On Writing : Novel-Writing Software Recommendations, Please by Karen "Kay" Ross

I love using Scrivener for drafts and first round editing, but after that I tend to move over to Word.

Vellum is great for formatting for ebooks and print books. It's great for editing, too, and I think you should be able to write in the program as well. It's sort of a great one-stop program.

Has she considered actually writing by hand? I write everything by hand... with fountain pens... literally. A child of the computer age, I abandoned all handwriting when the first text editors came out, and a few years ago I abandoned all text apps, and don't use any of them until at least the first full draft is done. Then the keyboarding exercise effectively gives me a good opportunity to rework and proof, and pay attention to all those pesky distracting format things that have no real pertinence to the writing per se. Honestly, I get much better work out this way. Everyone's mileage may vary of course.

I only write by hand when I don't have my laptop with me to write on. The thought of having to transcribe everything again puts me off immensely. I know Clive Barker wrote by hand and then someone else transcribed it for him. Not sure if he still does though.

I just use word haha

I'm a note pad and word girl but a new software out for both writing within it and formatting is Atticus. It's had a few glitches (apparently, not used it myself) but seems to be a hit with some and not with others. Can also be used on a PC, unlike Vellum, and cheaper than Vellum too.

I've written 40+ novels using yWriter, which is like a stripped-down Scrivener. The interface really works for me. I outline in spreadsheets.

I have been told that Papyrus Author and Drama Queen are good.

I also write in hand using fountain pens Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg , there's something different about writing with these (I love them). Likewise I work better and quicker this way, the time then spent on the laptop writing is way more productive. For me anyway.

As our friend Jessica Gulmire said, I use Word. work with a tool that well-known interface helps too much in the construction process of the work.

Thank you all for the information! Y'all rock!

Hi Karen "Kay" Ross i use scrivener…it’s very versatile and has a trial period. Takes some getting used to though.

I've written 70-some novels in Word. Tried Scrivener, but I found I was focusing on that instead of just letting the story flow. Every publisher wants docs in Word anyway.

I used Word for my memoir. I constantly backed up all of my work and kept several updated drafts with my editor as well as on an external drive. I have to agree with Jeffrey J. Mariotte that Word seems to be ubiquitous. In my arena, we all preferred Word!

Notebook. Wonderfully simple to use. NO plugs or adaptors, you just open it up and start writing. Comes with ready-lined pages.Battery never conks out. ANd the accessory pen - great until the ink runs out. I then 'commute' to Google docs.

Joking aside, I have played with Liquid Story Binder, tinkered with YWriter and had fun with Writer's Cafe - I think my favourite might be OmmWriter which I may, at some point, install again. Currently though I am using google docs and JamBoard for co-writing when planning/throwing ideas together. It just seems quicker, less distracting.

Final Draft has a novel template.