Writing software I use for free

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Here are two writing software programs for free and they are GREAT!!!

yWriter4 from Spacejock

This is for writing novels and long works. If you replace some labels in your mind, it also works wonderfully well for nonfiction. It is fairly easy to learn.

I am presently in the process of transferring all of my large writing projects over to this lifesaver. I did this with one project that was driving me nuts and the relief was almost physical. I now can see everything in my book with a clarity I did not have before and it is easy to get from one place to another to check for consistency and so forth. And there are places for notes, etc. I still use Word for writing some of the longer parts (then I copy/paste them into the program) and I will use Word for a final revision, but Word simply can't do what this little program does, although Word has some editing capabilities this program does not have (especially the thesaurus).

The author is an Australian, Simon Haynes, and he has other free software that he offers the public. (I also started using his Sonar2 to keep track of submissions. You get it at the same place you get the other program.) Haynes writes science fiction and I will probably buy his books out of gratitude. I hope they are decent...

Celtx

This piece of marvel is an open source program with a tie-in to an online community for developing projects (optional). The program is for writing screenplays, theater pieces, audio visual scripts, storyboarding, index cards and even scheduling shoots. I just watched the tutorial videos (they are short and sweet) and I can't get rid of the urge to jump up and down in excitement. You have to see this to believe it.

For the record, Wikiversity has a free Filmmaking course run by Robert Elliott. It is basic and a starter only (mostly for young people), but I skimmed around in it and it looks very, very good.

If you are on a tight budget and can use some help with organizing and producing your writing, you can't get too much better than this.

Michael