When All Else Fails . . .

. . . get more software.

While my attempts to use various types of software to write my book have not been completely productive, according to the recent New York Times article by Rachel Donadio, “Get With the Program,” other much more successful writers have had great luck with computer programs. Most of the authors included in the article, however, didn’t mention software specifically designed for writing. They credited Excel, Microsoft Project, voice recognition software, Mindjet MindManager, Microsoft OneNote, and even the Logitech io2 pen for their assisting in their success. Only one writer quoted in the article used actual “writing software,” Dramatica Pro.

The Times article failed to include, yWriter, the free (yes that’s right – free) writing software I mentioned in a previous post. I wish I’d kept working with yWriter when I first test-drove it more than a year ago. yWriter has the features I most want, is easy to use, and like I said, it’s free! Simon Haynes, creator of yWriter, and author of a series of humorous sci fi novels featuring Hal Spacejock, has an update in the works which has tempted me to try it again. Simon correctly guessed that I had moved the entire document too quickly to Word Perfect and yWriter2, the version I was using, didn’t have an easy way to switch back and forth. In yWriter3, available in beta, Simon has added that and other features. I’ll let you know how it goes.

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