Nickie

I just use(d) these old-fashioned memo-cards. As a kid, whenever I found something interesting in a book or an encyclopedia, I took some notes and "filed" the card.

I still have a dozen or so boxes, filled with tidbits about history, people, culture, etc.

Just having them is enough for me. Most of the time, I know the stuff I'm writing about (I'm into historical fiction, and I never write about an area I'm not familiar with) but sometimes, these cards prove to be a treasure of information. And now there's the internet to make a final check.

For the rest, no writing programs for me. I just write the chapters by hand (when I'm at the beach or so) or in MS Word.


Nickie

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At www.nickiefleming.com you can read about my books, my interviews with bestselling authors, what I can do for aspiring authors (see 'News') and lots more!
Samples of what I write are to be found at http://users.skynet.be/fa040707/index.html

Viqto

Wow....I'm also technically inclined like that...I would definitely like something like that!

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"A quill won't dip itself."

~Mr. Searle, my English teacher from High School

lisajane

You don't need any special programs except for MS Word/variations of Word equal to.

All I use is Word and Excel (for notes)

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'Beauty stands and waits with gravity to start her death-defying leap. And he, a little charleychaplin man, who may or may not catch her fair eternal form spreadeagled in the empty air of existence.' - Laurence Felinghetti, 'The Acrobat'

mswietek

You don't even need MS Word. Just dust off your old typewritter. Different folks have different preferences. I would prefer an electronic way of organizing my notes and linking them together. Others do everything on note cards.

Michael

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"Don't imagine that the art of poetry is any simpler than the art of music, or that you can please the expert before you have spent at least as much effort on the art of verse as an average piano teacher spends on the art of music." - Ezra Pound

lisajane

Typewriter?

I was born into the real, computer, VR land . I've used a typewriter... once, and absolutely hated it. Too slow.

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'Beauty stands and waits with gravity to start her death-defying leap. And he, a little charleychaplin man, who may or may not catch her fair eternal form spreadeagled in the empty air of existence.' - Laurence Felinghetti, 'The Acrobat'

journyman161

With novel-writing software there's an inate problem - you are limiting yourself to the limitations of the programmer. A perfect example is the grammar check in MS Word. Follow all the suggestions to 'fix' your work & you wind up with boring insipid text.

The single best writing software comes inside your own head, part of the software you've been developing from brith. It may need an update or two, but they're smaller than the service packs from MS. ()

Even better, your personal SW can run in multitasking mode, adapt instantly to new input & can bypass the system to come up with lateral connections that enliven & enlighten your readers.

The computer SW you use is the equivalent of a pencil & paper (or a typewriter or keyboard) rather than a substitute for the creative processes.

There are however, various methods you can use to flesh out your ideas or to develop characters etc. before you write out the story.

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*He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
*Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
*Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it - Moses Hadas
*He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know - Abraham Lincoln