Writing can take many forms now a days. Some prefer pen and paper and others prefer word processors. I am curious what [email protected] uses for their own writing.
For me I have used Scrivener before but found it too powerful for my style of writing. I now find myself using Google docs since it can sync to so many places and I can write wherever I go. (If anyone has a FOSS Google docs alternative I am all ears)
So, [email protected], what is your software of choice? If you prefer pen and paper, what does your process look like?
Like most others, I use Scrivener for long-form content like novels.
For short-form content and general notes, I was one of those people that bounced around to a million different apps (I tried Apple Notes, Bear, Upnote, Evernote, OneNote, Craft, Obsidian, Notion, Logseq, Roam, etc.) but I just ended up landing on Apple Notes. Every app had its drawbacks, but the biggest drawback of all was the constant switching. So many hours wasted testing word processing software.
I feel that, it’s almost a job in of itself to find one that works and when you hear of a new one it makes you think “maybe this one is the one” even though it usually isn’t
I’m pretty basic, I usually just use google docs. However when I was younger, I found an old typewriter in my attic and got it working. So for a couple of years I would write on a typewriter lol. I looked very pretentious, but I mostly just liked the sound and the novelty of it.
lol its only pretentious if you take it to a coffee shop and write on it. I’ve always wanted to get a typewriter, my mom had one when we were young but it didn’t work very well. I do remember the smell of the ink and clicks of the keys though it was fantastic.
I do the same as you with Google Docs - it honestly never occurred to me to use something fancier. I did used to use a mind map software when I had grand ambitions of writing longer works, FreeMind.
While I would love to use pen and paper, my handwriting is a mess and it would get lost long before I ever moved it to a digital format.
If it works it works that’s for sure.
Now I could never wrap my head around mind maps, do you have any tips or tricks for how you used it when you were using it?
I enjoy pen and paper too, but mainly for journaling because then I don’t have to go back and try and figure out what I wrote!
I’m honestly not great with mind maps either, but it was a more fluid way to hold information. I actually redownloaded FreeMind and pulled up the old mindmaps - oh nostalgia.
One of them is to help keep track of character details and relations. Nodes were whether they were a main character, minor character, someone referenced in passing, and then the character name, and then a breakdown of details around them (family, special abilities). I think I also intended to include major plot points I wanted to hit as well, as I was big on planning at the time.
The second was going to take place in a made-up world, so that one has character details and also location details, so I could keep everything straight and have one document to reference to make sure I was being consistent.
Of course, neither of these ever got written, so take it how you will haha. I think the map was just more visually appealing than a list of these items, since related things can be linked easier than in a doc.
That makes sense, I think I always was worried that there was a right or wrong way to use it, and didn’t experiment with it as much as I should.
If you can make a tool work for you, that’s what matters in my opinion. If not, well, not every tool is for everyone and that’s cool too.
I probably wouldn’t have spent much time on it if I couldn’t just pick up sections and move them around the screen all willy-nilly. I thought it was neat, so the program held my attention where normally mind maps aren’t my thing.
I mostly do technical writing, with some creative writing on the side when I’ve got time (a rare commodity while I work on my PhD).
Generally I outline with pen on paper, because it’s easier for me to sketch out the structure of a piece of writing by hand than trying to translate my thoughts to outline software. I like to draw trees and put things in boxes and stuff to figure out how ideas fit together, and there’s just no real substitute for doing it by hand. More recently I’ve got an e-ink tablet, and sometimes I’ll do my outlining on there instead of actual paper made from trees. Ends up working in exactly the same way, although it’s a bit easier to erase / undo.
For the actual writing, I generally use latex via Overleaf. It’s just so good for technical writing, nothing really compares for me. I can set my formatting up at the beginning and then put it out of mind and just write, and it’s got lots of good tools for blocking in placeholders and todo notes.
For more creative writing where I don’t need a bunch of figures and stuff I usually go for a simple markdown editor like Ghostwriter. Simple, no frills, but I can still add headings and stuff.
The other kind of writing I do sometimes is to prepare to run TTRPG games, and that planning usually happens in Google Docs, mainly because it’s simple to access from wherever (including my phone) if I have an idea I want to jot down quickly, and since nobody but me will ever look at it I can be fairly free form with my formatting and just stick photo inspiration, links to evocative music, etc right inline with the rest of the text
I haven’t done technical writing, but it makes sense that it’s a whole different world from purely creative writing. If I had to do any, I’m sure pen and paper would be my go to initially to get my thoughts out on the page.
Fountain pen on paper is my preference. At least for the first draft. I edit as I transcribe.
Do you feel a bit more connected to your work when writing with pen and paper?
To a certain extent, yes. I just find that the pacing works well for me. I think of a sentence, and I can edit it as I write, trying to balance the words properly. I find that I do less editing overall if I write more slowly the first time.
Anything to save time while editing is never a bad thing! I may have to give that a shot next time I am working on something, but first I need to make sure my handwriting is legible.
My handwriting is barely legible, especially when I get excited. But I’m the only one who needs to read it, because I type it up before showing it to anyone. If you do try it, I would suggest getting a nice pen. It really makes a difference; trust me. Fountain pens are a whole rabbithole, so that might be a bit daunting. But a rollerball pen is a great alternative to ballpoints that doesn’t break the bank but writes so much more nicely.
I have looked into fountain pens before and my head started spinning lol. It may be something that I need to check out, do you have any fountain pen basics or starter pens to look at?
Get yourself a Platinum Preppy, with a Fine nib. You can get them on Amazon (or, preferrably, a more ethical site like Goulet Pens) for under $10. It’s not a mortgage payment, but it writes really well, and the Fine nib is good for many people’s handwriting. I would also suggest you start with ink cartridges rather than bottled ink. The cartridges are more expensive for less choice in terms of colour, but bottled ink is a whole world on its own. You do not want to dive into that unless you feel ready.
Also, there is now a fountain pen community on Lemmy. I am not sure what the URL is, but it should pop up in a search. You can make a post there to get some more input from people who probably know better than me.
Thanks for the suggestion! I will check it out and look for that community.
All my prep work is done through a combination of Joplin and Obsidian while the actual manuscript is written in MarkText.
If you couldn’t tell, I really like the Markdown format.
I use Libre Office, and when I paste to Royal Road, I let Grammarly offer edit suggestions in the browser. I often don’t take them, but it also catches some things that are really helpful.
I like having local copies that are easy to rename the file of or backup. I do one chapter per file. If I need to write remotely, I can, and I use Discord to send files back and forth like notes for the story, plus my world has a campaign website that I use as well. this format works well in part because I’m writing a serial and posting it one chapter at a time (~2k words, sitting at over 100 chapters right now)
I’ve never heard of Royal Road before, might check it out! That’s an interesting way to use discord as well I wouldn’t have thought of that.
Also I love serial fiction, its such a fun format!
Yeah, my wife and I have a private section on my Discord server, we use it to send each other stuff and for our own reference.
I started using RR last year because a serial story posted on Reddit posted a link to his story there, and I loved it. About three months later, I started writing and posting my own story there. It’s not a LitRPG so it’s not as popular as some stories, but approaching 900 followers so I am doing something right. :)
Thanks for the link! I’m definitely going to check it out.
Have you ever heard of writefreely.org? I haven’t looked too deeply into it yet but I believe it’s a federated writing website. Could be another place to post to get grow your audience. But I do know how hard it is to add another site when you’re in a groove, so just thought I’d bring it up
Hmm, I’ll take a deeper look a bit later, but I am not sure how discoverable it makes your writing. That is one advantage of RR, it centralizes most of what I want. Once my revisions of Volume 1 are complete, I am going to throw the $50 at ads on RR (gets you a month of ads) and see if I get enough new followers who join my Patreon to justify doing it again. So far I have not spent any money on discoverability.
That makes sense, I’m not sure if it’s more for blog writing or building a following. I am sure it has less discoverability than RR. And I love not spending on growth, so I feel you there
I use Scrivener. I’ve set it up so my files are synced with Onedrive, so I can write on my home PC and on my laptop when I’m away from home.
That seems like a pretty efficient system, do you ever have any issues with syncing pages?
For whatever reason I could never get my brain to work with google docs or computer writing. When I was younger, I used a type writer, and it was lovely. These days I find that I’m best with pen and paper. Though that’s only for the draft part. Once I’m secure in what I got, I’m typing it up.
Pen and Paper would never have worked for me, I am so glad electronic typewriters and then computers became a popular thing. Hand writing in any form cramps my hand somewhat badly, probably related to my bad hand writing and poor small motor skills (larger hand-eye coordination is fine however)
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Have you tried hand writing on a device? Either a tablet or one of the eink ones?
I do a bit of both and it’s nice to been nice to have both the tactile sensation of writing while also having an immediately backed up digital copy.
I have a nice big drawing display tablet and I should be able to give it a shot, yeah. Thanks for the suggestion! It’s stupid but I would’ve honestly not thought of that, haha.
I’ve mostly been writing in Obsidian. I use syncthing to sync between my phone and computer, and use git as version history from my computer. For the most part, it’s powerful enough for all my text editing and brainstorming needs, and the internal linking etc is nice for maintaining stuff like world-building notes when I’m writing something complex.
That said, I also do some writing on paper or my phablet using a digital pen and simple handwriting apps when I feel like it, and use transcription as an opportunity to do first-pass edits on stuff. I actually do very little of my writing at a desk - the ability to write when and where I’m inspired by something isn’t something I can compromise, so I primarily use desktop applications for editing and formatting after the fact. Words on paper/screen is most important given my busy life, so I go for convenience (obsidian mobile / writing on my screen using the pen) over fancy editor features. I’m not at the point where I’m thinking of the words to put down faster than I can type on my phone, so getting a few hundred words in while I walk to daycare works great.
I use a selfhosted dokuwiki to maintain notes/ideas on setting, plot, characters. It lets me interconnect and cross reference them. I’m currently using it more for world building in a dnd context but am also using the same structure to explore a setting for some fiction. I’m stuck, but not due to the tools, just time and writing ability.
For actually writing the story, I’m not sure what I’ll do. I use Typora to write markdown and synology drive to sync it to my home lab so that may be my approach - perhaps a file per chapter / section or something. I really like the light weight nature of markdown and the distraction free experience in Typora.
I am a sucker for pen/paper (any such communities on here yet?) so do have a soft spot for the idea of handwriting a story, but the ability to edit without striking out is very appealing.
Sounds like you’ve got a plan! Hopefully it pans out and you get some great work done!
I don’t think there are any specific pen and paper communities yet, but it’s looks like more are getting added by the day!
Thanks! The wiki is so helpful. It matches well with how I think so find myself documenting lots of non-writing projects (purchases, how I’ve set up computer , homelab documentation…
I have a d&d one shot coming up in the summer so will have some content to iron out for then!
I used to use scrivener, then Ulysses, lately I use Capacities which is similar to Obsidian (the latter which you might be interested in using!)
Point being as you can see I am not immune to shiny new apps every few months lol
lol that can be my issue as well, something new is fun.
I’ll check out Obsidian, I haven’t heard of that one before!
I mostly use VS Code with Dendron to organize notes and ideas, OneNote for worldbuilding. I like to try different things though, like today I’m going to check out yWrite.
Sometimes, I’ll write in my journal with a fountain pen (right now Lamy Safari + Diamine Jet Black) to capture quick ideas or make small drafts, especially if I’m on the go or if my eyes need a break from the screen.
+1 for the usage of vscode and onenote.
The limitation of style in vscode helps prevent distractions (markdown is great for this), and the flexibility of onenote makes it easy to build a personal wiki and indexing system to support the main text.
I agree - my writing in VS Code is definitely less prone to distraction. I usually enable the zen mode to get rid of all the editor fluff too, makes it less overwhelming to look at. The way I have it set up, the zen mode doesn’t trigger fullscreen mode, and the buffer takes up the entire window except for the file header and the title bar.
I believe I have tried yWrite in the past but can’t remember how it went. I don’t think it was a bad experience, or rather if I was focused on finding the “right” software. Hopefully it works well for you!
Fountain pens seem to be the main writing tool for pen and paper. Excited to look into them more.
I use a regular text editor (Pluma) or markdown editor (Ghostwriter) for writing
LibreOffice. It’s nice, simple, and gets the job done.
