What programs do you all use for writing?

I used to use Word Perfect until it started NOT saving my changes. Since I was in the middle of NaNo my 1st year, Maggie told me about Open Office. Totally free, great to use, compatible with MS (you can save in just about any format) and more user friendly than Word. I don't have any trouble with my edits saving and it didn't cost me a dime to download. You can contribute to them or buy a disc if you want. Oh, they give free updates too. Wonderful program. I highly recommend it.
Dellani

My brain retains the kind of information that's totally useless for anything - except playing Trivial Pursuit.

Thank you Dellani!

I have been a fan of Open Office for a little while now. I haven't really delved into it yet, but this is a great opportunity to try it out! =) I love the idea of it allowing you to save it in just about any format imaginable! Score!

I think Microsoft word is the best.

I've been using the 2007 version and it is the best thing I have ever used. There is a program MS OneNote and it is a really good program for notes and such. It can do just about anything. I use it for ideas that I'm not using yet and just want to save. It works like a spiral notebook but you can move it around and stuff, just wanted to tell people about it.

Time to put on my geek hat.

For (explicative deleted) Windows, there is y-writer. it is a nifty organizational word processor for Windows only, and it's free. The programmer is an author, so it really does work. It splits your book up into chapters and scenes, and has area to keep descriptions of characters and locations built in. It works great, and it's free. Go here:

http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html

You can also pick up a copy of his first book. It's quite good.

Similarly, for Mac: Scrivener. Organizational writing software. There is a link on the NaNoWriMo site under sponsors, and a free trial for November, AND if you hit 50k, 1/2 off of the usual $40. I'm using it this year for the first time, and it's very flexible. Or go here:

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/nanowrimo.html

Second, Storymill from Mariner software. Very slick, $50 after the trial period and it comes with templates, including "writing by snowflake", which I also use to outline plots. Downside: it crashed 3-4 times on both my desktop and laptop, but customer support contacted me within 24 hours for a copy of the crash log. Go here:

http://www.marinersoftware.com/sitepage.php?page=127

Straight up word Processors: Windows - Word, any version (pricey for my tastes), Open office, (free download that I have used for years - it is a full suite, spreadsheets, slides, and all). Very nice, but please do donate if you use it. Abbeyword is also freeware. I've had some trouble with line spacing opening documents, but otherwise very good. Corel Word Perfect is still around, and works great.

For Mac - Pages (from Apple, and $80, I believe), Neo office (the Mac version of Open office, also free, and a beautiful application), Apple Works 6, Abbeyword for Mac (also free), and Bean (my personal favorite for older Macs, opens much faster than Open office). For Bean:

http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html

I have used all of these over the years, and they all work, and have upsides and downsides. In a pinch, there is Word pad for Windows. Also, for more choices and info than you really want, go here:

http://alternatives.rzero.com/

or here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_word_processors

Hope this helps. Remember, your mileage may vary.

2007 - Doors of Perception
2008 - The Alien Who Fell

I have to agree with Taz, I really like yWriter. It's very user friendly, and it works on PC's. :)

Isabella - 2008 - FAIL (1.7k)
Atoning For Darkness - 2009