Author Topic: Software recommendations for writers (Read 50521 times)

kyrathaba · « **Reply #25 on:** May 13, 2011, 05:59 PM »

Hmm, ChapterByChapter looks useful. Has anyone used it?

I'm wanting to write a couple of different books for Kindle. Think I'll start them in ImmersEd, then import them into CbC. Hmm...

CbC automates or great facilitates these tasks:

renumbering chapters
search/replace within chapters
easy chapter revisions

lanux128 · « **Reply #26 on:** May 14, 2011, 12:44 AM »

there is an anti-distraction tool by the author of yWriter called AntiBrowser, which would come in handy.

What is AntiBrowser for? Anyone with a deadline and a web addiction!

You know the story. You're busy working on your novel and you decide to 'just check' something on the web. Two hours later you're sated with trivial news and your FaceSpace/MyBook/Twotter (sic) is fully up to date. Shame about the novel.

In the past I've resorted to pulling the network cable out of my PC, but that messes up my network shares and backups. So, I decided to write the Anti-Browser. It took me about twenty minutes to develop, time I should have spent on the novel ...
-website

• http://www.spacejock...com/AntiBrowser.html

cmpm · « **Reply #27 on:** May 14, 2011, 02:09 AM »

Just a note to keep in mind.

The poor man's copyright-
Send what you wrote via registered letter to your self.
But don't open it.
This will be the proof that you originated the writing by the date of the registered letter.

40hz · « **Reply #28 on:** May 14, 2011, 07:31 AM »

Just a note to keep in mind.

The poor man's copyright-
Send what you wrote via registered letter to your self.
But don't open it.
This will be the proof that you originated the writing by the date of the registered letter.
-cmpm (May 14, 2011, 02:09 AM)

Important note: The "poor man's copyright" is not a recommended strategy if you live in the USA.

Per the United States Copyright Office:

I’ve heard about a “poor man’s copyright.” What is it?

The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a “poor man’s copyright.” There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration.

Good explanation of why it's a problem can be found here and here. Some other interesting info on US copyright myths can be found here.

One of the best introductions to US copyright law I've ever seen was written by Brad Templeton (of EFF and ClariNet fame). You can find it here. Read it!

(Yes - you really should.

)

cmpm · « **Reply #29 on:** May 14, 2011, 08:14 AM »

Thanks 40hz, I didn't know all that.
But it's meant to be proof you wrote it on a particular date.
And not a legal copyright.

40hz · « **Reply #30 on:** May 14, 2011, 08:58 AM »

Thanks 40hz, I didn't know all that.
But it's meant to be proof you wrote it on a particular date.
And not a legal copyright.
-cmpm (May 14, 2011, 08:14 AM)

I understand.

The only reason I mentioned it was because it came up at a recent discussion in my writing group. One of the guests was a person directly involved in IP issues and licensing. She characterized PMC as "one of the most dangerous misconceptions out there." She basically said it established nothing - including proof something was written by, or on, a certain date. The second link in my previous post shows just how easy it is to fake a PMC.

It was a pretty eye-opening conversation. With thanks to Gillian

(our 'IP expert' guest) for the info and most of the above weblinks.

wraith808 · « **Reply #31 on:** May 15, 2011, 01:04 AM »

ZenWriter is on BDJ Today (Sunday, 05/15/2011). I haven't used it- but of course, I bought it. It was only $4.95, and from the screenshots, it looked interesting.

Dochappy · « **Reply #32 on:** May 15, 2011, 03:44 PM »

Liquid Story Binder XE looks really complex but I'm intrigued is there ample documentation included with the program to help figure it out because without that I can see myself getting lost quickly.

Chapter to Chapter would be very useful but I'm really opposed to using Word.

Might test it out and maybe it will grow on me.

I was told about a program called SuperNotecard. has anyone tried it? care to share your opinion on it ?

cmpm · « **Reply #33 on:** May 15, 2011, 04:53 PM »

You don't have to use Word with Chapter by Chapter.
Any editor would work.

Dormouse · « **Reply #34 on:** May 15, 2011, 10:30 PM »

Liquid Story Binder XE looks really complex but I'm intrigued is there ample documentation included with the program to help figure it out because without that I can see myself getting lost quickly.
-Dochappy (May 15, 2011, 03:44 PM)

Manual here and Online Tutorials here. Lots of help available in the forum. IIRC, the developer's general advice is for people to start off using just a few types of screen/file type and then add others as they feel the need; I don't think most people use anything like all the options and which ones are useful depends on what you are writing. You can make it very simple if you want.

40hz · « **Reply #35 on:** May 16, 2011, 02:52 PM »

^ +1 w/Doormouse.

The real beauty of LSB is that it, unlike many all-in-one wrier's desk tools, does not impose any methodology on you. You can use as much or as little of its toolset as you like. I don't use it to anywhere near its full capabilities. But that doesn't make the parts I do use any less useful.

Why not download the free trial and check it out yourself? It takes a little effort to start using it because you first have to impose a little discipline on the way you normally might work. But it's effort well spent. Much like what programmers go through when they start using version control. First it's a pain, but then they soon wonder how they ever worked without it.

The developer is also responsive to customer feedback and suggestions. I don't know how good they are about bug fixes because I've never encountered any bugs with LSB.

Beth UK · « **Reply #36 on:** May 16, 2011, 05:04 PM »

I was told about a program called SuperNotecard. has anyone tried it? care to share your opinion on it ?
-Dochappy (May 15, 2011, 03:44 PM)

Yes, I have a license for this...lovely clean layout, many functions. Thing is, I love it but have never used it properly! Has always struck me as being strict in imposing a kind of methodology of writing (blocks that you can mix and match) rather than the freestyle offered by something like WriteMonkey (that I do actually use). SuperNotecard had an unusual name to begin with - think it was Miss Lonely Notes - then they changed it to SuperNotecard. Just a random piece of interest there...

cthorpe · « **Reply #37 on:** May 16, 2011, 08:07 PM »

I am going to contact the developers of the shareware programs mentioned in this thread to see if they are willing to provide us with discounts/giveaways. I'll post here if I get any takers.

C

kyrathaba · « **Reply #38 on:** May 16, 2011, 08:49 PM »

This is not for quick writing in my opinion but more for when you are ready to put some things together.

Agreed, cmpm.

On another note, I've had to put ImmersEd aside. I really like the way it's starting to shape up, but it's still quite buggy, unfortunately.

Ath · « **Reply #39 on:** May 17, 2011, 01:36 AM »

I really like the way it's starting to shape up, but it's still quite buggy, unfortunately.
-kyrathaba (May 16, 2011, 08:49 PM)

You did report that to the developers, I presume?

tajuta · « **Reply #40 on:** May 17, 2011, 03:56 AM »

Hi,

I'm the author of ImmersEd. I've noticed some hits coming in from here and thought I'd say hello. Kyrathaba did report his problem, both via the built-in error reporting in ImmersEd and via an email with some more info. He also passed on a few feature requests so he's been very helpful.

I believe the reported problem is fixed in the 0.5.9 release now on the site (Kyrathaba, it's changed since I sent you a link, so if you want to try it out you should download again). However, the phrase "buggy" suggests to me that there were more problems than just the one, so do please let me know if there were. I'm sure I speak for all small-time software developers in saying that the only reason we would be happy to have an absence of bug reports is in the absence of bugs.

Ath · « **Reply #41 on:** May 17, 2011, 06:05 AM »

@tajuta Welcome to DC

I like the way you pick up these issue-reports, great

kyrathaba · « **Reply #42 on:** May 17, 2011, 07:16 AM »

Welcome to the site, tajuta!! Perhaps I should redact the word "buggy" and instead say "a diamond in the rough". I think that ImmersEd has the potential to outstrip the other editors I've tried (Q10 and WM, among them). I will DEFINITELY download and try out the new version. Thank you for being such a responsive developer! Allow me to update my statement to:

I really like the way it's starting to shape up, the author is quite responsive and I believe that with future upgrades, this will be a real contender.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #43 on:** May 17, 2011, 07:25 AM »

Tried the new version 0.5.9 tajuta. Got the following error when attempting to load the text file I'd begun working on. I sent an email to [email protected], with the offending file attached; here's the error screenshot:

filename is "speechForGreenCoChamber.txt"

40hz · « **Reply #44 on:** May 17, 2011, 07:27 AM »

@tajuta - Yes indeed. A very big welcome from all of us at DonationCoder. Please don't be a stranger. Small developers are a big part of what Mouser's website is about.

tajuta · « **Reply #45 on:** May 17, 2011, 08:19 AM »

Hmm... the error is actually in one of the libraries I'm using and appears to be being triggered when closing the welcome file rather than by opening the file you sent me. If I just close ImmersEd and reopen, your file loads without problem. Seeing as the welcome file has been used for quite a while now I'm unsure what's up, but I'll look into it.

I hope this hasn't been happening to loads of new users and they haven't been saying anything. The file load failure doesn't get caught as an application fail and so doesn't trigger the bug report dialog. Any users who are upgrading would be unlikely to see it and although I do a quick check that a clean install works, I've clearly not been thorough enough.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #46 on:** May 17, 2011, 08:43 AM »

Don't beat yourself up

As you know, once any application starts to become the slightest bit complex, this sort of thing easily can happen. I really appreciate your responsiveness. I'll be happy to continue testing and reporting, if that helps. I think you've got a great-looking program. I especially like the way you've laid out Notes and everything else in the margin to the right of the text, and the fact that it can be shown/hidden at will.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #47 on:** May 17, 2011, 10:01 AM »

Tajuta, looks like version 0.5.10 fixed the error opening a file! Nice work!

tajuta · « **Reply #48 on:** May 17, 2011, 10:05 AM »

Glad to hear it, although I'm a little embarrassed and concerned at finding these issues in parts of the code that have been around for a while. I'll have to check back a few versions and see if they crept in recently somehow. I hate to think that hundreds of people have been having it throw an error almost as soon as they start using it.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #49 on:** May 17, 2011, 10:14 AM »

You know how the average user is: not gonna send in a report of a problem. Nothing like having even just one or two 'testers' you can count on. Hard to come by sometimes.

Good fix, and very timely. I'm writing a speech using it. Will let you know if I encounter any concerns.