Software for Writers: yWriter 4
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Software for Writers: yWriter 4
Spacejock Software has released a new version of their novel-writing software yWriter. Written by a writer for writers, yWriter is a great little tool for organizing novels in progress — and just about any other long manuscript.
yWriter allows you to create a book project, add chapters, scenes within chapters, and character profiles — assembling the manuscript from these pieces at the end. You can track locations, items, and viewpoints; set and keep track of daily word count goals; and import scenes from other programs saved in Rich Text Format (useful if you write on a Palm or other mobile platform, so you can add the work easily when you get home).
Best of all, yWriter is free (as are other Spacejock Software products, including several good ones for writers).
yWriter (Free)
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August 24th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I am using Word 2007 as a platform on which to write a novel, and I find that I’m spending more time chasing the software than I am writing. What software is user friendly to write with and edit?
August 24th, 2008 at 11:01 am
enisstjohn ,
I’ve written up Liquid Story Binder on this site, which is expressly for writers, but there’s a pretty steep learning curve. Also, look up my series on using Word 2007 — there’s a lot of tips that apply to 2003 and earlier versions, too. And, to be fair, I like yWriter, a lot, though I don’t really do the kind of writing it’s geared towards.
August 24th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Of all the bloggers in all the world there seem to be those who write and those who talk about writing. I want to write and I need a software that will allow me to do that with the least interference. Has one been developed?
August 24th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
???
Blogging is, by definition, writing. There are no bloggers who don’t write.
I’m not a noveist (yet>). I write non-fiction — two books so far, one in Word, one using Buzzword. And any number of articles, mostly in Word or Buzzword. For blogging, I use Windows Live Writer, except for this blog, where I’ve used Buzzword so far.
Any suitably powerful piece of software is going to have a learning curve — that’s just a fact. Liquid Story Binder (or Scrivenir on the Mac) have great numbers of fans, and once learned, are supposed to be great at working on long documents like novels.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I love how YWriter is free, but I find its a bit clumsy with the interface. Out of the writing software I tried out, this one offered the least amount of time to learn the bells and whistles.
I found spending way too much time organizing and not enough time writing. I can see the program offers much to a more organized mind, or writers who want free writing software to help organize their novel.
After fiddling with it, I ended up going back to MS Word with the Chapter by Chapter program.