[Nathan Carter]

I was wondering what programs you fellow writers use to smith your vessels.

I'm currently using Word 2000, but I've grown not to like it for a number of reasons, and now recently it has been malfuctioning. It was the program installed with the purchase of my PC, so I'm on the hunt for something new.

I've heard some good things about Word Perfect, does anyone else use it?

[Erebus]

I also use Word, and find it great. But I do have a template program called Manuscriptus which I use to format my work, and it works very well I must add!

[Penumbra]

I've found Corel Word Perfect Version 8 to be quite handy and very user friendly. I am familiar with Word and its intransigence and would never suggest it to a writer. The publishing and editing world does not always agree with me on Word. Many zines require that a work be submitted in rtf files (rich text format) because they either haven't investigated Word Perfect or are stubborn. Others are beginning to see some of the Word problems and are insisting upon ASCII text, sometimes included in the body of an email. Having survived these battles, Word Perfect allows you to save any document in both Word or ASCII which seems to satisfy all worlds. The very worst thing about Word, which you may not yet know, is that it calculates the number of words in a story much differently than other word processors. A story I recently sent in Word Perfect amounted to 4700 words. They insisted on MSWord and rejected the story because it totalled the word count to 7000. C'est la Vie!

[James Barclay]

I use Word. It's a simple program and I shut off all the grammar checking nonsense to make it simpler still.

It works for me.

[Nathan Carter]

The more I hear, I'm thinking Word Perfect is the way to go... One thing that drives me absolutly insane, is that MS Word translates parenthesis and other various quotations and such into strange ailen HTML code.

So depending on what your using, when you cut and paste your story into a HTML document, it will sometimes come out totally fruity... I've had this problem repeatedly with my web site... I found a way around it, I cut and paste first to Notepad, then cut and paste that to my HTML doc.

But this is tiresome... does anyone know if Word Perfect follows this standard?

[Bardos]

Nathan, you can create HTML pages with Word itself, not having to copy/paste to another program. Also you can see HTML code and copy/paste the code instead of the text.

[Nathan Carter]

well, enlighten me then...

I know I can view a Word doc as a web page, and I know I can view the HTML source... but when I have already typed out a story in a regular Word Doc, and I want to apply it to say... a web site that has a text box, or a publisher that insists on you sending your work in a HTML text box, then what good do those two options do me?

Its still the same effect.

Is there a way I have yet to discover? Because I am admittingly new to computers, and I learn as I go...

[Erebus]

Well, like Nom, I have no problem at all with Word, especially for its ease of formatting various manuscript types. I also used to use it as an HTML editor, but I have found that First Page 2000 is a great free HTML editor, and I use that mostly for my web pages etc. now.

As I said in my first response, the Manuscriptus software, which works as a Word macro template, is brilliant, and very easy to use!

[Bardos]

Nathan, in Word you go to: Files => Save as Web-page.
And to see the code (WHEN you have your html page): View => HTML Code.

If you copy/paste the code in a HTML program such as ForntPage, I don't think you'll have a problem.

[Nathan Carter]

Bardos, I know of both those options, but my problem dosn't lie with working with programs like FrontPage or the like, but rather with the text boxes that appear numerous places... the source code is always much more elaborate than the boxes will allow... but as I learn more about HTML myself I must admit I'm eliminating the need for them so much.

erebus... how much did manuscript run you?
preferably translated into american dollars http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif