Writing Tools that YOU use?

[Deleted]

Working on a little project and I'm wondering, NTWF'ers, what tools you guys use to write? I'm not just talking digital tools, if you have a real life object that helps you (ex: Writing Journal, a certain pen that feels good to your hand, etc) that you enjoy using, lemme know about it, eh? 

Personally I use a mix of different things:

* Scrivener (Ipad Version) - Research, Drafting - Final Drafts. 
* Edit Minion (Website) - Extra look from an editing standpoint, just to double check a few things, also helps to spot "very" and "said" and things such as that. 
* Bear (Ipad/Mac - Free Version - No Subscription) - Because I get distracted easily and sometimes I just need to WRITE. 
* Dropbox/Evernote - Synching versions of stories because Bear won't sync unless I pay and I'm lazy/cheap. 
* TextEdit - When I write on the Neoboards I throw everything I write in here and then transfer them over here until I can move them someplace safe. 
* The Neoboards - I write stories while I bump...250 words at a time. Often helps when I'm in a rut. 

Anyhoo, please do share. I'm legitimately interested in what tools work for you and help you as writers. What are things you've tried and would recommend? What are things that didn't work for you? 

Thanks! 

[Shinko]

Hmmm... interesting question. We get asked about drawing tools a lot but not writing.

1) Google docs- I do most of my composing in google docs, because it is free where MS Word isn't and I can access it from anywhere I have internet. I even have a google docs app on my iPhone!
2) YouTube/iTunes/Pandora - Music is inspiration distilled for me. If I'm stuck, I often find listening to a song that fits the mood of the scene I'm working on helps.
3) Google/Wikipedia - For research
4) Word Wars - Conpete with friends to write the most words within a time limit.

I'd also like to mention a website/app a friend of mine used, though I don't. It's called Wrie Or Die, and it basically is a typing game that penalizes you if you spend too long not typing/don't reach certain word goals within X time.

[Rabbit ♠]

Ooh, this looks fun.

LibreOffice Writer: I use this to type my stories on. I have it on my laptop and on the desktop at my home. I just started using it when the computer was switched over to Linux and it came with. It's free, so that's why it's on my laptop. (I use LibreOffice for my own stories while I use Microsoft Word for my school stuff. I think it helps keep myself organized.) I mainly store my stuff on my flash drive, so I can work on my stuff wherever I need to. ^^
Google Docs: I put my finished stories on here. I usually do my editing in Google Docs. I have it on my phone, so if I need to do a quick edit on the go, I can do so.
Youtube: I use this for music. I listen to music while I write. I listen to music whenever I'm on the computer. :3 I don't like silence, so I listen to music while I do my thing. What I listen to really does vary with my mood and what I just wanna listen to that day.
Google: Research. And for googling things when I'm bored. And those googled things can potentially become elements in my current or future stories.

[RielCZ]

Yeah, this seems like a cool survey!

Microsoft Word: For research papers, mostly for its bibliography/citation functions. (I get it free while I'm a university student.)
Notepad: Yes, the basic Windows tool. I use it for creative writing (and pretty much all writing I do for Neo), as the fluff of other text editors distracts me, as do the red lines I'm particularly OCD about when I misspell something.
DuckDuckGo: My search engine of choice. (I don't use Google for personal/security reasons.)
Wikipedia: 'Cause who doesn't use it for research from time to time?
Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com: To find fancier words or make sure I'm using a word correctly.
RhymeZone.com: To find rhymes when I'm really stuck on drafting poetry.
Going for a walk, or generally away from my computer: Sometimes the best way for me to write is to do basically anything else and let the ideas stir in my subconscious.

[Tiger]

Like everyone else, I use Google Docs for writing, and Google/Wikipedia for research. I also have Word on my home computer, though I've been using Google Docs a lot more since I can get to things from any computer (or my phone). Word is kind of my official home for my novels, though, and it's where all that gets consolidated. ...I should also be backing up my Medieval fics there just to be safe (Google don't explode plz kthnx). Tools I did want to blather about:

iTunes/YouTube/GooglePlay - Give me all the film scores! I don't even have to feel as guilty about using YouTube because they now have a lot of official film score composer channels, which is great when they don't randomly take them down and then reupload them and ruin my links, rude. I plot and write to music pretty obsessively (all of my stories (or universes, at least) have playlists), sooo yeah =D

Notebooks - Sometimes I just can't make the words go on a screen and need to switch to handwriting stories. I actually used to plow through notebooks like nobody's business when I was in school, so I actually have probably over a dozen full notebooks just lying around my house XD

Pens - I'm picky about pens because I have issues with hand pain, so I don't want a tool that's uncomfortable to hold or takes too much pressing to get ink flowing. Weirdly I've had the best results with some pens sold at the Dollar Store - whiiiich they stopped making because of course they did. I did recently start using BIC's Atlantis pens, though, and those are working pretty well.

Coding - I maaaay have coded my own novel information wiki to hold all my research and notes and worldbuilding so I can find it again without opening eight billion Word/Google documents <.< >.> I've also coded some other writing tools for Medieval, including one that stores timelines and family trees, and another that lets you roll for characters and dates (and I'd like to add a weather-roller but, y'know, time and stuff)

I don't know if Shinko meant me or not when she brought this up, but Write Or Die is definitely a great tool and one I've used before =P I get lazy about using it outside of NaNoWriMo, but since I now have a daily wordcount goal, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pick it up again. Basically you have to write at a steady pace for a certain amount of time/up to a certain wordcount, and if you stop, the site plays some horrible sound until you keep going 8D Nothing like the desperation to stop, say, the pained, out-of-tune shrieks of someone abusing a violin to motivate you to spit out words in a hurry!

If we're including ways of getting inspiration, I'll add my car, walks, and washing dishes to my list

[Deleted]

Thanks you guys for replying. It will certainly help as I work on taking over neopia my evil project! I love hearing about all of the different tools you guys use!  

I agree with using music. I also have lots of different songs for different occasions while writing. So excited to hear these responses! And hoping for more.  

Edit: Oh, just found this really cool free application called Bibisco, it's completely free and it's got a lot of really neat tools within and it's designed for WRITERS.  

[Liou]

(Oh I just use Wordpad when I write once in a blue moon lol)
(Notepad? Wordpad? Uh, the one with a few formatting options)

(And thefreedictionary.com and thesaurus.com and sometimes rhymezone,
and sometimes linguee and wordreference, because you know that feel when you're bilingual and you know the exact idiom you need in one of your languages, but have no idea how to translate it)

But yeah, none of those bossy programs that put more pressure on you, I couldn't stand it.
If I used fancy tools I'd just get distracted configuring them instead of actually writing >_>
Same for music, I have music that I pick before writing, but if my tastes change and I have to choose new music, there's no way I'll start writing.

[Ian Wolf-Park]

Here are my tools that I use for writing:

Microsoft Word: Windows, and to an extent, Office was already installed on my personal computer, so yeah. In case you're wondering, the version is from 2007 (in other words, from the Vista era). I still use .doc, but I'm starting to move towards .docx, especially with newer documents/stories

USB Drive/Portable Hard Drive: self explanatory as you don't want to lose everything if you're computer doesn't/ isn't willing to work

Notepad: mainly for notes, as the name implies. Not so much for story writing.

If I'm writing by hand, this is what I'll be using, although, with the size of my apartment, I can't do much as there is space constraints.

Looseleaf lined paper and/or notebooks/notepads: This is basically my equivalent to Microsoft Word (and Notepad) if I need to write something down so I don't forget. I have a binder and several folders full of either notes or completed works.

Tissue paper and a little bit of tape: Don't laugh at this. I tend to hold my pens in a way that causes my left pinky finger to drag along the surface (yes, I'm a southpaw when it comes to writing), it will be fatigued eventually, especially if I'm writing for a long time. A standard, clean tissue paper (you know, the ones you usually use to blow your noses) wrapped around it reduces the amount of fatigue.

Pens: Any type of pens will work for me as pencil writings tend to get smudged (as any lefty can probably attest). Yes, pens do smudge, but it's either not that much or non-existant.

Portable video games: This actually is for both written and typed works as it works twofold. First, some of my ideas have come from playing video games. Second is the music. I have a decent amount of video games that has a
Sound Test/Jukebox built into them, but must be unlocked in some way.

Anime/books/movies/tv shows: The majority of my ideas have come from these.

Google/Wikipedia/TV Tropes: Mainly for research.

I have a Google account, but I don't use it that often. I probably will need to rectify that as I technically have access to Google Drive, among others. Same thing goes for Microsoft OneDrive as my Hotmail account is tied to it as well

[Breakingchains]

Onenote: For plot notes, character notes, stream of consciousness analysis, outlines, and all the other assorted bits of text that were a nightmare to keep organized back when I just kept 'em on my hard drive. (I tried evernote and keynote, which are passably similar but neither had the functionality I wanted at the time.)

Microsoft Word: The storage format I use for actual drafts. Hey, I'm an old, old woman who just wants my software to be zippy and responsive. Also can't beat that student discount.

Q10: For the act of writing itself. It's one of those free anti-distraction word processors. Something about a black background has always upped my productivity, so when windows made editing color schemes way stupider than it had to be, I switched to this. Once I have a scene or chapter written, I just cut and paste it into its respective .doc.

For backups: Dropbox, onedrive, one CD-RW, one flash drive, and two different external hard drives. I'm anal about this. My house could burn down. A nuke aimed somewhere actually important could hit a pigeon, go off course and land on my head. The apocalypse could happen. No matter what, I'm pretty sure future archaeologists will still eventually rediscover my precious, precious Mary-Sue fanfiction and preserve it as a remnant of our lost human heritage. Ha!

[Deleted]

_{Break Your Own News: Useful feature for creating realistic news report images to use as visual aid in stories with pictures and mock articles.
ClassTools Headline Generator : Similar, but for online articles. The site also has something for creating text conversation screenshots.}

[Moni]

A notepad and gelpen - for long stretches of writing/spitballing/whatever. I don't have to press very hard with a gel pen so it cramps my hands less, I like them. Pencils are for the weak and imperfect, and since I'm perfect and make no mistakes, I use the gel pen.
cons: i won't be able to read my handwriting

A keyboard and a word doc - QWERTY is objectively superior to anything else, and microsoft word has a lot of cool functionality if you're familiar with it.
cons: carpal tunnel

The library - It's kind of like the internet but with more books. I know many of you have never heard of one, but wowEE! They're pretty cool. And if you need a quiet workspace away from your annoying roommate who's convinced they're friends with you now, you escape here.
cons: no snacks allowed. boo.

The internet - for questions like "what color is the sky supposed to be"; questions that are too stupid to find in the library.
cons: too many memes

A music player of any sort - Why? Because it's totally unscientifically and illogically proven that typing to the beat increases your creativity. If you just tap the keyboard at 100 bpm to "Dancing Queen," it will totally make your writing 1000% better. Oh, and it helps inspire you if you get stuck, I guess, but really, a true writer needs no inspiration.
cons: i end up listening to the music because it's preferable to sitting through writing my crap

[Zoey]

oh, wow! I love this thread! I'm more artsy than writer-y now but once upon a time a Zoez took part in things like NaNo and was an editor for her high school's literary magazine XD Um... creative writing (and writing in general) tools I use now...

OneNote - I see lots of people use this one, too! I like that it automatically backs up to my OneDrive, and it's very much like a virtual notebook with easily-accessible pages and all the fancy things that Microsoft Word does AND splays out all my powerpoint slides so I can write over them with a tablet.

Wordpress.com - Where I keep my SUPER SECRET ZOEZ JOURNAL (kept it up for a solid 16 years and have recently retired because full-time job and too many obligations LOL!) and an art log. Also I tried getting Jerry to keep a journal as well but you know how nine-year-olds are. XD

Whatever music player comes with my PC - Because MOOSIK IS LYFE.

Physical Notebooks w/ Papercut Hazards - I'm a sucker for the Moleskine-like blank notebooks. I found one from Peter Pauper Press for way, waaaay less and like using them for bullet journaling. Also tried out Baron Fig in the past but it is waaaay overpriced, as are most of these "luxury notebooks".

Various Needlessly Fanceh Penz - To be fairly honest, my favorite writing tools (and inking tools) are still Micron pens. They're just pricey vs. the free pens from my mom's old office. I also tried out the Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen as my first endeavor into fountain pens, but regardless of how nicely they're constructed, they tend to still leak a little bit of ink. Also, apparently you have to clean them regularly to prevent buildup? Disposable pens are much less effort and way cheaper, gaiz. D:

Google - Because how else am I supposed to know anything in this internet age.

[downrightdude]

Microsoft Word, my vivid imagination, my exceptional beauty and my hands.

[Deleted]

Wanted to share this channel I just found:
www.youtube.com/channel/UCjMZjGhrFq_4llVS_x2XJ_w

These two youtubers have some beautiful instrumental music that falls under a lot of different themes and headings. I went looking for some Slavic/Russian music to help me write some of Charrie's adventures in Ursus, and found that not only did these two have lots of muticultural musical themes, but lots of fantasy themes as well. Great for inspiring writing!

They're also on itunes under the names:
Derek & Brandon Fiechter

[Nimras]

• yWriter -- Not exactly intuitive at the start, but super handy for keeping track of WHO is WHERE
• Google Docs -- it's in the clooooud
• Noisli - for when I want to write a scene and be suuuper zen
• A little notebook I keep in my purse for sudden flashes of inspiration