[FeatherWatt]

Android (Google Nexus). I use MyDrive, but it's infuriating when you lose 3G and it just locks up. Need to find some typing software that will do the same thing, but allow you to work offline and synch at your leisure, rather than having to be permanently connected.

The Dropbox app for Android used to do that, but now it sucks. There's an app called DropSync that makes Dropbox do what it used to - which is, I think, pretty much what you want.

 

[Gone 9/21/18]

I(and yes, I'm old enough to have trained on an electric typewriter - and used my mum's old manual one at home.)

Nice to see another yes, I started on a manual typewriter person here, Zelah. Although I use Georgia in Scrivener.

I'm also such a Luddite I have dial up Internet, so posting a screen cap of anything isn't going to happen. My Scrivener has the Binder on the left, Inspector on the right, and editing screen taking up as much real estate as possible in the middle. For some reason I don't like the full screen writing mode.

It would take me longer to learn Word or Open Office than it did Scrivener. Also an old Word Perfect user here and still use it for everything except first drafts.

Lady TL - I did have to type it all out once. Did my first novel on an electric typewriter and then copied it all into Word Perfect on a computer when I finally got my own. 118,000 words. Never again.

 

[FeatherWatt]

I spy, with my little eye, the unmistakeable form of an Arduino.

--George, who has two sitting on his keyboard, one a Nano...

Close! It's a Funduino Uno, which is an Arduino variant made specifically for first-time Amazon writers.

(you know, the same way that a Reliant Robin is a Porsche variant made specifically for first-time Amazon writers)

(by which I mean it's cheaper)

(and lower quality)

 

[Maggie Dana]

This ...

 

[FeatherWatt]

This ...

I can see I'm going about this all wrong.

 

[George Berger]

Nice to see another yes, I started on a manual typewriter person here, Zelah. Although I use Georgia in Scrivener.

I learned on an electric in school, back in the day. I don't remember what make or model, but they had all kinds of levers to change all kinds of settings, such that the first task every day was to spend about two minutes seeing what cunning evil traps the previous student had laid for you. I remember there was a manual vertical adjustment for superscript/subscript, and that it didn't affect all the keys - so you could be typing along and then suddenly wonder why your punctuation was inexplicably half a line low...

 

[Hudson Owen]

Daedalus app on the iPad using the Apple Wireless keyboard and usually the Origami Workstation. When I go to the final editing and then publishing stages I use Scrivener on my Mac Mini. I use the apps as they appear so nothing special to look at really if you ever seen them.

I write short stories and plot outlines using manual typewriters on my 1940's desk that I think was created to drop out of bombers onto Nazi installations. Thing is heavy. They don't make them like that anymore. Solid, all kinds of neat features.

Manual typewriters I most often use, won't list all ten, are my 1929 Royal Portable, '55 Hermes Rocket, '56 Olympia SM-3, and the 60's era Olympia SF.

The Olympia SM-3 is olive green and identical to the one embedded in the Tardis console deck for Series 5-7.

I need to take some snaps of the desk next time I'm in my office.

Do people in Alabama still use manuals? Do you realize if you moved to New York City, you could auction the 1929 Royal Portable for a quarter mill, at least.

 

[B. Justin Shier]

Scrivener in full screen.

B.

 

[Guest]

Scrivener for me as well.

 

[yomatta]

Scrivener all day long. See the above for screenshots. My full screen mode looks almost identical to what was posted already.

 

[Mark Fassett]

StoryBox (this is a screenshot of the beta for 2.0). There's a reason why I use it, I just can't quite remember what it is.

 

[Lady TL Jennings]

I love writing with Parker fountain pens!

But I do all my writing these days at the computer using word; still prefer that fountain pen though, but I'd hate having to then type it all out.

All hail Parker fountain pens! I love them immensely.

Although... It is rather time-consuming to write by longhand, but on the other hand: Editing is so much easier, because when I write by longhand I actually have to think before I write
(...a skill that I am apparently unable to master in front of a computer, because when if I type I tend to end up with around 20000 words with no plot
whatsoever and random characters with strange motives and I get frustrated beyond what could possibly be healthy! One word for that: Gah!).

So, no. Fountain pens and real paper work fine (and I never run out of batteries either!) For me it feels natural and I do not really mind that it takes longer time
(although, having said that, I do write mostly short stories...)

 

[valeriec80]

I'm boring. I just use Word. http://www.vjchambers.com/writingscreenshot.jpg

But I do use Text Block Writer for outlining because you can move around little boxes all over the screen, and it's FREE. It looks like this: http://www.vjchambers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/planning1.png

 

[jvin248]

.
GREAT to see other Linux users
Here's my production train:
.
Ubuntu, LibreOffice (with Linguist and language tools plugins), Xmind (brainstorming and outlining and notes), Gimp (covers & maps), Openshot (book trailers), Audacity (audiobooks), LMMS (music for book trailers but also audacity+rakarrack effects with the guitar plugged in - book trailer for the current WIP, te he). I have used abiword, gedit, google docs, and focuswriter but it's as easy to go back to LibreOffice since it has the fancy things like auto-correct, smarty-quotes, etc. pressing F11 gives full distraction-free view. I use ver 3.5 but 4.0 just came out.
.
.

 

[David Alastair Hayden]

Do people in Alabama still use manuals? Do you realize if you moved to New York City, you could auction the 1929 Royal Portable for a quarter mill, at least.

We have hipsters like everywhere else. We're actually fortunate here in Birmingham to still have a typewriter repair store. That's unusual outside the major cities.

My 1929 Royal Portable is in perfect condition. It would likely fetch $250-300 at best anywhere.

Unless used by a famous authors, 20th century typewriters, even the rare ones when refurbished, will seldom cost more than $1k.

Working manual typewriters are easy to come by. Buying these things back in the day was like buying a computer now. A major investment. Except that people expected them to last decades even with frequent use. And they did and still do. Any manual that was cared for and used properly (and stored correctly!) is still useable.

NYC does seem to have been the epicenter of the typewriter revival. But that may just be because it gets more media attention.

 

[Flopstick]

The Dropbox app for Android used to do that, but now it sucks. There's an app called DropSync that makes Dropbox do what it used to - which is, I think, pretty much what you want.

Yeah? Nice one, I'll check it out. Much obliged.

 

[intoanna]

I forgot to take a note book with me when I went on a wonder last week. My battery on my mobile died and it was an hour walk back to my house.

So...I asked the barman for a pen in my best Spanish and proceeded to draft on no less than 6 receipts. I threw most of them away after I typed up the notes but kept a pic to remind myself not to go out unprepared in future.

 

[Carry Lada]

I developed my own application. It tracks time and word count per session. Auto-backups. It is modular for separating my scenes. Custom Short-cut keys. I seralize to clear text so I do not lose data. (I've seen the doom of apps that serialize to binary and corruption where retrieval was a pain) Every time I feel I need something new, I just add another feature. I like having control of my tools.

I only use it for plotting and writing my first draft. Once my work is in good shape I move it into openoffice to do final polishing and proofreading/editing.