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Software recommendations for writers

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Dochappy:
I'm trying to focus more on my writing as of late and I find I get distracted  when I'm on  a pc that is capable of getting online. So I'm switching to a laptop for a while that has no way of accessing the internet. Any software(Preferably open source but I'm not opposed to paying for good software.) all the software must be able to run without an active internet connection though.

some software that could come in handy would be  an offline dictionary, and a rhyming dictionary if possible(I haven't had much luck finding an offline version.)

I currently have Storybook for planning stories and such. Mobysaurus Thesaurus(it works but on my main machine its  sluggish so I'm not sure if the laptop will be able to handle it)

and I have Abiword and Notepad++

Any more must have applications that I need to add ? any and all recommendations are welcome and appreciated.

Beth UK:
I wonder if WriteMonkey might be of use to you - ability to use whole screen, keyboard shortcuts, very flexible... and free!

doctorfrog:
Everything's a distraction. Q10 is awesome as heck for just getting stuff out.

http://www.baara.com/q10/

Although I did get distracted trying to come up with the perfect "80's amber terminal" theme for it.

edit: this appears very similar to WriteMonkey, which seems to have a few more features, like bold, italics, export features and such. Might have to check that one out.

Ath:
I'm not a writer (yet) but had a short look at both writing tools mentioned, q10 and WriteMonkey.
Seems like q10 is kinda dead, in the development part.
WriteMonkey seems to be alive and kicking, and has somewhat better/more/cleaner features, so I'll have a longer look at it during this summer. Hope to report here later.

40hz:
Yay! Another writer!

Regarding software suggestions:

There are tons of tools. Many specific to the type of writing you do and how you like to work.

So what kind of writing are you doing? Short or long form? Fiction, non-fiction, technical? Does it involve complex characters? Imaginary worlds or histories? Invented languages? Charts and tables? Illustrations? A lot of research and note taking?

Do you prefer to write in a fixed and private writing "space" or are you more a coffeshop scribbler?

Are you the organized type who outlines and prefers to works to a schedule or plan? Or are you the "stream of consciousness" writers who prefers to wing it and go where the writing takes you?

Give us some ideas of what you write, and how you like to work, and we can probably offer better suggestions.  
 :)

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