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NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

novelwriter.io

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Re: NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

#111

Post by Tallain »

omarhaneef wrote: post #82

So I have been looking for something like this, and in fact the closest thing might be Highland 2. What I have been using is VScode with some scripts and other features. Really want an alternative to scrivener that keeps everything in markdown. The key thing I miss in all the other versions is something that will: 1. Count the words in a chapter/scene/section 2. Give me a total based on the "in work" chapters/scenes/…

Have you heard of Manuskript[0]? It's an open source editor with a lot of features similar to Scrivener, runs on Linux/Windows/Mac, and has a few features that Scrivener doesn't have that have helped me plan things more fully in the past. It's not perfect, but it's a solid tool. Also, it's backed by Markdown text files.

[0]: https://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/

Re: NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

#112

Post by edwinyzh »

vikingcaffiene wrote: post #88

This has no word export option (unless I missed it) which makes it infeasible for a lot of writers. Like it or not, docx is the format a lot of folks in mainstream publishing expect. Context: My partner is a published author and I've pitched stuff like this at her on multiple occasions as an alternative to Scrivener. In addition to her laughing at my insistence that markdown is a superior way to write, she cites the…

Yes, almost publishers accept Word documents only, and that's why I've built DocxManager (https://docxmanager.com/) on top of Microsoft Word. ;)

Basically, it's an outliner/corkboard/project manager for all kinds writers who uses Word.

Re: NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

#113

Post by mmastrac »

notjustanymike wrote: post #104
vikingcaffiene wrote: post #88

This has no word export option (unless I missed it) which makes it infeasible for a lot of writers. Like it or not, docx is the format a lot of folks in mainstream publishing expect. Context: My partner is a published author and I've pitched stuff like this at her on multiple occasions as an alternative to Scrivener. In addition to her laughing at my insistence that markdown is a superior way to write, she cites the…

Trying to unseat Scrivener is like competing with IntelliJ.

Ok, we're going down the hole of analogies a little too far but VS Code and the world of language services is a pretty decent replacement for a lot of use cases outside of IntelliJ's core Java strength.

Every top dog eventually gets cut down by _someone_ over time.

Re: NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

#114

Post by Bakary »

chank wrote: post #17

Outside of the more technically inclined; Does anyone who is a long-form (novel) writer actually use markdown? Outside of blogging, which it was invented for and makes total sense for syntax conversion of free formed text to html is there any real use for it? Obviously you don't have to use it if you don't want to, but it sort of feels odd to me that all these developers making writing/notes apps that neglect rich te…

I keep seeing references to markdown editors on HN. As a non-tech person it would have never crossed my mind to use something like this to write a novel or even keep notes, but it seems to really strike a chord here. Perhaps it's simply the comfort associated with code over a long period of time?

Re: NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

#115

Post by RandomWorker »

vikingcaffiene wrote: post #88

This has no word export option (unless I missed it) which makes it infeasible for a lot of writers. Like it or not, docx is the format a lot of folks in mainstream publishing expect. Context: My partner is a published author and I've pitched stuff like this at her on multiple occasions as an alternative to Scrivener. In addition to her laughing at my insistence that markdown is a superior way to write, she cites the…

should be easy to implement using pandoc since the underlying code is python?

Re: NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

#116

Post by ordinaryradical »

chank wrote: post #17

Outside of the more technically inclined; Does anyone who is a long-form (novel) writer actually use markdown? Outside of blogging, which it was invented for and makes total sense for syntax conversion of free formed text to html is there any real use for it? Obviously you don't have to use it if you don't want to, but it sort of feels odd to me that all these developers making writing/notes apps that neglect rich te…

Published novelist.

I use markdown for drafting via the delightfully minimalistic iA Writer. It is useful for first drafts and editing on a sentence by sentence level.

However, it is not really ideal for getting the text into ms format or for organizing and editing something as complex as a finished draft, so I use Scrivener at that end of the process.

I think there probably is no single tool that is ideal at all stages of writing a novel. In the beginning you want something that gets the hell out of your way and lets you write quickly. Once the first draft is done, you need structural editing tools. And during that process you will want to dip into tighter, sentence-by-sentence tooling for rewriting and revising.

Re: NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

#117

Post by buildbuildbuild »

Ulysses deciding to switch to a subscription model, locking all of my works in progress after I purchased their app for $50, pushed me back to vim for writing. It’s remarkably unremarkable and fine.

I wish this project the best of luck. Down with Ulysses.

Re: NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

#119

Post by falcolas »

ehutch79 wrote: post #106
falcolas wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funnily enough, a lot of the work I've interacted with has been in the Lit RPG genre - which needs a lot more, since they're often including tables of "character data", not to mention "system" fonts. It's surprisingly challenging to typeset and make it broadly readable across devices.

As an avid LitRPG reader, i can tell you most authors need to scale their system WAY back. I like the crunchy parts, but at the end of the day story should take the focus, not 10 page long stat tables. Either that, or there's just enough crunch to slap a litrpg label on a bucket of cliche fantasy tropes.

> most authors need to scale their system WAY back

Oh, no doubt. I've seen entire chapters devoted to "character evolutions" and the associated spew of repetitive skills/character sheets.

What I personally like is when there's a secondary resource (aka a wiki) which tracks changes to the various character sheets and skills over time. Perhaps this could be done within the novel by using appendices? Wouldn't help extensively with Patreon-based web novels, sadly.

All that said, litrpg - not to mention software development books, cookbooks, etc - do still need these kinds of extended typesetting resources.

Re: NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

#120

Post by cweagans »

chrisdbanks wrote: post #26
MyWorkComputer wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scrivener should integrate this.

ProWritingAid integrates with Scrivener and provides grammar checking, repeated words, and much more to help you improve whatever you're writing. http://prowritingaid.com/

Friendly advice: This is helpful to know about, contextually relevant, etc and I'm glad you posted it, but you should probably disclose that you're the CEO.
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