software for writing books

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

I know that some people just speak their story into a tape recorder (I know it's a "digital recorder" now, but in my head it's always going to be tape.) They tell the whole story like they're talking to other people, then type it up and change it into a more "book" story form.

I know that Dragon lets you take those recordings, runs 'em through the program, and it types them all up. Then you just edit everything because you've already got your first draft.

I tried Dragon, but you have to train the hell out of it to get it to use the right words. Then while you're talking, you have to kind of keep an eye on the screen because sometimes the program screws up and will just stop writing and you have to start it back up. That's why I think it would work better if you pre-recorded your stories, otherwise you lose everything if you're not paying attention to the screen and it's not typing.

Digital recorder -- about $40
Dragon Naturally Speaking -- about $40-90 depending on the version

It wasn't for me, but maybe one of you guys would like it.

I have a feeling that the version of Dragon you tried must have been a old version, the current version of "Dragon Naturally Speaking" doesn't require much training at all and is VERY accurate. I use it quite often, but not for creative writing. Somehow the actual process of typing stimulates creativity while dictating detracts from it. I use Naturally Speaking for notes and research, something that it is ideally suited for. I use my iPhone with a recording app to record notes, and then use Naturally Speaking to transcribe them.

[VydorScope]

I have been meaning to try Dragon for probably a decade now.. one of these days I probably should.

[VydorScope]

HRM looks like LSB is windows only... therefor it is no good.

[gmw]

I think if I had to use type-writer mode, or Write or Die, in order to write then I'd give up and find another hobby. Writing's something I do because I want to, not because I want yet more deadlines to meet, and that means getting involved in what I'm writing. When it's going well I have still managed to produce a reasonable volume over relative short times even using my continuous rewrite approach.

I've never used Dragon (I do have an old copy around here that came with WordPerfect, but I never installed it), though I do remember back when I was using OS/2 and tried it's voice feature. I was most disgusted when my computer would willingly obey one of my friends but mostly ignored me! Needless to say I told it where to go.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by gmw

I think if I had to use type-writer mode, or Write or Die, in order to write then I'd give up and find another hobby. Writing's something I do because I want to, not because I want yet more deadlines to meet, and that means getting involved in what I'm writing. When it's going well I have still managed to produce a reasonable volume over relative short times even using my continuous rewrite approach.

Pretty much feel the same way, but silly me put my own deadline in place by posting in my prior books "Book 4 due out on such and such date." Well I did not put a date, stuff like "Late 2012" but still... should rethink that as I am behind now LOL.

[Metal Mick]

Hi all,

quite some time ago, I suffered something of a crash and lost a lot of the softcopy of my work. I had the printouts, so got the IBM product for voice recognition - sorry I can't recall its name, just now - and a headset and spent an hour or so educating it to my voice and pronunciation and it worked very well. Accuracy well over 99%, or far better than my typing. A little more relaxing too.

I tried dictating new stories but never warmed to that for some reason; same too with controlling my PC by voice. Then IBM -as IBM has a tendency to do - dropped the development of it and left the market to Dragon Dictate and its successors.

Watching old movies, the company Grand-Pooh-Bahs have a dictation machine or a gorgeous secretary that they give dictation to (who always seems more intelligent and better organized than her boss), so for some people it works.

Times have changed.

Cheers,

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

I get into different writing moods. Sometimes the words just flow out through my fingertips and I can write 20,000 words in one day (Echo) while other times it's all stops and starts and I end up bringing out the pen and paper (Heroes & Villains). If I'm in a distracted mood, not being able to go back and change things would keep me moving forward. (As in, "I need to get this done so I can go back and fix paragraph four. It's driving me crazy!")

I like Write or Die, but I have to copy and paste into Scrivener to keep all my document together for the times when I need to go back and reread the last bits I wrote. I tried the export function, but it put breaks between every paragraph; if I copy/paste, then it comes out normal without me having to fix anything.

Once I get everything into Scrivener, I copy and paste into LibreOffice. For some reason, when I try to compile I lose any breaks between paragraphs and a lot of my formatting. Annoying, but I can deal with that. Then once in LibreOffice, I edit and can make Word docs for Kindle and Smashwords, and PDF/A's for CreateSpace.

Does anyone know of a program that does everything and isn't super expensive?

One of the most overlooked pieces of software is Microsoft Onenote - a part of the Microsoft Office Suite. It is very useful for a writer - I tend to use it and Scrivener almost exclusively. It is quick, easy, and versatile. You can use it in conjunction with the Snipping tool (another underused Windows accessory) to drop screen grabs and take notes when doing research. If you have an input tablet you can use it for handwritten notes and sketches.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

One of the most overlooked pieces of software is Microsoft Onenote - a part of the Microsoft Office Suite. It is very useful for a writer - I tend to use it and Scrivener almost exclusively. It is quick, easy, and versatile. You can use it in conjunction with the Snipping tool (another underused Windows accessory) to drop screen grabs and take notes when doing research. If you have an input tablet you can use it for handwritten notes and sketches.

OneNote is hands down the best part of the Office Suite... BUT.. its Windows only so therefore it sucks.

Also it has been mentioned in this thread, at least once, I think.

[Harper Kingsley]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

One of the most overlooked pieces of software is Microsoft Onenote - a part of the Microsoft Office Suite. It is very useful for a writer - I tend to use it and Scrivener almost exclusively. It is quick, easy, and versatile. You can use it in conjunction with the Snipping tool (another underused Windows accessory) to drop screen grabs and take notes when doing research. If you have an input tablet you can use it for handwritten notes and sketches.

I don't think I have Microsoft Office installed I don't have a tablet either, which I think would be useful for something like Kindlegraph. I've been toying with getting a tablet, but considering the tragic state of my finances I don't think it's worth the expense right now. It's on my list for when I get a ton of money though

Back in the day I was madly in love with WinWord, then they upgraded and changed the whole dashboard and everything and it just made me go "Ugh!" As I get older, I find that I get more and more picky

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

I don't think I have Microsoft Office installed I don't have a tablet either, which I think would be useful for something like Kindlegraph. I've been toying with getting a tablet, but considering the tragic state of my finances I don't think it's worth the expense right now. It's on my list for when I get a ton of money though

Back in the day I was madly in love with WinWord, then they upgraded and changed the whole dashboard and everything and it just made me go "Ugh!" As I get older, I find that I get more and more picky

I don't know where you are - demographically - but OneNote is a part of Office 2003, which can be found second-hand at very low cost. It was dropped for Office 2007, and reinstated with Office 2010. I used Office 2003 until quite recently when I had to upgrade to stay on a par with people who had incompatibility problems with 2003.

Right now you can download Office 365 with Word 2013 and OneNote free of charge - on a trial. It is Microsoft's new "Cloud Computing" development. It works quite well. The trial will last until sixty days after the official release of the software - not expected until 2013. That means quite a few months of free use.

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

OneNote is hands down the best part of the Office Suite... BUT.. its Windows only so therefore it sucks.

Also it has been mentioned in this thread, at least once, I think.

Yes I believe that was mentioned in response to one of my earlier posts. I find it useful for collecting data, thoughts and images related to what I am working on. It is very handy to be able to use the clipping tool to take a snapshot of whatever I am looking at and drop it into OneNote for future reference. I use mostly Word and and Scrivener for creative writing, OneNote as a gigantic cork-board. It helps to have a second, large, hi-res screen while you are working.

[teh603]

I still miss the outliner module from Symantec GreatWorks. You only needed one app to do both good (for its era) word processing and great notetaking, and you could use Apple File Exchange to translate into or out of any document format you needed.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by Metal Mick

Hi all,

quite some time ago, I suffered something of a crash and lost a lot of the softcopy of my work. I had the printouts, so got the IBM product for voice recognition - sorry I can't recall its name, just now - and a headset and spent an hour or so educating it to my voice and pronunciation and it worked very well. Accuracy well over 99%, or far better than my typing. A little more relaxing too.

I tried dictating new stories but never warmed to that for some reason; same too with controlling my PC by voice. Then IBM -as IBM has a tendency to do - dropped the development of it and left the market to Dragon Dictate and its successors.

Watching old movies, the company Grand-Pooh-Bahs have a dictation machine or a gorgeous secretary that they give dictation to (who always seems more intelligent and better organized than her boss), so for some people it works.

Times have changed.

Cheers,

The name you forgot is ViaVoice

[Metal Mick]

Hi Freeshadow,

indeed it is. I recognize the title, though would never have dredged it from my memory.

Many thanks,

Michael P

[Freeshadow]

ViaVoice is the sound of shattered hopes in the ears of legions of Linux users and the proof that when a company says they stand fully behind something they truly mean: "We won't screw them yet, we are still in the process of unbuttoning our corporative pants." This is why we linuxers still remember that name. Google ViaVoice+linux and you 'll see quickly.