Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Tools We Use - yWriter


Today I'd like to talk about the tools we use.


As writers we all use our imagination and our brains. I know many writers use a laptop, desktop or other computer to put their words in order.  But what other tools do you use?
I’d like to share with you a tool that I use that I was lucky enough to find early on in my writing career.  yWriter.

yWriter is a free application created by a programmer who also happens to be a writer.  You just know you’re going to get something useful when an actual writer has put the application together.

And you certainly get a tool worth using.  I’m grateful to have found yWriter when I did.  Back when I started writing, every writer I met wrote in order, sequentially, from beginning to end, in Word. When I started writing, my thoughts and ideas came to me in a jumble.  I would know how I planned to end the story,  I’d have a single character’s name and large chunks of dialogue.  None of it showed up in my brain in any order that I could manage.  

I certainly couldn’t put all this information in a Word doc without losing my mind.

I remember hunting online for something, anything, that might help.  I remember someone mentioning yWriter, and I immediately sought out the website.  

Simon Haynes created yWriter to help with his own writing.  And I bet it’ll help yours too.  Check it out.  Try it out.  It’s FREE.  And if you really like it, support Simon by purchasing one of his books.  Hal Junior: The Secret Signal or his Hal Spacejock series.

What tools do you use to get your writing done?  What tools do you wish you had?

4 comments:

  1. Interesting tool--how do the files show up in Word (eg if you send a chapter to your critique group)? Are they just like other files (.doc)?

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  3. You can export the files to Word either as txt rtf or html it's pretty easy to do. There is even an option to export your file as an ebook suitable for Calibre if you plan to self-pub and a NaNoWriMo option too!

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  4. I am now trying it thanks to this post. So far, I like it. Though, I am curious if it has spell check. If not, that will be what Word is for.

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