09-20-2012, 09:27 AM | #241 |
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Educational licensed differ heavily.
While e. g. you can buy Manga Studio heavily discounted for students and are free to use keep using it for whenever with commercial use included, Adobe is absolutely strictly limited in these matters |
09-22-2012, 08:42 PM | #242 |
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I found an interesting program that can be used for organizing notes for writing projects over at Amazon the other day. It's called "my binder" and it's an app for Android which comes in handy as I have a mini-laptop that runs on Android OS that I'm reserving mostly for writing projects in future. You can create binders and label them and the 5 tabs that are found in each as well as emailing the contents of the tabs.
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09-23-2012, 12:34 PM | #243 |
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I've always wished I could get OneNote's hierarchical structure, instant save and portability (multiplatform) in the same package as ywriter's word count logging. I also wish MS would get over themselves about OneNote not being for word processing with the many limitations on formatting that that mindset brings. I don't want a word processor. I do want to be able to set default paragraph options.
I'm lobbying mobilenoter (android/ios onenote app maker) to add word count logging, and while I'm not optimistic, I expect they'll be more open to input from a niche user than MS. |
09-23-2012, 02:30 PM | #244 |
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Yea, if MS would make Onenote multiplatform and put some of words tools in it, that would rock!
I use Evernote on my Mac.. not the same. |
09-24-2012, 01:21 PM | #245 |
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The OneNote group does seem to work at improvements and plug-ins. So you never know. And you can help steer them by adding your voice to the suggestions (http://connect.microsoft.com/onenote ).
Looking back on this thread, I think we're spoiled. I can't be the only one here who remembers banging on a typewriter that required white-out (ugh!) or correction paper to make changes. Back then we would have killed for Windows Notepad or Wordpad, lol. And woe unto us if our manuscripts got shuffled or dropped in a breezy area. I'm not saying I don't want "the new shiny" as much or more than the rest of you but if you remember how some of our favorite older authors got their work done you'd gripe less and write more (that's a pep talk to myself). |
09-24-2012, 01:36 PM | #246 | |
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The other night... I wiped out my ENTIRE 88k word manuscript to book four. Back in the day of typewriters it was the equivalent of dropping it in the fire pit by accident. Not good!!! What did I do? Eh, hit the undo key and got back to work. Gotta love computers at times |
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09-24-2012, 06:27 PM | #247 | |
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yes, what you say is true! I am told War and Peace was written out longhand, several times, by the author's wife. And I recall the days of wondering how I'd ever fill a 360k floppy disk, Wordstar, and printers whose output was measured in characters per second, rather than pages per minute. Writer's cramp is a thing of the past, though replaced (or renamed?) by RSI, I guess. Research required a trip to the library and a hope that the encyclopedia had the required information. I rather like what we have now. Very much enjoying the tools at my disposal. With what I now have, I can put to one side my work while life demands I do other things, and more quickly pick up the traces when I return. Cheers, |
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09-30-2012, 08:56 PM | #248 |
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Hello All,
I registered to make a post in this thread. A disclaimer seems in order. I have never written a book of any nature but I keep having a draw to write, even if it ends with personal benefit only. Thank you to everyone that posted regarding the various programs and the reasons you lean toward them. Metal Mick, thank you for mentioning and reporting back about MyNovel 4. I was ready to purchase, but figured I would do a bit of hunting first to find what I could about the software. Forty dollars saved is a good thing, but I really thought the program would be what I needed. With all the help it offers it appeared to be a good starting point for someone such as myself. I am leaning toward WriteWay as it appears that it will have a 50% discount at NaNoWriMo In case there are some here that a seriously looking at Liquid Story Binder you can purchase it here at 44% off, and if you wait for a sale it will likely be 50-60% off. Also, an alternative to MS Office is found at SoftMaker website, and the demo is located here. I am not affiliated with any of these developers; just thought it might save people a little money. Thank you all for the insight. Last edited by Toxo; 09-30-2012 at 09:00 PM. |
10-01-2012, 07:56 PM | #249 | |
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re the info on MN, and other bits and pieces: you're welcome. Like you I thought MN offers a lot of things. It still does, but support from the developer isn't one of them. With a little effort it could be an excellent product, perhaps even best-of-breed. All I can say about the LSB offer is that it is an out-and-out bargain. I'm now at 75k words in LSB, and it has never crashed - something MN was exceptionally prone to. LSB remains a delight to use and offers some terrific tools for the emerging writer. Regarding Softmaker Office, I tried it once a good few years ago now, and thought it was okay. I am still looking for something that handles numbered and bulleted lists the way my much-loved Lotus WordPro did, and at the time I think SO was some way behind even OO (now Libre Office). That may no longer be the case. And so far as I can determine, there is still nothing for long documents that approaches WordPro. Many thanks, Toxo for posting your thoughts and information. I appreciate it very much. Cheers, |
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10-01-2012, 10:18 PM | #250 | |
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I spent the time and learned it; even contributed articles to the LSB wiki; but at the end of the day, it's easier to use Word, and its fabulous outlining and document mapping, over LSB. LSB makes things, in my opinion, horribly over-complex. I mean, what's the usefulness of a colored background (whoop) and a timeline that, unlike YWriter, doesn't even show you one character compared to another? The MindMap is hopelessly primitive, compared to something as simple as FreeMind (free). I found both the "Sequences" and the "Storyboard" not only useless, but gigantic timewasters. The builder? Meh. Still waiting to see for what possible use that would ever be better than a OneNote entry. The Story Outline was useful--but not better than Word, or FreeMind, for that matter. I was actually shocked when I realized that I couldn't write (for example) five chapters, then put them into the Storyboard, move them around, and output the result. No, neither Storyboard nor Sequences works that way--it only allows you to reorder things that aren't WRITTEN yet. (Hunh?). Once they're written, you have to drag and drop them around in a Planner or a Builder. What's the POINT of having Storyboarding or Sequencing, then? And the idea that the sequencer is "different" than Storyboarding because the latter is for the whole book and Sequencing is for a scene...man, talk about PADDING. And it plays music? Equally big whoop. (I mean, who does not have desktop music these days?) "Journals," for your characters to write in? Character Dossiers, okay...I can see people using that, but again, if you have OneNote, why? The Gallery? Why, again? I'd bet that 99% of the people on MR know how to make directories and sub-dirs (oh, wait...folders), so why not just make a dir, stick a sub-dir in there for images...why go through all the brain-damage of putting images, that you already have on your computer, IN LSB? Honestly--and I mean that, I'm not being snarky--I just don't GET it. I don't care that much about blowing the $40 or $45 or whatever it was, but I was irked at the giant waste of time. I recently used it--or tried to use it, like a dolt--for a series of short KB articles I was doing for our clientele (ebooking 101, that sort of short piece). I tried to output the RTF, which one would think would be simple, and the thing crashed. I was so frustrated I had a shrieking fit over at their forums. If you can't write a simple thousand or so words in 5 "chapters' and be able to put it together, then, as far as I'm concerned, it's a total waste of time and effort. I think, if someone needs software, just to "get in the zone," they should use YWriter, which still has more oomph than LSB and works GREAT. People say that LSB "is complex," and I couldn't disagree more. I think it's incredibly simple--it's a front-end for a db with some text files attached. The problem is not that it does too much; it's that it doesn't. I think it's the kind of program that is perfect for "fritterers," people who love to be distracted by bright shiny things, but, hell, I loathe it. Every time I think about using it, I can feel my head getting tight. You must be a visual kind of person, Metal Mick; I'm not. Sorry, don't mean to spew--but as as far as I am concerned, it is definitely lots of flash, lots of distractions, and very little productivity in the way of actual tools. Just my $.02. I have never tried Scrivener, but I understand that it, too, has this "all in one place" mindset, which I suppose I can see as useful. I don't know how (and I have four monitors) anyone can get anything done with LSB, myself. At the end of the day, you're putting chapters in RTF files. You can do the same thing in Word, use the document mapping and master document feature, and have fewer problems (don't even get me started about how much cleanup I had to DO on that RTF when I cut-and-pasted it into Word because I couldn't export it, due to the crashes). I'm glad it's working for you, but, MAN, that has not been my experience, and I've had it for two years. Hitch |
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10-02-2012, 02:39 AM | #251 | ||||||
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LSB creates and stores the chapters in rtf. I still have not had a crash. Nor have I seen a need to export from LSB into RTF. I just open the file... I remain unconvinced that this statement is true. You don't like LSB, that's fine. I do. you and your monitors have a good day now. |
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10-02-2012, 01:05 PM | #252 |
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I'm not necessarily disagreeing with anything you've said about your experience, Mick, but I think it's horses for courses - or whatever the cliche is. I haven't used LSB, but I have used the Word Outline function quite extensively. I've also watched youtube vids about LSB and how to use it. My thoughts were that I could do most of the important things LSB appears to do so much more easily in Word.
I think large programs like LSB appeal to some, whereas the deceptive simplicity of Word appeals to others, especially those who have learned all of Word's 'hidden' abilities. If you are happy with LSB, that's fine. I've read your reviews of other software such as MN so know that you're not someone who sticks to his guns whatever; instead you give a fair assessment of things as you find them. Some of us are dedicated Word fans. |
10-02-2012, 04:12 PM | #253 | |||||||||
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What I "shrieked" about was that I attempted to do naught more than output 5 lousy "chapters" (honestly--not even 2K words, IIRC) from LSB into a single RTF file to bring into Publisher to make a handout for our clients. It crashed. I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything I did--seriously. Quote:
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Ditto. As I said, had I known this would turn into such a conflagration, I shouldn't have bothered to post. I think that people should hear about both good AND bad experiences with software (and other things). Again, sorry that it seems to have gotten up your nose; it wasn't my intent--I was genuinely surprised. In my experience, YWriter does almost everything that LSB does, if not more. I've been more productive using YWriter with Freemind and a directory full of images, or Word with Freemind and a directory full of images, than I have with LSB. LSB is very, very pretty. It certainly attempts to address a beginning point for EVERY type of writer--plotters, panters, novelists, screenwriters, etc. (I believe that the screenwriting aspect is the original concept behind the software--if you stand back and look at it, it's definitely oriented in that direction.) IN MY OPINION, which has nothing whatsoever to do with anyone here, it spends more time looking pretty than it does being very efficient. If one is a visual type of person, I think it can be very appealing, and, if you use many visual cues while writing, you may LOVE IT. If, like me, you are more "think in words and outlines," and a plotter, and don't use a lot of visual stimuli in writing, it may NOT appeal to you. There? OK? Hopefully you can relax now. Hitch |
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10-02-2012, 06:13 PM | #254 |
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If anyone reading this is a more visual person than Hitch, and likes mind-mapping, a slightly more visual, free, mind-mapping software is X Mind. Personally, I prefer to mind-map on paper, it's so much more direct.
Just an aside |
10-02-2012, 11:16 PM | #255 | ||
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I don't mind if you or others don't like LSB, nor if their preference is to use several different applications instead of one: strong arguments can be made for either course. There's lots here who like Scrivener, WriteWay, and other applications and they are productive in them. That's fine by me: I'm certainly not an evangelist for LSB. I have written a lot in just a wordprocessor, using whatever features that I felt were useful, but I find the "novel-writing" software provides more for the way I work. I only post my experiences (both good and bad) here so others have a bit more information than they otherwise might not get. I last seriously used Word when it was known as Word 6 - even then it had lots of scope for customizing, even changing colours! I doubt that has changed at all, and it is certainly a part of LibreOffice. But that wasn't why I stopped using Word, nor did I take exception to the developers including that feature, even though it was of little use to me. I guess the bottom line is that if you have a message to pass on, give it a little thought first, and leave the snide comments out. Cheers, |
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