What Software do You Use? - Page 3

pking36330 · 08-13-2009, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomesque

Oooh, could be! Thanks

Just notice your signature block.

You might be in a spot to influence development of yWriter more than most. I'm pretty sure Simon is on the same continent as you, but I don't know which end. See yWriter site.

Timoleon · 08-13-2009, 10:52 PM

Writer's Café for the last six months or so.

nomesque · 08-14-2009, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pking36330

Just notice your signature block.

You might be in a spot to influence development of yWriter more than most. I'm pretty sure Simon is on the same continent as you, but I don't know which end. See yWriter site.

Huh, I think I've come across him. Could be wrong, but I think he's other side of the country in Perth or Fremantle.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 08-15-2009, 07:05 PM

I've just tried out a short story, Denial of Service, on Smashwords, which I wanted to evaluate against my customized formats. There are differences in how Smashwords' software renders texts from Word files, versus the software apps I use... what you'd expect from using one document to create a half-dozen or more formats. But the results haven't been bad, just not as polished as they might be.

llreader · 10-17-2009, 01:49 PM

Right now I am fiddling around creating an export filter for Scrivener that works for Smashwords input format. Once I have it done and tested, I will share it with you folks. However, it occurs to me that someone might already have done this. Has anyone got a Scrivener-to-Smashwords export format that I could take a look at? Thanks!

DMcCunney · 10-17-2009, 04:47 PM

There are an assortment of programs I think of as IDEs for writers.

In the programming world, an IDE is an Integrated Development Environment. It typically includes an editor used to create and edit program code, as well as class browsers, interfaces to compilers and debuggers, and other tools. the idea is that you can do everything required, from writing the code through building the executable within the IDE.

Writer's IDEs are available, with facilities for keeping notes on characters, developing plotlines, providing pointers to research sources and the like, as well as actually crafting prose. While development of stuff like this is most advanced for the Mac, Windows also has solutions.

See http://texteditors.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WritersIDEFamily for a list. (And it you know of things that aren't there, please add them. It's a wiki, and you can...

)
______
Dennis

GntlmnBndt · 10-19-2009, 12:33 PM

Thank you to the OP and all the responses, this is some nice info. It also lead me to this little tidbit, for you mac users still considering Scrivener: The developer, Literature and Latte, is offering an extended trial and discount for NaNoWriMo participants. More info.

I haven't actually decided if I will leave Bean behind, but this would be a good opportunity to test the waters. Especially after someone mentioned losing data in Bean.

The Bandit

grimborg · 10-22-2009, 11:15 AM

I always write in vim.

I like writing in plain text. This keeps me focused on what matters (the text) without worrying about its looks.

Later I convert the text to latex using a very simple perl script.

Also, I push my writings to a git repository (github, actually), so I can keep track of the changes and undo fuckups

jaxx6166 · 10-22-2009, 02:02 PM

So.. .. I bought a Mac. And Scrivener.
And then found the 20 and 50% discount. Crap.
Oh well, let's see how it works for Nano!

llreader · 10-30-2009, 07:23 PM

Ok, it took me a while to get around to it, but I made an export filter for Scrivener to create DOC files in the Smashwords format. I just uploaded a story I had laying around, which was only two pages and a single "chapter", so it would be nice if other people tried the export format for larger texts to see how that works.

You can see the one I uploaded here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/5399

The PDF looks good, it didn't keep the cover image, though. The LRF did some weird spacing stuff, but centered the text properly. The EPUB format looks great, but it justifies everything to the left, and sticks the cover image way up at the top of the page.

Let me know how it works for you. You need to put the attached xml file in your local (not system) Library/Application Support/Scrivener/ExportSettings/ folder, and Load it when you are in the export panel.

Cheers!

ShortNCuddlyAm · 10-30-2009, 08:46 PM

Thanks for that - I'll give it a go (possibly not for a month though...)

llreader · 10-31-2009, 03:46 AM

Thanks Am! I got some feedback from Smashwords that the format is fine, but that the cover image is not up to spec (which is fine, it is just a Photo Booth pic). I would like to test it on a longer piece I am working on (I want to see how chapter and section separators work), but it isn't finished, so the only way I can figure to do that is to upload it, set a price of $1000, download copies of the different formats, and then unpublish. But that seems like a bit much. If anyone tries this with a piece that has chapter or section breaks, let me know.

llreader · 10-31-2009, 05:39 AM

I added an image to the inside of the file (just the one I was using for the cover, which I changed to something more appropriate). There seems to be a minor issue with embedded images. At first it looked fine in Scrivener, but when exported to DOC format it was wider than the page, and had to be scaled by hand. You can get around this by scaling the image in Scrivener directly (although there are no units on the scaling tool).

There is still an issue where the title isn't centered in the generated LRF file. I am not sure if I need to tag is somehow. Also, the formats don't seem to respect page breaks that should be respected (title page, copyright page). I am going to have to see if there is a way to tweak this somehow.

llreader · 10-31-2009, 07:39 AM

The image issue is worse than I thought. For some reason, after an image Scrivener just starts skipping paragraph breaks, and they all run together. Images might need to go into the Word doc directly to avoid strange problems.

View Poll Results: What writing software do you use? (Multiple Choice)
Standalone Word-Processor (Word, Pages, Openoffice etc)	35	61.40%
Specialised Writing Tool (Scrivener, Storymill, Storyist etc)	12	21.05%
Non-specialised or Mix (Word+Excel, Vim, Latex etc)	16	28.07%
I hire a typist and sit eating chocolates and dictating my prose.	3	5.26%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 57. You may not vote on this poll

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08-13-2009, 10:52 PM	#32
Timoleon Time Enough at Last Posts: 387 Karma: 1151316 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: New England Device: iPad 3, iPhone 5, Kindle 3, Fire, Sony PRS-350	Writer's Café for the last six months or so.

08-15-2009, 07:05 PM	#34
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	I've just tried out a short story, Denial of Service, on Smashwords, which I wanted to evaluate against my customized formats. There are differences in how Smashwords' software renders texts from Word files, versus the software apps I use... what you'd expect from using one document to create a half-dozen or more formats. But the results haven't been bad, just not as polished as they might be.

10-17-2009, 01:49 PM	#35
llreader Mesmerist Posts: 331 Karma: 506558 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Spain Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.	Right now I am fiddling around creating an export filter for Scrivener that works for Smashwords input format. Once I have it done and tested, I will share it with you folks. However, it occurs to me that someone might already have done this. Has anyone got a Scrivener-to-Smashwords export format that I could take a look at? Thanks!

10-17-2009, 04:47 PM	#36
DMcCunney New York Editor Posts: 6,384 Karma: 16540415 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7	There are an assortment of programs I think of as IDEs for writers. In the programming world, an IDE is an Integrated Development Environment. It typically includes an editor used to create and edit program code, as well as class browsers, interfaces to compilers and debuggers, and other tools. the idea is that you can do everything required, from writing the code through building the executable within the IDE. Writer's IDEs are available, with facilities for keeping notes on characters, developing plotlines, providing pointers to research sources and the like, as well as actually crafting prose. While development of stuff like this is most advanced for the Mac, Windows also has solutions. See http://texteditors.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WritersIDEFamily for a list. (And it you know of things that aren't there, please add them. It's a wiki, and you can... ) ______ Dennis

10-19-2009, 12:33 PM	#37
GntlmnBndt Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 142 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: iPod Touch, iPad	Thank you to the OP and all the responses, this is some nice info. It also lead me to this little tidbit, for you mac users still considering Scrivener: The developer, Literature and Latte, is offering an extended trial and discount for NaNoWriMo participants. More info. I haven't actually decided if I will leave Bean behind, but this would be a good opportunity to test the waters. Especially after someone mentioned losing data in Bean. The Bandit

10-22-2009, 11:15 AM	#38
grimborg Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 5514 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Groningen, Netherlands Device: PRS-T1	I always write in vim. I like writing in plain text. This keeps me focused on what matters (the text) without worrying about its looks. Later I convert the text to latex using a very simple perl script. Also, I push my writings to a git repository (github, actually), so I can keep track of the changes and undo fuckups

10-22-2009, 02:02 PM	#39
jaxx6166 Wizard Posts: 1,222 Karma: 769316 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Eternal summer Device: 350, iPad, PW	So.. .. I bought a Mac. And Scrivener. And then found the 20 and 50% discount. Crap. Oh well, let's see how it works for Nano!

10-30-2009, 08:46 PM	#41
ShortNCuddlyAm WWHALD Posts: 7,879 Karma: 337114 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Mitcham, Surrey, UK Device: iPad. Selling my silver 505 here	Thanks for that - I'll give it a go (possibly not for a month though...)

10-31-2009, 03:46 AM	#42
llreader Mesmerist Posts: 331 Karma: 506558 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Spain Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.	Thanks Am! I got some feedback from Smashwords that the format is fine, but that the cover image is not up to spec (which is fine, it is just a Photo Booth pic). I would like to test it on a longer piece I am working on (I want to see how chapter and section separators work), but it isn't finished, so the only way I can figure to do that is to upload it, set a price of $1000, download copies of the different formats, and then unpublish. But that seems like a bit much. If anyone tries this with a piece that has chapter or section breaks, let me know.

10-31-2009, 05:39 AM	#43
llreader Mesmerist Posts: 331 Karma: 506558 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Spain Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.	I added an image to the inside of the file (just the one I was using for the cover, which I changed to something more appropriate). There seems to be a minor issue with embedded images. At first it looked fine in Scrivener, but when exported to DOC format it was wider than the page, and had to be scaled by hand. You can get around this by scaling the image in Scrivener directly (although there are no units on the scaling tool). There is still an issue where the title isn't centered in the generated LRF file. I am not sure if I need to tag is somehow. Also, the formats don't seem to respect page breaks that should be respected (title page, copyright page). I am going to have to see if there is a way to tweak this somehow.

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10-31-2009, 07:39 AM	#44
llreader Mesmerist Posts: 331 Karma: 506558 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Spain Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.	The image issue is worse than I thought. For some reason, after an image Scrivener just starts skipping paragraph breaks, and they all run together. Images might need to go into the Word doc directly to avoid strange problems.