A Survey...

[Robinski he/him]

I haven't been on RE long, but I think I've read 8-10 pieces now, but I've been writing for ages, so I know I've developed a lot of habits of my own.

 

I'm interested to know about the tools that people use, and the approach. I know that writing is not about the tool, and Writing Excuses taught us (very early on) to ignore the tool and write!!, but I can't help being curious.

 

Best, R

[akoebel]

I'm very pleased with Scrivener. I've heard of it at a con from a couple of professional writers and can't live without it now. I use both the Windows and Linux versions depending on the computer I use (I have lots of computers) - my stories are all stored on dropbox (and Google Drives - Just in case) so I can access them from all my computers.

 

When I travel, I use pages on my ipad (I own an ipad keyboard) : it's not nearly as good as scrivener, but it keeps my luggage weight to a minimum.

 

I used to keep a wikidpad to store my notes, but found out in later books that it was much better for me to simply put the notes in "character" or "setting" folders in Scrivener for easy access. I can even put pictures there (I cast my characters and keep some photos of some places).

[Silk she/her]

I just use MS word (or write by hand, in fact). I fairly recently started using Wikidpad for notes, though, and am quite happy with that.

[andyk he/him]

I mostly use Scrivener, as I find it very handy for organising my writing and breaking the work down into chunks.

 

I sometimes use Write or Die when I want to apply the pressure and get lots of words onto the page. It's good for achieving volume, less good for quality control.

 

I recently started using tiddlywiki for notes and research. Then the latest update of my browser stopped me editing my wikis (rage!). But I liked the wiki format enough that I'm about to try wikidot, as I think that'll get me past my browser problems, and be useful in collaborating with a friend on a project we have.

[cjhuitt he/him]

Scrivener for me as well.  If you do NaNoWriMo, they regularly have a special for winners that gets you a discount.  I took advantage of it one year, and was using it almost exclusively about 2 months later.