Author Topic: Software recommendations for writers (Read 64,143 times)

wraith808 · « **Reply #50 on:** May 17, 2011, 03:23 PM »

@kyrathaba with the fix in place, you might want to edit your filepath out of the previous post. And indeed, not include a full filepath on your machine in public correspondence. Maybe I'm just being paranoid... but yeah...

kyrathaba · « **Reply #51 on:** May 17, 2011, 03:47 PM »

Good idea. Done!

40hz · « **Reply #52 on:** May 17, 2011, 04:14 PM »

Quote from: kyrathaba on May 17, 2011, 03:14 PM

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.

@tajuta - you might consider pre-announcing your major new releases here with a link and ask for feedback. There's enough technically saavy people at DoCo interested in this type of app that you should get some very reliable and relevant feedback. Especially if you point out you're the developer. That makes it almost "family."

Dochappy · « **Reply #53 on:** May 26, 2011, 07:34 PM »

I got around to trying evernote. It's ok. I like some of the features but it just feels clunky to me. I wish there was a note-taking app that was simple like cintanotes but with the enhanced text editing and the ability to add images.

caveatrob · « **Reply #54 on:** May 26, 2011, 10:44 PM »

I've been doing this for a long time, both in teaching and in writing, and what I use is:

1. MindManager (any mindmapping tool that's fast will do) - it's indispensable for starting with a framework and a plan, for brainstorming, and even for writing large chunks of text.
2. WordWeb Pro (old version) - for the pop-up dictionary
3. Copious WORD MACROS. There were just some new ones out out for free here: http://www.soltys.ca/blog/2011/05/macros-for-editors.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CoreDump2+%28Core+Dump+2.0%29

4. Millions of Autohotkey scripts to pop up commonly-used phrases/verbs and things for me that I create.
5. Style guides
6. Evernote and CintaNotes - Cinta is lightning-fast and can tag ideas/things so that I can pull them up quickly later.
7. Chrome/Firefox and many extensions - can go into these later
8. Breevy - for convenience when Autohotkey gets too cumbersome.

I'm thinking about putting together a page for these things, so I'm happy to answer any questions or brainstorm with y'all. I'm excited about this.

Dochappy · « **Reply #55 on:** May 27, 2011, 01:22 AM »

what kind of AHK scripts do you use ? What kind og style guides are you talking about? Those macros look interesting for sure and never thought a mind mapper could help me that much but I'm open to anything so I think I'll try it out.

cmpm · « **Reply #56 on:** May 29, 2011, 02:29 AM »

FocusWriter still cruising.
I like it anyway....

http://gottcode.org/focuswriter/

kyrathaba · « **Reply #57 on:** May 29, 2011, 02:40 AM »

Very slick looking. I've been using MonkeyWriter, but I'm gonna give this a shot...

mouser · « **Reply #58 on:** May 29, 2011, 06:14 AM »

Quote from: caveatrob on May 26, 2011, 10:44 PM

I'm thinking about putting together a page for these things

I think that would be very useful

AHMalik · « **Reply #59 on:** June 17, 2011, 02:13 PM »

Quote from: Dochappy on May 06, 2011, 06:19 PM

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.

Try ........
http://www.storylite.com/
Story Lite Productivity Software for writing and editing <http://www.storylite.com>;
Unique software, free, easy to use, maximize productivity, make your work and play easier
From Majorgeeks:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Story_Lite_d6970.html
----------
Dolphin Text Editor Menu 1.9 Dolphin Text Editor Menu expands the functionality of any text editor. It doesn\'t replace your current text editors -- it makes them better. Dolphin Text Editor Menu will work with any software where you can type
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Dolphin_Text_Editor_Menu_d6957.html
=============
http://www.majorgeeks.com/PhraseExpress_d6912.html
No more typing common phrases again!
And more

40hz · « **Reply #60 on:** June 17, 2011, 02:33 PM »

^Thx for the heads up.

Story Light actually looks quite interesting. Gonna have to download it and make some time to check it out.

oblivion · « **Reply #61 on:** June 17, 2011, 04:27 PM »

Quote from: paulobrabo on May 07, 2011, 06:18 PM

Another interesting program I use is Notebox Disorganizer (free), "a spreadsheet for text".

That looked weird enough that I had to take a look.

Oddly, it kills the i-conized addon for VirtuaWin (a graphical navigator for virtual desktops otherwise created and managed by the latter) stone dead.

Perhaps if I was doing proper writing in a distraction-free environment, though, I wouldn't want the other 7 desktops with all their lures and temptations so I wouldn't mind -- but a bug that can kill something normally so reliable might do other nasty things too.

joiwind · « **Reply #62 on:** June 17, 2011, 05:12 PM »

Following the link in the quote in oblivion's post I ended up here : Puller.

Now that's an interesting and useful program but which, I'm sure, someone here could rebuild in another way with even more options ...

oblivion · « **Reply #63 on:** June 17, 2011, 07:03 PM »

Quote from: joiwind on June 17, 2011, 05:12 PM

Now that's an interesting and useful program but which, I'm sure, someone here could rebuild in another way with even more options ...

Reminds me of the way document indices used to be built in WordStar, back in the bad old days... now THERE was a program that could be a fine, visually non-distracting editor.

caveatrob · « **Reply #64 on:** July 18, 2011, 08:52 PM »

Sorry I lost track of this thread. I'll try to remember to throw up some of my macros. Mindmapping is good - I use MindManager primarily to outline/move ideas around then export to Word or something similar. I start out with common structures for types of articles and fill in the blanks if I'm really lost.

MillyT · « **Reply #65 on:** October 31, 2011, 03:34 PM »

Hey fellow writers,

I have been looking into cloud database tools to manage the materials I have gathered, and I'm thinking maybe something like the example (in the link) is too technical. Anyone has experience with such database management for their creative writing?
Thanks!

Curt · « **Reply #66 on:** October 31, 2011, 05:58 PM »

Quote from: AHMalik on June 17, 2011, 02:13 PM

Dolphin Text Editor Menu 1.9 Dolphin Text Editor Menu expands the functionality of any text editor. It doesn't replace your current text editors -- it makes them better. Dolphin Text Editor Menu will work with any software where you can type.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Dolphin_Text_Editor_Menu_d6957.html

-easy not to notice, but quite useful:

[attachimg=#]

-and free for non-commercial use.
http://www.animal-software.com/dolphin-text-editor-menu.php

edited:

Quote

System Requirements
Dolphin Text Editor Menu has been tested on Windows XP / Vista 32bit / Windows 7 32bit + 64bit.
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (The installer will download this for you if necessary)

40hz · « **Reply #67 on:** October 31, 2011, 06:06 PM »

^@Curt - Oh man! What a sweet little add-on. Thx for finding and sharing!

kyrathaba · « **Reply #68 on:** October 31, 2011, 08:48 PM »

Nice!

IainB · « **Reply #69 on:** October 31, 2011, 10:07 PM »

@Curt: Thanks for the link to Dolphin Text Editor Menu.
Not sure whether I could make good use of it, but rather a nifty tool nevertheless.

mouser · « **Reply #70 on:** November 01, 2011, 12:07 AM »

Dolphin looks very nice. If anyone finds any functionality they think should be added to my Clipboard Help+Spell Formatting Dialog, which serves a similar purpose, please let me know.

tranglos · « **Reply #71 on:** February 18, 2012, 06:45 PM »

Quote from: mouser on November 01, 2011, 12:07 AM

Dolphin looks very nice. If anyone finds any functionality they think should be added to my Clipboard Help+Spell Formatting Dialog, which serves a similar purpose, please let me know.

Oooh, that seemed just like what I was after recently! Unfortunately it doesn't work with all editing apps, particularly with my "special" business app. Not sure what method Dolphin uses to get and set text in a foreign process (it's not the clipboard), but for the one app I need it to work with, it doesn't.

And, you only get the built-in commands; can't create your own. That's no fun :-)