Electronic Writing Tools
August 31, 2008
Many people who write think that the only writing tool available for their computer is Word, but there are other word processors. More to the point, there are other kinds of writing tools to help you collect and organize your thoughts. These include mind-mapping applications and outliners. There are also full-screen text editors that can help you to eliminate the many distractions that computers now offer, web applications for when you need to work on someone else’s computer or collaborate with users in different locations, and built-in and online dictionaries.
Choosing the right tools is essential to developing a good writing strategy. This means choosing tools that enhance your ability to think, organize, and write without getting in your way. You can find more information about such tools on my personal wiki. My focus has been on the Macintosh, which I used to write about for my now discontinued blog, On My Mac, but I include links to applications for Windows and other platforms where possible.
Entry Filed under: blogging, writing, writing tools. Tags: blogging, full-screen, full-screen text editor, Macintosh, mind maps, mind-mapping, outliners, outlining, word processing, writing, writing tools.
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1.
jan4insight | August 31, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Interesting point, Mark. I currently use Google Documents for all of my stand-alone documents. While I much prefer it to Word, I still mightily miss the old, pre-Internet days when I used a share-ware program called PC Write. That one beat the pants off Word in terms of user-friendliness and flexibility of application. For 6 six years I used PC Write as a freelance writer and editor, No way could I have done that with Word and its derivatives.
2.
Annie | September 2, 2008 at 9:02 pm
You’ve just highlighted something which is not there but has been on my mind; clean up my desktop!! I get writer’s block with all the tools facing me and I don’t even know how they end up on it. Thanks mate.
3.
Gopal G. | March 2, 2009 at 3:09 am
A new find for me indeed.
Gopal G.