Writing can take many forms now a days. Some prefer pen and paper and others prefer word processors. I am curious what !writing@beehaw.org uses for their own writing.

For me I have used Scrivener before but found it too powerful for my style of writing. I now find myself using Google docs since it can sync to so many places and I can write wherever I go. (If anyone has a FOSS Google docs alternative I am all ears)

So, !writing@beehaw.org, what is your software of choice? If you prefer pen and paper, what does your process look like?

  • Morgie@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
    3·
    2 years ago

    If it works it works that’s for sure.

    Now I could never wrap my head around mind maps, do you have any tips or tricks for how you used it when you were using it?

    I enjoy pen and paper too, but mainly for journaling because then I don’t have to go back and try and figure out what I wrote!

    • ABlackWaltz@beehaw.orgEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      I’m honestly not great with mind maps either, but it was a more fluid way to hold information. I actually redownloaded FreeMind and pulled up the old mindmaps - oh nostalgia.

      One of them is to help keep track of character details and relations. Nodes were whether they were a main character, minor character, someone referenced in passing, and then the character name, and then a breakdown of details around them (family, special abilities). I think I also intended to include major plot points I wanted to hit as well, as I was big on planning at the time.

      The second was going to take place in a made-up world, so that one has character details and also location details, so I could keep everything straight and have one document to reference to make sure I was being consistent.

      Of course, neither of these ever got written, so take it how you will haha. I think the map was just more visually appealing than a list of these items, since related things can be linked easier than in a doc.

      • Morgie@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        That makes sense, I think I always was worried that there was a right or wrong way to use it, and didn’t experiment with it as much as I should.

        • ABlackWaltz@beehaw.orgEnglish
          3·
          2 years ago

          If you can make a tool work for you, that’s what matters in my opinion. If not, well, not every tool is for everyone and that’s cool too.

          I probably wouldn’t have spent much time on it if I couldn’t just pick up sections and move them around the screen all willy-nilly. I thought it was neat, so the program held my attention where normally mind maps aren’t my thing.