Software for writers?

[gigilala]

I was wondering what software program others write in. I'm currently using Word, but I know there are programs specifically for writing books. I'd love to hear if you use something else and if you like it. Thanks!

[teen-writer]

I use Word. Software just for writing books is just another way to make you spend more money, in my opinion.

[Senshi]

I have a friend who swears by Plot Craft

It's a free download: http://farook.org/PlotCraft.htm

It's promoted as a database for tracking writing ideas

[schrijverke]

I use yWriter5. It is real freeware, without ads. I love it! Have a look at: www.spacejock.com/yWriter.html

[nimblemoon]

I use word. I also use a free mindmapping tool to show connections between characters and to keep track of ideas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeMind

[Tzalaran]

i'm looking into Liquid Story Binder.  it offers a 30 day trial, and after that the purchase price is $45-46 USD.

it looks to be a great mix between mindmapping and text editing software, and also has a typewriter mode that eliminates your ability to use the delete function (could be useful if you're in a stretch where you delete every word you write cause it isn't perfect...). 

i'll be looking into it when i start my next novel (too far into this project to learn a new tool and port it into that tool), and i'll give an update on if i like it then.  what i've seen so far leads me to believe that it would be a great asset to my toolbox. (has export to XML and other formats functionality, so i'm thinking it could be used for drafting blog posts in addition to novel writing...)

[aaronbstarr]

I've had a copy of Liquid Binder for over a year, but it didn't do it for me.  Too nit-picky, for me.  I'm currently looking at yWriter (free!), which seems to be more solid and useful, though I only use Word at the moment, myself.

As writers, has anyone found any useful application for a Mindmapper program like Freemind?

[luctari]

has anyone found any useful application for a Mindmapper program like Freemind?

Map MY mind?  Jesus, there's a scary thought.  To quote Piglet in some Pooh cartoon the youngin's used to watch, I don't think I want to know.

Luctari

[Kimmy]

I use  Write It Now Novel Writing Software.  Its great, it has many tabs such as characters, chapters, locations, submissions, events, etc./  It also has lots of editing features, a thesaurus, a word count, word replace, etc etc.  I love it!

[Axordil]

Word for writing, mostly because I've been using it for 20 years (not for fiction, not the whole time at least!). I may move to OpenOffice soon, though.  I use it at work now and it's very Word-like in interface.  It's also free! :D

I go to www.AutoCrit.com to spot the hard-to-see mechanical issues.  Larger issues I rely on my writers' group to tell me about.

[pandysmum]

Scrivener.  BEST. SOFTWARE. EVER for writers.

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

Can't imagine how I did without it, or ever writing without it in the future.

[Bsharper]

Pandy - You took the words right out of my mouth. Scrivener (available only for the Mac) is outstanding.

You can create scenes and display them in cards on a cork board. You can move them around and see your entire document in one place. You can also use a word processing mode and export to Word.

Great program.

[JeanneT]

YWriter is very good. I use that for a first draft and Word for later drafts generally. I have used Word for years but it wasn't made for fiction writing--it's a business app. So things like moving a scene from one chapter to another or changing the order of chapters isn't as easy as it should be. YWriter does some nice things like tracking which characters are in which scenes without getting between me and the writing process the way I found some writing software does. It doesn't try to make decisions. It's just a word processing app (free) that is set up to be more attuned to how a writer works.

I remember the many many files my first novel was in and how much of a mess everything was to keep straight and cringe a bit.

[Ley Saulnier]

As mentioned above, Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html) is a fantastic program. I can't imagine writing in anything else. The only downfall is that it doesn't have a Windows equivalent, but the developers have been kind enough to provide a handy list of links, with their opinions on what is similar:
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/links.html

[Senshi]

http://drwicked.com/

Go there now.

Thank me later for changing your life.