Best tools for article writing?

13 years ago

Microsoft Word and Notepad.

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scott g 13 years ago

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- AFI 13 years ago
  
  Just use notepad. Why spend money on some special text editor? It's not gonna make it any easier or improve the article in any way. Just my opinion.
  
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  PLR Basket 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by AFI
  
  Just use notepad. Why spend money on some special text editor? It's not gonna make it any easier or improve the article in any way. Just my opinion.
  
  I don't know if any of you guys are like me, but I think notepad is depressing!
  
  I use word and I write in a font I like. You'd be surprised at how much you can improve your productivity just by changing the font you're using...
  
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KEY 13 years ago

I really like incansoft's 'content mania' - one of my must
have tools. really great analysis tools built right in to it.

though I do most of my raw work in notepad
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Chris Hardee

13 years ago

Do you find that Word distracts you from writing with it's grammar and spell check? Yes, it's nice to use after you are done, but I think it makes me want to edit while I'm trying to be creative.

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JWatson

13 years ago

Originally posted by chardee42
Do you find that Word distracts you from writing with it's grammar and spell check? Yes, it's nice to use after you are done, but I think it makes me want to edit while I'm trying to be creative.

Yes, especially grammar check which frequently kidnaps me and forces a brief analysis of their rules and why they are wrong (for my purposes). :p

You can turn off this "help" by:

Word 2010:

File tab --> options --> proofing --> clear "check spelling/mark grammar"

Word 2007:

Microsoft Office Button --> Word Options --> Proofing --> Clear "check spelling/check grammar"

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gvannorman

13 years ago

I use Open Office mainly.

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Rien

13 years ago

I use Word so I can review and edit my document
once it is completed.

Then copy and paste into notepad as a plain text
document. This makes it easier when I am copying
and pasting to article directories.

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Sheryl Polomka

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Rien

I use Word so I can review and edit my document
once it is completed.

Then copy and paste into notepad as a plain text
document. This makes it easier when I am copying
and pasting to article directories.

I do it the other way around - now. I was writing in Word until I was doing some rewrites for a client and I wrote them in Word then pasted them into notepad when I was done - (he likes his articles in notepad format). It all looked ok to me but apparently on his end when he got them, they were all messed up or contained code or something because they were typed in Word and then copied to Notepad.

So now I type all my articles in Notepad, then copy and paste into Word to do my spellcheck and then copy and paste back into Notepad. For my store PLR articles I then give my customers a copy of both formats.

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Chris Hardee 13 years ago

I guess in the end, it is a matter of personal preference. Personally, I think I will continue to use Word (since my work paid for it). However, I am going to turn off the spell and grammar check while I'm in a creative mode.

If not, I keep finding myself wanting to go back and fix whatever Word underlines. It's a small distraction, but sometimes it doesn't take much.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts.
Chris
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Victor Edson

13 years ago

I use the best spinner.

It lets me know how many words I've written, and then I can spin it afterwards if I need to. If not, it saves to a .txt which is easy to send because it's small and doesn't contain any uneeded code.

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Raiel Schwartz

13 years ago

I have been using a Web Based tool called
'Content Professor' recently. I'm a little biased
as I know the guy behind it but it's one of my
fave tools.

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x3xsolxdierx3x 13 years ago

Microsoft Word works for me.
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DNChamp

13 years ago

Dragon naturally speaking + word = articles = saved outsource money

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Barry Unruh

13 years ago

Originally Posted by chardee42

Do you have a favorite word processor / text editor that you like to use for article writing?

Google Documents - Here is why:

1. My articles are available at every PC I sit down at, as long as it has an internet connection.

2. I can save documents as PDF, TXT, or Word.

3. I can share folders for the purposes of collaboration, client access, or outsourcing.

4. Did I mention Free?

5. It works on Linux, Windows, and Apple systems.

6. If my house burns down my articles are not lost.

7. Yes, there are copies of all the articles stored elsewhere.

Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. MS Word is better. Open Office is better in many aspects. The only problem is they do not take care of items 1, 3, and 6 which are important to me.

Barry

P.S. Even my most critical files are in a special Google Docs account. I'm the only person who knows the password to this account, but my wife has shared access to the folders which would allow her to outsource 90% of what I do by showing the people listed in the folder.

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Chris Hardee

13 years ago

@Barry
I must admit, I had not even thought Google Docs. However, I think the portability definitely makes it something worth considering.

I hate to say it, but if my hard drive crashed today I would lose enough stuff to make me want to cry. I back it up to a thumb drive, but not as often as I should. (As I type this, I'm pulling the thumb drive out of my pocket for another backup.)

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JohnMcCabe

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Sheryl Polomka

I do it the other way around - now. I was writing in Word until I was doing some rewrites for a client and I wrote them in Word then pasted them into notepad when I was done - (he likes his articles in notepad format). It all looked ok to me but apparently on his end when he got them, they were all messed up or contained code or something because they were typed in Word and then copied to Notepad.

So now I type all my articles in Notepad, then copy and paste into Word to do my spellcheck and then copy and paste back into Notepad. For my store PLR articles I then give my customers a copy of both formats.

Sheryl, your client is right. Copying from Word to Notepad leaves a bunch of Word-specifc codes embedded in the text as Notepad tries to convert them.

Try this:

Write your article in Word, as you did previously. Run you checks.

Instead of copy/paste, go to the file menu and choose "Save As". In the format dropdown, choose "Plain text -.txt".

You may get a warning about losing formatting, but that's okay. For this purpose, you want to lose it.

You should end up with a filename.txt file that opens perfectly in Notepad.

-----

As far as the original post goes, I've been using a piece of shareware called TextPad for years. It's somewhere between a word processor and Notepad. I also use TextPad for tweaking web page source code and other scripts, as it highlights the coding.

Last time I looked, it was $27 to buy, but the shareware is full-featured with only an occasional nag screen.

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Barry Unruh

13 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

As far as the original post goes, I've been using a piece of shareware called TextPad for years. It's somewhere between a word processor and Notepad. I also use TextPad for tweaking web page source code and other scripts, as it highlights the coding.

That is an excellent piece of software. Loaded on my laptop, too. I use it for tweaking HTML code, for occasional writing, and as a clean-up repository between programs. Sometimes cut and paste can be really ugly between two programs which want to screw around with formatting.

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russells

13 years ago

I use MS Word.

That's it.

LOL

~Russ

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flipstroman

13 years ago

I'm a Google Docs guy too. Nothing beats the portability of it and it's free like Open Office. Has pretty much all the functionality too.

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CyberSorcerer

13 years ago

Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.

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musiclyons

13 years ago

I like to use Notepad and Microsoft Word. They are both very good. I have tried many others, but have always come back to mainly Notepad. I do use Microsoft Word quite a bit also. They both work fine.

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droog

13 years ago

OneNote.

You can literally keep everything related to your business in that program and get to anything in two clicks. You can write and keep all your articles, paste in spreadsheets, paste in useful info you found online, etc. I couldn't imagine what a disorganized mess I would be in without it.