Tools

Sheesh!

I hail from the software industry, and I thought there were a lot of tools there. As I have started my journey into the writers' craft, I have realized that using a simple code editor will not allow me to be very productive. The differences between cranking out code for the latest financial application versus producing the next bestseller are substantial, although I consider both the purview of craft and art.

I imagined my first step would be a writing platform. I started to write this paragraph, I realized that I have always spurned the complicated applications and environments that have become so pervasive in the software industry. Although most reek of power and complexity, I find myself usually falling back to a simple editor created in 1976. That being said, I will assume my first tome will not be born in such innocence.

In what may be a perfect description of the person behind the keyboard, Heinlein wrote,

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

I believe that tools should be added to the set labeled "Specialization."

When we write, there should be as little friction as possible. Auto-correction of spelling errors might be all that is needed to get the first drafts. Grammar, not so much — at least not while we are in the flow.

With a quick search, I counted eight applications designed to capture written words, all with varying degrees of sophistication and features. None of those eight were made by Microsoft or Apple. The final choice will end up being very personal but probably will be heavily influenced by what you are used to. In my case, that would be a light-weight editor that provides features that support organizing my work in the way I think and support Markdown for formatting. Everything else, even spell-checking, can successfully be left to after you have all your words on virtual paper.

And for those who are new to the art of placing words in the correct place and in the right order, almost all of the writing tools have a trial period you can use for exploration and a few dry-runs.

Best of luck!