Serious writers, I need help selecting my tools and discussing workflows (TL;DR and OCD warnings)

[iRock1]

Write a prioritized list. Put only features or capabilities on the list, not apps.

Include features that may seem obvious, such as "fast search" or "reorganize easily". For example, one reason for not writing things out on paper using a lovely fountain pen (or whatever) might be the complete absence of automated search. In other words, paper and pen doesn't support ⌘F for finding things; you have to manually catalog all the written words and then manually search the catalog.

Also include features like "runs on all my platforms: iOS, OS X, web", and features like "easy sync".

Make sure the list is kept prioritized. That is, if feature A is more useful than feature B, it should be higher in the list (closer to the start). If you're keeping the list in pen & paper format, write one feature per index card, and sort the cards in priority order.

Make sure the order is based on actual usefulness, not just "it's nice even though I rarely use it". If you want to know what actually gets used, keep track of that over the course of a week or so. I think you might be surprised.

Once the list starts to stabilize, you can start matching the features to the various apps. This should pretty quickly tell you exactly which apps are indispensible and which are meh, or even which are just kept around for sentimental reasons.

At any point, you can also do a "If I had to cut, where would that be?" on the prioritized list. In other words, if you had to draw a line in the list, and everything below the line was completely eliminated from your everyday tools, where would that line be?

You can maintain the list, move items up and down in priority, rematch to apps as their features change, etc.

One neat thing about the list is it's an exercise in writing, which means it uses the very tools and features being listed. Keeping the list is an exercise in evaluating the quality of the list. If you find you keep the list in a simple text editor, that alone tells you something useful.


Making a prioritized list is a well known way to determine which features are necessary when designing new software, vs. those which are merely nice to have. This can be used for decision guidance when it's time to schedule work or cut features.

It's also a good way to cull woodworking tools, or mechanics tools, or pretty much any set of tools.

There will always be tradeoffs between tools that are a more precise fit, and those that are "sloppy" but more flexible. To me, the canonical example is a set of open-end wrenches (spanners for UK readers), which have fixed sizes but are much less likely to strip a head, vs. an adjustable wrench (aka Crescent wrench) or a set of Vise-Grip pliers or just slip-joint pliers. Another example is a pipe-cutter vs. a hacksaw, or a chisel vs. a utility knife.

Wow, amazing post.

I really love your suggestion. I'll definitely do that and then come up with the results, so perhaps ideas can be discussed together. After all, my purpose here is not only to benefit myself, but to help other incipient writers—or even dedicated writers—to realize how they can do their work in the most efficient way. (As some have already said, sometimes technology can get in the way.)

By the way, are you a writer, software developer, both or none?

 

[chown33]

By the way, are you a writer, software developer, both or none?

Mainly a software developer. The last couple years, I've been designing microcontroller hardware and writing its firmware.

The "plain writing" side ends up being a lot more important than was ever covered in my engineering courses at school. I've spent a whole lot of time over the years writing proposals, specs, design notes, reports, documentation, etc. in addition to programming. Programming boils down to writing in a peculiar yet fundamentally descriptive way, for an audience with extremely constrained comprehension skills (i.e. computers).

I learned a long time ago about the Prioritized List. It applies across a broad range of endeavors, and goes by a lot of different names: e.g. meeting agendas, business planning, travel plans. It's just that most people don't see those things as organizing prioritized lists.

 

[iRock1]

During my research (which is still going on, of course) I've found other two alternatives to Scrivener—Ulysses and Storyist.

Any comments on them?

 

[0388631]

I did say it was fantastic.

 

[iRock1]

I did say it was fantastic.

Mind expanding? For instance, is it Scrivener fantastic in terms of features?

 

[0388631]

Mind expanding? For instance, is it Scrivener fantastic in terms of features?

Try a Google query of "scrivener vs. ulysses" and see what you can find that helps YOU. I've used both, but mainly prefer Scrivener. There are people who use Ulyssys and love it more. It really DEPENDS on your personal needs and the functions they provide. It's very individual.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Try a Google query of "scrivener vs. ulysses" and see what you can find that helps YOU. I've used both, but mainly prefer Scrivener. There are people who use Ulyssys and love it more. It really DEPENDS on your personal needs and the functions they provide. It's very individual.

Excellent reply, as was @chown33's which offered detailed suggestions.

To the OP, @iRock1: I get the distinct impression that the question you say you are asking is not the real question you want answered.

You say you want advice: You have received plenty of good advice and disregarded most of it. I am beginning to suspect that what you really want to hear from those responding are step by step recommendations to sorting out your own problems, and for them to actually address your problems for you. You want them to tell you what to do, not make suggestions.

Now, @chown33 has done that to some extent, - with some excellent suggestions - while many of the others have recommended Scrivener.

You have dismissed Scrivener because of 'the steep learning curve'. Well, if you wish to master anything, there is a learning curve. If many of those who have posted have strongly recommended a specific product (Scrivener), or specific action (using it, which means taking the time to master this), then, it strikes me that this is a course of action that may be well worth pursuing.

At the end of the day, not everybody wrks in the same way, and what works for one may not work for another. However, nobody can make up your mind for you. Above all, nobody can decide what works for you.

 

[iRock1]

Excellent reply, as was @chown33's which offered detailed suggestions.

To the OP, @iRock1: I get the distinct impression that the question you say you are asking is not the real question you want answered.

You say you want advice: You have received plenty of good advice and disregarded most of it. I am beginning to suspect that what you really want to hear from those responding are step by step recommendations to sorting out your own problems, and for them to actually address your problems for you. You want them to tell you what to do, not make suggestions.

Now, @chown33 has done that to some extent, - with some excellent suggestions - while many of the others have recommended Scrivener.

You have dismissed Scrivener because of 'the steep learning curve'. Well, if you wish to master anything, there is a learning curve. If many of those who have posted have strongly recommended a specific product (Scrivener), or specific action (using it, which means taking the time to master this), then, it strikes me that this is a course of action that may be well worth pursuing.

At the end of the day, not everybody wrks in the same way, and what works for one may not work for another. However, nobody can make up your mind for you. Above all, nobody can decide what works for you.

Easy there, sir.

Once again, I'm not ignoring any of the comments here. I just have to evaluate the pros and cons of every recommendation and try to work this out—which is not easy.

If I wanted you to do my homework I'd tell you directly. And I seriously doubt anyone here is willing to do that.

I know Google is at the reach of the hand, but if I ask questions here is because I want to know what other users might have to say on some specifics, say how good is one app compared to another, why they use pen and paper, etc.

Trust me. I could have typed "writing apps for mac and ios" on Google, but that's not what I want. I kindly request specific advices when needed, as my research moves further.

For real, I don't get why you complain. Again, I don't want anyone to make the call for me.

By the way, I haven't dismissed Scrivener or any other app yet. I'm just evaluating the pros and cos—and sometimes questions need to be asked. Otherwise, what is this community for?

 

[chown33]

Easy there, sir.

Once again, I'm not ignoring any of the comments here. I just have to evaluate the pros and cons of every recommendation and try to work this out—which is not easy.

It will be a lot easier if you have a prioritized list at hand. Seriously.

At this point, I think your approach is backwards. You have a general idea of features you want, but it's not specific or prioritized. Instead of making that list and then using it to match with available apps, you're going through various apps and trying to match them to your general ideas for desirable features. Your questions continue to be posed as "How about this app?" instead of "These are my needs (specific prioritized list), so how well does app A meet those?".

In short, your workflow for evaluating the writing tools to fit your needs is the opposite of what it needs to be. If you don't revise the workflow (i.e. turn away from trying to pick apps), then the results you get will continue to be confusing and/or unsatisfactory. Think about it: the workflow is the same, so why would you expect different results?

The key questions at this point are ones you need to ask yourself. Those questions are all about the specific features you want, arranged in the priority you want them. No one here can answer those for you.

Now, if you have a prioritized list, you could post it and ask for suggestions about tools that fit. You haven't done that, so my first guess is you haven't made a prioritized list yet. That's just an observation, but it's a pivotal one.

I realize there's a lot of solo thinking and writing and organizing involved in making a prioritized list, but that's pretty much the point. Unless you know exactly what it is you're looking for, in terms of features and value, then how would you be able to communicate that to others, or to recognize it when it's presented to you?

 

[iRock1]

It will be a lot easier if you have a prioritized list at hand. Seriously.

At this point, I think your approach is backwards. You have a general idea of features you want, but it's not specific or prioritized. Instead of making that list and then using it to match with available apps, you're going through various apps and trying to match them to your general ideas for desirable features. Your questions continue to be posed as "How about this app?" instead of "These are my needs (specific prioritized list), so how well does app A meet those?".

In short, your workflow for evaluating the writing tools to fit your needs is the opposite of what it needs to be. If you don't revise the workflow (i.e. turn away from trying to pick apps), then the results you get will continue to be confusing and/or unsatisfactory. Think about it: the workflow is the same, so why would you expect different results?

The key questions at this point are ones you need to ask yourself. Those questions are all about the specific features you want, arranged in the priority you want them. No one here can answer those for you.

Now, if you have a prioritized list, you could post it and ask for suggestions about tools that fit. You haven't done that, so my first guess is you haven't made a prioritized list yet. That's just an observation, but it's a pivotal one.

I realize there's a lot of solo thinking and writing and organizing involved in making a prioritized list, but that's pretty much the point. Unless you know exactly what it is you're looking for, in terms of features and value, then how would you be able to communicate that to others, or to recognize it when it's presented to you?

I absolutely get what you mean. In fact, I did the first time you posted. (I even started my list right off.)

However, making that list is not an easy or short task. As you have said as well, sometimes one tends to miss some features because they seem to be obvious or taken for granted (you used the excellent example of ⌘F). So I'm trying to avoid that and make a list as complete and prioritized as possible.

Once the list done I'll probably post it here. However, I thought that wouldn't invalidate a parallel approach, which is keep researching some tools (much of which have been recommended here). But giving it a second guess, I suppose you are right—it's pretty much useless to watch screencasts about Scrivener or try to use that or any other app while I don't have a clear and defined “wishlist”.

 

[chown33]

I absolutely get what you mean. In fact, I did the first time you posted. (I even started my list right off.)

However, making that list is not an easy or short task. As you have said as well, sometimes one tends to miss some features because they seem to be obvious or taken for granted (you used the excellent example of ⌘F). So I'm trying to avoid that and make a list as complete and prioritized as possible.

Once the list done I'll probably post it here. However, I thought that wouldn't invalidate a parallel approach, which is keep researching some tools (much of which have been recommended here). But giving it a second guess, I suppose you are right—it's pretty much useless to watch screencasts about Scrivener or try to use that or any other app while I don't have a clear and defined “wishlist”.

Furthermore, I strongly suspect no one here actually knows exactly what features you're looking for. I certainly don't. Hence the lack of detailed suggestions on how tool X would meet your stated needs for features F, G, and H. It's because we don't know what F, G, and H are.

I've read all your posts, but I honestly can't tell what features you value most. It's all jumbled and confusing because it's presented solely in terms of apps and their individual highlights: e.g. the "keyboard-customizable-extra-row" which seems to be an important feature for some apps, even though other apps don't have it at all. You also seem to criticize Text Edit for its lack of iCloud integration, even though iCloud Drive would let you keep its files on iCloud.

A second thing I want to mention is you seem to have mixed presence on multiple cloud storage services, notably DropBox and iCloud (there may be others). You may want to make a separate prioritized list for "Work Product Storage Features", and keep it out of the actual "Tool Features" list. There will be tools that have tool-specific cloud-based storage. That's both a plus and a minus when it comes to matching one's needs to apps.

Another comment I have is regarding Markdown. It can be factored out as a workflow tool. In other words, text you write in any plaintext tools can be run through Markdown to produce a formatted document. It makes no sense to me to criticize Markdown, "Because I can't send my texts to some contest or professor in Markdown". Markdown is expressly designed to be a separate (and separable) process from the actual writing.

In developer terms, Markdown is a processing tool, not a writing tool. It's a compiler, not an editor. You can make a separate choice of a writing tool, and as long as it can produce text files, then Markdown can still fit into the overall workflows. Note that Markdown's sole "feature set" is "formatted output" where the input is a plain text file. If a writing tool is able to show Markdown in formatted form, then that's a feature of the writing tool, not the Markdown processing tool.

 

[Technarchy]

Overthinking it is a black hole. Trust me.

Get Pages on a Mac, or Word on Windows, research proper formatting for manuscript and queries, type daily, submit to agent or publishing house.

It really is simple. Yes you probably can do it on an iPad, but it's FAR more tedious for the small tasks.