Nifty tools

[Siana Blackwood]

The place to share all your favourite software for writing, reading, image creation and anything else you think might interest the rest of us...

(Or so I imagine. I mostly just created this thread to share what could be a fun new way to read our first drafts.)

Writer2ePub - a way to turn any OpenOffice file into an e-book readable on your mobile device of choice (or at least any mobile devices that support the ePub format)

(Now I guess I should add a couple of others...)

Gimp - as good as Photoshop without the terrifying price tag. Yes, it works on Windows and Mac as well as Linux.

OpenOffice - a nice free office suite that does most of the same things as the MS offering. Generates ePub versions of your novels and has more extensions than you can poke a stick at.

FocusWriter - a minimalist fullscreen text editor that I like because it lets you use italics. I like italics.

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Add your favourite pieces of (even vaguely) writing-related software to this list. It doesn't have to be free, just useful.

[SaronaNalia]

I recently discovered Write or Die. It can be found here: writeordie.com/ and an explanation of how it works can be found here: writeordie.com/about/
I stop to think, read over what I've written, edit, etc. too often while I'm writing. There's a mode called kamikaze mode that will start to backspace what you've written if you pause too long. That really gets me motivated to keep moving forward. And if you use the online version, it's free.

[wolfyone]

Oct 15, 2011 5:04:32 GMT -5 SaronaNalia said:

I recently discovered Write or Die. It can be found here: writeordie.com/ and an explanation of how it works can be found here: writeordie.com/about/
I stop to think, read over what I've written, edit, etc. too often while I'm writing. There's a mode called kamikaze mode that will start to backspace what you've written if you pause too long. That really gets me motivated to keep moving forward. And if you use the online version, it's free.

That is the most terrifying thing I have read in ages. A program that will automatically backspace and take away what you have written?!?! (Shudder, groan) Yes, I can see where that would be serious motivation to keep the fingers moving on the keyboard. But I am sure it would turn me into a gibbering mess. You are braver than I am if you use that program.

[SaronaNalia]

I only use it when I need a serious kick in the butt to keep me going.

[Siana Blackwood]

Written? Kitten!

a bit like writeordie but cuter and fuzzier. Images are randomly selected from Flickr's “most interesting” photos matching the tags “kitten” and “cute”. Enjoy!