Writing Software
Hey, Just wanted to share some software I use that's not on your writing software list: WriteMonkey: http://writemonkey.com/ (Here's a short LifeHacker review where I first discovered it: http://lifehacker.com/5213183/write-monkey-provides-portable-distraction...). Celtx: http://celtx.com/ A real nice environment for screenwriters. I found this much easier than mucking around with templates in, say, Word. Both free. Writemonkey is windows only, but Celtx is multi-platform. Cheers, Glenn
Thanks for those gmurphy. I used Celtx on my first attempt at Script Frenzy and even though I didn't get past a few pages it was really easy to use and gave that script feel.
I haven't heard of Write Monkey but I've used a similar application called Q10 (http://www.baara.com/q10/) that doesn't seem to have the settings available to Write Monkey but does have a nifty info bar at the bottom keeping track of your word count and you can make it sound like you're writing on a typewriter. :)
Keep the resource suggestions coming! We want to keep our resources section up to date with great free resources for writers.
I write using Scrivener (www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html) which makes it so easy to keep all my writing organised. I highly recommend to everyone! I love it :D
But, it is Mac only, so sorry PC users.
If you do have a Mac & haven't given it a try you can download a 30 day trial, and the programme itself is pretty cheap considering how fabulous it is.
Scrivener does look awesome, if I had a Mac I would definitely give it a go! It's a shame there isn't a PC version, but really great that there's something for the mac users :-)
I too am jealous of Mac users purely because I want to use Scrivener.
WriteMonkey is kind of like an updated or more advanced version of Q10, for any interested. I've used both and if you use one you can definitely use the other.
I'll take the chance to toss in yWriter as a writing program. It's the one I use (although at the moment I'm using MS Word for the comments feature) and I really like all the things you can do with it. There are a lot of different features, it displays word count, and the author always responds either to an e-mail or to a comment in his thread on NaNo.
I'm a fan of yWriters as well and it's the best Windows alternative to Scrivener that I've found. I switch between MS Word and yWriter too but mainly for revision. I sometimes start outlining with Writer's Cafe Storylines too.
MyNovel is great but it costs. I like it.
Also use Q10 a lot, that's fantastic.
Power Writer is good, also costs.
There's a lot of free and shareware software out there for writers, but to be honest, Q10 is fantastic. I write on that and port to over to MyNovel and edit and make notes there.
I use Jarte Plus because I like the tabbing, which is important because I usually have the main text open on one file, character sketches on others, plot points on another, etc.