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Originally Posted by Hitch
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I don't understand.
On the one hand, you complain about people not even being able to download and open a file. They are also not capable to create folders.
Right-click your desktop -> New -> Folder.
Right-click your desktop -> New -> Text File.
It has been like that for almost 20 years in Windows (and longer, if you count OS/2), and it's all you'd need to know to use the system I proposed. However, you say that people can't do that because they don't know folders or files or opening them.
On the other hand, you are stating that Word and LO have things like styles, and ways to export to EPUB cleanly and manage stuff for users, and so on, and that people are using these things instead of a simple text editor.
In my view, that does not compute. It seems not possible to be so ignorant about computers that you DON'T know about how to create a folder, don't know how to create and write some stuff into a text file, while you ARE able to use Word and all of its capabilities effectively. It just doesn't seem possible. If someone can open and save a file in Word (or even Notepad), then they already know enough to use the above system.
If someone could do that, it would be akin not knowing how to hold a screwdriver and a hammer, while that same person is able to build a dog house the size of a small church.
What I was proposing would actually be for people who know basically nothing about computers. Need a chapter? Create a folder. Need a scene? Add a new file. That's it. In the end, click one button and an XHTML or EPUB file comes out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
Just my $.02. I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I think you're viewing authoring plus ePUBs as a goal.
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Nope. The goal is to remove as much stuff from the writing process as possible, because of what you are saying yourself here:
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I think most writers see writing the story as the goal, and the formatting is an afterthought (trust me on this). Most won't even use Styles, not even to make their own lives easier, much less to do something akin to what you're discussing.
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How is typing words into a plain text file *without any possible markup* not concentrating on writing the story? You can't get more concentrated than that. You write words, and that's it, just like on a typewriter.
People don't use styles, you say. Well, in my proposal, they don't have to. It's enough create a folder, give it a part or chapter name, and that's your style right there, just like taking a physical binder and writing "Chapter 1" on it.
The only thing someone would need to do to create the ebook, besides actually writing the words for your story, is to put all the pieces/scenes they write into the correct chapter (folder), and in the correct order by numbering them in the order they want them to appear, as if someone would write "1, 2, 3..." on each scene they've written on paper, and then putting them into the binder "Chapter 1".
I can't think of anything that's more basic than that. Using a computer does not get any more basic than creating folders to put your stuff in, and creating a flat text file and saving it.
If people can't or won't do even THAT, then it would be best to just use pen and paper.