# Which word processor do you use?



## InSickHealth (Sep 4, 2010)

I'm sure most people use Microsoft Word. The problem with Word is that it isn't included with the computer that I bought from my former roommate, and I have no access to a product key. I have no desire to find a fake or free key, as this is a form of theft that I don't feel like being a part of. Actually I have a serious distaste for any kind of theft, so please don't suggest that if you want to stay on my good side.

I do have Microsoft Works, and that has been a simple and useful tool to get me back into writing. I have a couple of qualms with it:

-The format is incompatible with many of my friends' computers for some reason. I don't know why, but it is inconvenient as hell for me to not be able to send a direct file to people.

-The spell check is inaccurate and intrusive. I can't tell you how angry I get when I constantly have to "outsmart" my word processor because it thinks that it knows how to spell Hawai'ian words. I don't mind if it thinks that I'm wrong, but it insists on automatically changing the spelling of words that I know to be spelled correctly.

-I have used words that exist i dictionaries which register to the processor as nonexistent. Yes, I could tell it to ignore the mistake, but it is a major inconvenience to me at times.

So, among other issues, I was lucky enough to "stumble upon" a website full of open source programs for writers. Everything from word processors to organizational tools. Unfortunately, I am flying blind here, and want to avoid downloading more programs than I need to (don't want a weak word processor, specifically. The rest is details). So if anyone has any suggestions, I would be totally stoked. Here is the link, if anyone has reviews on any of these, or any other word processors, I would be totally stoked!

Aloha,
InSickHealth

50 Awesome Open Source Resources for Writers and Writing Majors


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## InSickHealth (Sep 4, 2010)

Also, I should have mentioned that the link has a plethora of seemingly amazing tools for online writers. Please share these with anyone that you feel could benefit from any of these programs. I am very excited to have found/bookmarked this page, myself! I plan on downloading a handful of these tools once I get back from my next beer run.


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## Sonofjoe (Sep 4, 2010)

At the Learning Centre back in England (used by schools and others) where I worked, we had MS Office installed on all the machines, we also had Open Office Writer (second on the list of your link) which I tried a couple of times and found it to be very similar to MS Office. It is a free download so it's worth giving it a try.


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## Baron (Sep 4, 2010)

Open Office is favourite and fully compatible with Word.


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## malvo4 (Sep 4, 2010)

Open Office writer is what got until I could get Microsoft Office 2010. But now that I am using it, I don't see any reason to get Microsoft Office anymore.


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## InSickHealth (Sep 4, 2010)

Thanks! That was all i needed to know! I appreciate the advice! you all just made my life  alittle bit easier!


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## Dan (Sep 6, 2010)

Two thoughts here:

1) yWriter is first on the list, and it should be. It is an _awesome_ writing tool. It's easy to create chapters and scenes, and it couldn't be simpler to move them around (drag and drop). It has a zillion more in-depth tools, like assigning POV characters, word counts per character, customizable scene ratings, storyboard mode, daily word count target, and items/location tracking, among others. It's 100% safe, I can't say enough good things about it, and I would recommend it to any writer. 

2) Everyone should use the OpenOffice suite instead of MS Office.


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## BoredMormon (Sep 6, 2010)

Dan didn't mention what yWriter doesn't include. Like spell checkers or any sort of formating tools. Makes it great for pumping the text out, no annoying red lines or other distractions. But you still need another processer on top of it.


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## MJ Preston (Sep 6, 2010)

I generally do most of my writing on napkins, but I won't tell you where I steal them from.


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## Dan (Sep 6, 2010)

BoredMormon said:


> Dan didn't mention what yWriter doesn't include. Like spell checkers or any sort of formating tools. Makes it great for pumping the text out, no annoying red lines or other distractions. But you still need another processer on top of it.


 
I don't know which yWriter you're referring to, but it has a spell check  and pretty robust formatting tools. Maybe I just got a special copy.

If you're really bored, you should have time to actually try it out  before you contradict me. In the meantime, here are some screenshots to  get you started:

yWriter5 - Free novel writing software to help you write a book


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## garza (Sep 7, 2010)

I tried yWriter. All of that you mention just gets in the way of actually writing. I'll stick with Notepad.


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## Dan (Sep 7, 2010)

Yeah, one thing a writer doesn't need is the ability to move scenes around and keep track of key elements. :joker: Optional functionality getting in the way of your writing sounds like a you problem. I mean that in an "everybody's different" way, not in a sarcastic one.

Seeing as I used it to revise my first novel, write my second, and am 11,000 words into my third after less than two weeks, it sure doesn't get in mine.

I've written in Notepad, Word, Works, Writer, Google Docs, Zoho, and yWriter, to name seven, and I never once thought any of them got in the way of me putting fingertip to key.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it, but I will still recommend that any writer give it a look.


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## garza (Sep 7, 2010)

Too many years in the bush with pocket notebook and pencil. And 11,000 words in one week was about right for an active wire service stringer in the field in my day.


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## Dan (Sep 7, 2010)

Ooohhh, an "in my day' reference. I'm suitably impressed. I guess it's irrelevant that I have a full-time job that doesn't involve writing, a wife, and a two-year-old. If I wrote full-time, 20k would be an off week. But I'll try to increase my output to a level that you deem acceptable, I promise. 

So, you find all of those newfangled features too distracting because you used to write with a pencil and paper, but don't find a computer itself to be a distraction? Interesting. Like I said...a you problem.


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## Dan (Sep 7, 2010)

Double post, dangit.

Repurposed to mention that I just finished up 1900+ words today on breaks. Is that enough, or should I quit immediately?


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## garza (Sep 7, 2010)

No, it's no kind of problem at all. Just a different way of putting down one word after another. I'm sorry that it offends you that I find your favourite piece of software useless.

Hemingway averaged about six hundred words a day. Little or no editing was ever needed.

You're the one who brought up the subject of how much you wrote in how long a time. I was just answering. In my day we did that sort of thing a lot. In my day we also got shot at a lot. Some of us got hit. Some of my friends got killed. All for the sake of getting the story.

But I'll be honest with you. I'll go back and sit in the crossfire before I try to take care of a two-year-old again. I complement you on being able to write at all with that distraction.


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## Dan (Sep 7, 2010)

In the interests of not caring to continue this, I'll just chalk it up to getting off on the wrong foot and misunderstandings and the ambiguous nature inherent in forum conversations and all that. See you around (just not in this thread).


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## garza (Sep 7, 2010)

Best thing.


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## The Backward OX (Sep 7, 2010)

garza - complement?


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## The Backward OX (Sep 7, 2010)

And here's li'l ol' me struggling along with Word '03 and somehow at the end of the day I have a doc full of text. Beats me how I did it.


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## Baron (Sep 7, 2010)

The Backward OX said:


> And here's li'l ol' me struggling along with Word '03 and somehow at the end of the day I have a doc full of text. *Beats me how I did it*.


 
Me too.


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## funnygirl (Sep 7, 2010)

MJ Preston said:


> I generally do most of my writing on napkins, but I won't tell you where I steal them from.



Haha! You need a delicate touch to write on napkins  they tear so damn easy.


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## Bruno Spatola (Sep 7, 2010)

Bloody hell I've been using Wordpad. I use Final Draft 7 for scripts though, that's pretty good. Does all the hard work for me. 

I'll definitely give Open Office a try. Free? Wow, hope it's good. Thanks for recommending that.


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## Kat (Sep 7, 2010)

I use Open Office on the desktop and MS Word on the laptop. I haven't checked out any of those other tools.


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## MagicalRealist (Sep 9, 2010)

I'm a Mac user and a HUGE fan of Scrivener. It lets you write in different pieces, it has a virtual cork board for laying out plot and organizing the scenes you've written, you can view two sections at the same time in multiple panes, you can drag and drop research -photos, text, whatever, and it has many options for exporting including manuscript formats for submission. Unfortunately it's not on Windows.


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## garza (Sep 10, 2010)

Bruno - Wordpad is actually a good choice, partly because it's free with Windows, and mostly because it has some of the abilities of a word processor without the problems.


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## Bruno Spatola (Sep 10, 2010)

Yeah that's true Garza. It's provided well for my writing needs, but I downloaded Open Office and it's a better processor overall. If I have any issues with Open Office, I'll always have a great fall back option in Wordpad.


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## Ricky Jalapeno (Sep 22, 2010)

I don't know if I'll look weird posting in a thread with the most recent post being two weeks old but I don't care.

So Bruno did you get any viruses from downloading OpenOffice?


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## Bruno Spatola (Sep 22, 2010)

Haha 

No I didn't, and I don't have anti-virus software so, quite safe I think. It's a lot better than Wordpad but, for some reason it wont let me type in accents like "It's one o' the finest festivals happenin' this year." It corrects them as if they're spelling mistakes. . .there must be a way to disable that, but just warning you.


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## Ricky Jalapeno (Sep 24, 2010)

I hate it when they do that. Word processors are amazing but they can be so ignorant hahahahaha well anyways thanks bruno


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## actuallyliam (Sep 24, 2010)

MagicalRealist said:


> I'm a Mac user and a HUGE fan of Scrivener. It lets you write in different pieces, it has a virtual cork board for laying out plot and organizing the scenes you've written, you can view two sections at the same time in multiple panes, you can drag and drop research -photos, text, whatever, and it has many options for exporting including manuscript formats for submission. Unfortunately it's not on Windows.



I use this a lot as well, it's great my only issue is that it doesn't have a formatting (centre, left, right, font, font size) Which is annoying given that it has the ability to save research, outlines, drafts and pretty much everything. But other than that yes it's great.


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## Danvok (Sep 24, 2010)

I'm currently using Microsoft Word but I'm finding it is terrible. It shows grammar mistakes and incorrect punctuation all the time. I started figuring this out when, many times, I had to correct the word processor myself.

I'm looking for a change. Maybe a word processor that will acutally do its job? Any suggestions?


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## Ricky Jalapeno (Sep 25, 2010)

I want OpenOffice but im scared to download it and end up getting a virus D=


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## mwd (Sep 25, 2010)

Danvok said:


> I'm currently using Microsoft Word but I'm finding it is terrible. It shows grammar mistakes and incorrect punctuation all the time. I started figuring this out when, many times, I had to correct the word processor myself.
> 
> I'm looking for a change. Maybe a word processor that will acutally do its job? Any suggestions?


Yeah, that annoys me as well.  Thankfully, you can turn that off.  Tools -> Options -> Spelling & Grammar.  Then uncheck "Check spelling as you type" and "Check grammar as you type".  The options are located a little differently depending on what version of Word you have, but it'll be in there somewhere.


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## Richard Smith (Sep 25, 2010)

Ricky Jalapeno said:


> I want OpenOffice but im scared to download it and end up getting a virus D=


 
As long as you download from openoffice.org, you will be safe. 

[edit] Personally, I am using th go-oo.org fork of OpenOffice.  Slightly better than OpenOffice.org standard on Windows, but tons better than the Linux version.  At work (lunch break) I use Word 2007.  I prefer go-oo.org as a word processor, but Office 2k7 for reviewing other's work, better notes and annotations.


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## tomhackins (Oct 2, 2010)

I use Atlantis Word Processor. Atlantis is a word processor from Rising Sun Solutions. Atlantis can open and save documents as RTF, Microsoft Word documents and 256-bit encrypted documents. It can also save documents as web pages and as eBooks. Atlantis Word Processor is highly reliable and Extremely fast.


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## philistine (Jun 29, 2012)

I use Microsoft Word, and only that. I do have Microsoft Works and Darkroom on my computer, though they haven't seen a single use as of yet; the first because it's redundant to my main editor, and the latter, despite it having obvious merits, because I simply don't need it. God knows why I keep them there, though it's better to have a well when thirsty, than to start digging when you're absolutely parched.

Call me old-fashioned, though I take all my notes, write my drafts, and whatever else on paper. Good 'ole pen and paper. I then transcribe to Word what I see fit, and that seems to work.


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## JosephB (Jun 29, 2012)

I think I'll wait another two years, and then respond to the OP.


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## HooktonFonnix (Jun 29, 2012)

I use MS Office. Never had a problem with it, honestly. I won't say it's the best because I've never tried anything else, but it more than does the job for me.


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## PaulMcElligott (Jun 30, 2012)

Open Office Writer for me, although I still use Word for some things.


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## c4sper (Jul 1, 2012)

One more for Open Office. Why pay ridiculous amounts of money for a full-featured word processor that is a waste of system resources when you can have a fully compatible one for free.

It's a no-brainer in my opinion.


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## philistine (Jul 1, 2012)

c4sper said:


> One more for Open Office. Why pay ridiculous amounts of money for a full-featured word processor that is a waste of system resources when you can have a fully compatible one for free.
> 
> It's a no-brainer in my opinion.



Only suckers pay for Office. :ChainGunSmiley:


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## JosephB (Jul 1, 2012)

Heh. Does that mean you use Open Office -- or you stole your copy Microsoft Office?


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## ppsage (Jul 1, 2012)

My word processor of choice is MSWord '03 but I only have it on my old XP desk top anymore. I run OO there as well but it's huge and slow by comparison, although certainly not unusable. (My version of OO won't search and replace formatting codes which I use a lot changing people's articles into html, not so much a writing thing per se. I think you can mod it to do this but I have poor luck in those matters.) If I'd started on OO I'd probably use it but to change now is more learning than I want just to spite MS.

On my Win7 laptop I have WordStarter which is sort of the replacement for MSWorks Writer I think. It's a not fully functional version of Word7 but so far I haven't had a need to register and pay the hundred bucksus to get the whole deal. Starter is supposed to be readily available for free. So far the only thing it doesn't do that I use is insert TOC's, which I get around by starting from a Word 03 document which has one in it as Starter is fully compatable backwards. (I start every new document by opening the one with a TOC already in it and Starter amends it just fine.) Starter is the first word processor I've used that I haven't turned the grammer checker off, just trimmed it back some in the options because it actually catches things like there their they're and its it's in a helpful way. Starter has an ad pane on the right which so far just demurely reminds me that I can buy the new office suite with one click. (So far) Less annoying that WF ads even. 

Spell checkers use a dictionary file which to date is usually clientside (by default at least, I think) and is usually pretty deficeint in proper names and varient word forms (like adverbal form etc.) My solution is to use the add feature which is especially useful for like character names which you don't always remember how you decided to spell them. It's supposedly possible to download (buy sometimes) better dictionary files and also supposedly possible to use more than one at a time.


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## Kyle R (Jul 1, 2012)

I use anything, as long as I can type on it. Notepad, Word, Jarte, or just a plain New Text file.

I've even written a few short stories from beginning to end in the "Post New Thread" box here on the forums. *slaps forehead*

Word is definately useful for editing, though, with spell-check and grammar suggestions. It can be a nice help sometimes.


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