Well, I am in a writing intensive major at a liberal arts school. Needless to say, I write a lot. I find the question of the WP to be one of my most important questions -- it really does help or hurt the writing process.
I have tried Appleworks, Mariner Write, Mellel, Nisus Express, Open Office, Think Free, and Word. After much testing, I finally found one that I like the most. I generally use Mellel because of the Mac interface and the ease of use. I had to customize the tabs at first, but after doing that, it was great. It doesn't have as many features as Word, but that's a plus for me.
So I would recommend just playing around with different apps. You'll find one that suites you.