over what you do when it comes time to write?

Actually, yes, I will be. I'll be doing that sometime between now and the end of this series. 

Let's go over computers and computer programs. 

I'm going to assume that you have a well working, good computer that you prefer using. So now that you have it all set up with mouse and keyboard (if you DO want to use them) let's get down about the types of software that you can use to write!

How many types of software are there?

So. Very. Many. 

But I'm going to do a short list of the good ones that are often suggested, both free and paid for. Along with some basic writing programs like Word, OpenOffice, and Google Documents. 

So let's go over the basic things. 

Microsoft Word: It's pretty much what you get with your computer. You can open it up, create a word document and write away. There's some set up, some learning if you've never used it before, and a few other joyful things that come with this, but it does come in handy to have.

I personally don't have it because my current laptop is second hand and the guy who owned this computer before removed the program. So I use the next item.

OpenOffice.

It is a free typing program that is a lot like Word. You can save .doc files, but the default is .docx when saving, so be careful with that.

It has a pretty nice word counter on it but when it comes time to put your word count into the NaNo word count, I use the validate word count so that I can have their programs word count. I think they tend to use word counts much like the Microsoft Word does, which doesn't count certain types of words as a word.

Google Document: I'm sure that you've all heard a lot about GDocs and I love it! I use them for most of my writing personally. I have my files and I can update them or use them as I want. I love the "See Revision History" option on it. 

Especially when you lose all of your work. 

It's easy to create a file that you want and you can download them as you need to. So that's always a nice bit of help. Really it is. 

I don't have all of my work and most of what is on there is what I'm working on AT THAT moment, or the latest chapters of my writing. Especially since I only have so much room on my drive that I can use. 

But if you're willing to pay for more room, it's a lovely option. And a great way to have your work accessible if you don't have a Cloud.

Let's go over some of the better paid options, shall we?

Why should I pay for something?

Because they usually come with all sorts of neat little perks that you can't get in free stuff, or that you can get but in smaller amounts.

I actually tried to figure out what would be good software programs but really? There are just SO many choices out there that you can make your own choice. From what I've seen, Scrivener is one of the top programs that you can buy.

PageFour is also a lot like Scrivener but looks to be simpler version of it and I can't really find a site for it. So if you want, hunt around, make sure that it's what you want. But it looks promising.

There is also Power Writer and Writer's Block, which are both writing tools. Power Writer is more like Scrivener and PageFour while Writer's Block is a way to block out the computer. You set a time or words and it blocks out the rest of the computer until you hit that count or time.

Warning: With Writer's Block, you will have to reach the goal or run out of time before you can get out of it. So I suggest short bursts of 50 words if you set a word goal, or no more than 5 minutes at a time while you figure out if you like it or not.

Alright, now that I'm done with that warning, let's continue on shall we?

Free writing software!

Something that we all like, yes? Well I like it most. Even though I really don't use any software outside of GDocs and OpenOffice myself.

Why not?

It's just not my thing. Thus why I'm going over the various options here that you can do. I've taken years to figure out how best I write, so take your time in figuring out what you want and need, alright?

Alright.

Onto the free software.

The software that I keep seeing mentioned a lot is YWriter, StoryBook, and Sigil. They are all built to help you write the novel, but as with every free thing, there are certain things that you aren't going to be able to do while writing. So be careful and research it. See if they are what you want.

I don't really know them really but I've heard good things about all of them.

Okay, so we have gone over writing software, but what about the outlining software?

Well now. What to say about Outlining software? I tend to use Outliner of Giants, the free version. The bad thing about the fact that it is free is that there are some parts of it that you can't use, but if you don't care about those, then this is actually a wonderful outliner to use! It also has a five (5) outline limit, but again, it's not so bad for me really.

I don't tend to outline more than a couple online anyways. But it's a great way to get things down and you can move bullet points around as you want. It's all about testing it out.

You can also use the bullet function on OpenOffice, Word, or even GDocs to create outlines. I've done so myself.

Pen and paper also works well but you do end up rewriting the outline some days. I still do that myself.

Liftlit is actually pretty damn good from what I've seen so far. It's pretty easy to use and you can set up your entire book using it, which is kind of fun. :D

Hiveworld is another one that is a free option. It looks well laid out and will help anyone who wants to test out online outlining and noting.

Now, I said that I would tell you guys about note software but...

But?

But all of these options can actually be used as Note holding to!

Shocking I know right?

With GDocs, you can tab your bullets in and create a new line under the main line as  you want.

With Outliner, there is an option called "wiki" where you can add a bullet that is not a part of the actual outline, but has information that you want for that chapter.

You can also add information for your chapters in Liftlit and Hiveworld, so it's not that hard to do so.

Guys! It's not hard to make notes.

So for now, I hope that this helped. Considering this drove me up a wall.

And I'm talking very much up the wall.

Enjoy!