Poll for Ebook Writers - Your Favorite Word Processor?

[Smashwords]

Ebook authors - which word processor is your favorite?

[AndrewH]

Google Docs.

[Vintage Season]

Mark, although I have written quite extensively in longhand (just had to order new ink for the ol' fountain pen...), and digitally using any number of programs (including both Notepad in Windows, and TextEdit in OS-X), the word processor which has seen the most use — on all of my computer systems — is still OpenOffice.

— M.

[John Carroll]

Originally Posted by Vintage Season

Mark, although I have written quite extensively in longhand (just had to order new ink for the ol' fountain pen...), and digitally using any number of programs (including both Notepad in Windows, and TextEdit in OS-X), the word processor which has seen the most use — on all of my computer systems — is still OpenOffice.

— M.

Longhand?!! No, I want my readers to be able to decipher the words.

I use Microsoft word, though my first poems were written on Word Perfect 20 years ago.

[HistoryWes]

I use MS Word the most, though I like the newest version less than its predecessor. I started using MS Word because I got it free through my work as a teacher and it was required in some of my college classes. Back in ye olden days, I used WordPerfect.

BTW: I'm hoping for the day when we can edit post-meatgrider files to tweak each format for its best look, though I realize we won't be seeing it anytime soon.

[mjhudston]

I use pages on my ipad to write most of my stories, because my ipad goes almost everywhere and I do my writing mainly in coffee shops, hotels and trains.etc. However the final editing is normally done in MS Word when I get back home.

[Randolphlalonde]

Sadly, I have to use MS word when I'm doing final revisions. Recently I started using the standard Apple text app on my Macbook Pro though, since MS word started crashing on me.

Everything has been going really smooth since I started drafting in a basic program. No crashes, no irritating auto-formatting, but the spellchecking that I'm used to.

I really wish MSword wasn't the default for the industry, but hey, what can you do?

RL

Randolph Lalonde
www.randolphlalonde.com
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[James_Wilde]

The poll question was what's your favourite word-processor, so I answered Open Office.

But for writing I use Scrivener. When I'm done there, I export it to OOo for final word-processing before sending it away to Smashwords. Of course, I have to save it as a MS Word doc since you don't handle OOo yet.

[kcmay]

I was using Word up until about a week ago when I was turned onto WriteItNow. I LOVE it. It fits exactly how I write, and it has a function to export all my chapters & scenes to a manuscript file which I can then make publish-ready (using Word).

[Notre Dame]

"What's your favourite word processor?" really should have been "What word processor do you use?" Most of us don't have a choice. We use the word processor and page format our publisher wants. If they use MS Word you have to too. Over the years I've used several versions of MS Word, Wordperfect and one or two others, but the best of all was a cheap programme I started using after transition from typewriter to my first computer back in '85 called Tasword. It was solid as a rock, didn't bounce about and reformat on a whim, didn't need an army of defaults changing to look acceptable, and generally did what it was told, but then it was DOS based, and like everything else, simpler usually means better. The peculiar thing is today publishers complain about MS Word too, mine referring to it as "ornery", but we're still using it, and that I don't understand. Same with keyboards. Who didn't realise it was stupid to leave the Caps Lock button next to the Shift Key, when there is no "feel" to let you you you've knocked it on accidentally? Most of us four finger typists don't look at the screen when we work, and then it's too late. C'est la vie.
http://www.chrisscottwilson.co.uk

[DanielKoehler]

Mark:
I write in Word2003. The later versions are incomprehensible, I think, because they made menu items "visual" which didn't need it. They had a perfect book writing interface and turned it into a coloring book. Overdesigning at it's worst. And the enhancements were marginal. I tried Word 2007 and threw up my hands. "Why?"

Thanks for the great job you and the team are doing at Smashwords.

Best, Daniel

[kylewbell]

Microsoft Word 2010. The program is a little too reliant on graphics, but it's more powerful than any other word processor. I used to use OpenOffice and found that conversion to Word format is too choppy. It's certainly not ideal if you have a lot of formatting. If you are going to use a word processor for an e-book, I would recommend Word, since none of the major distributors of e-books accept OpenOffice format. Avoiding the conversion makes for a better quality e-book.

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[annienygma]

I used OpenOffice for YEARS, literally since it was just StarOffice. Recently I tried the new Microsoft Word 2010 and fell in love! I do a lot of writing and online submissions, and Word has removed a lot of the time I spent fighting with formatting issues after uploading my documents.

It has also saved a lot of time due to ease of use.

I feel like a traitor to OpenOffice, but by golly, Word 2010 is just plain easier to work with than OpenOffice--even after using OO as long as I have. I don't see myself switching to another word processor anytime in the near future as a result, though I must admit I was totally shocked at how much better I liked it over OO!
Microsoft Word 2010!

[nomesque]

Mark, my dear, if this poll has ANYTHING to do with Smashwords uploads, you need your fingers soundly smacked. 'Favourite application to write in' and 'preferred tool to create a polished final ebook' are completely different questions. *stern look*

[fporretto]

Though I'm a MS Word user, I'd dearly love a word processor that's more oriented toward the needs of a fiction writer. MS Word has many features fictioneers don't need or want, and at times they obstruct the things we DO need to do.

The problem is made more complicated by MS Word's dominance. It's the word processor of choice for the overwhelming majority of users, and has become a de facto exchange format, at least in Word 97-2003 format. So whether we like it or not, we pretty much have to have it...and why would anyone want two incompatible word processors?