Downloadable Book writing software?

I see there is a downloadable tarot journal...has anyone come across a programme similliar to that of the tarot journal for "Writers" of books..Or does one just use "Word"?
Preferably a free software programme.

What exactly are you looking for in a program that you feel would help you write a book? What kind of features do you need?

I write a variety of things, and always use MS Word. It seems to suit any writing needs I have. I just finished a novel not long ago that I used word for. It has very useful features for putting page numbers and chapter headings in.

I'd go with word, if you're at all acquainted with it.

Thanks Lion-wing..yes I figured "word" would be just as good..I have open office..not a microsoft one..Only problem I can't send attachments to Office users..it won't open it. But I think I will use "word" instead. thanks for your reply.

There -is- downloadable writer's programs and I've seen packaged ones at the shops, too. Things like formatting for scriptwriting, character worksheets and stuff.

thinks like this
http://www.writerscafe.co.uk/
(haven't tried it! don't know zilch about it!)

oh hang on, this site has an extensive list
http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/2006/09/freeware-online-tools-for-writers.html

Personally I don't really use that sort of stuff much cos I'm terrible at learning new software, and I also like to keep it in a standard format - I switched to Word from the Mac software so that its easier to exchange with other writers.

However the new version of Word we have DOES have a fantastic 'notebook' document option, which has lines on the page like a paper notebook, with tabbed sections down the side - so I can have the MS on one, 'deleted bits' on the other, research notes in another - much easier than scrolling through pages or switching documents, and I like the look of it a lot.

The only downside is that the wordcount includes -all- the tabbed sections, so not all that great for keeping track of my daily wordcount. But I generally don't worry about that all that much anyhow.

For novel writing I use yWriter from http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter.html

I write in Word then import into yWriter to organise scenes.

Its free and quick to download

Hi Phoenix Rising! I was interested in your comment about not being able to send OpenOffice attachments to Office users because they can't open them. I have been using OpenOffice seamlessly with Office for several years and never had a problem like that. Most people never know that I don't use MS Word at all.

Best of luck to you!

valeria

Mhmm, my open office experience was also that office user couldn't read my documents. But I tried it a few years ago, maybe it has changed?

Regards
Petra

Question for euripides

I have MS Office 2003 and Word, Publisher, Excel, Powerpoint, FrontPage, etc. I haven't been able to find the "notebook" option you refer to. I have even tried the Help-Index with "notebook" and get nothing appropriate. Any clues that you can share as to how to access this feature? Dave

Its under 'View' as 'notebook layout'

... had a moment of panic when I couldn't find it either. I tend to just click around till I find something that works, which can be a problem when it comes to telling other people.....

I have Word for Mac 2004

In OpenOffice Writer, you can choose to save your files as Word formatted files (.doc). Mine gives me three versions of Word to choose from. This should allow Word users to read your documents, although I'm not sure if all your formatting would be preserved. I doubt that Word users would be able to read .odt files, the OpenOffice default.

Hope that clears up the confusion.