NovelWriter 1.0 – A markdown-like editor for writing novels

Post by ajarmst » Tue, Jan 19, 2021, 7:10 PM UTC

lhorie wrote: post #168

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…

> markdown is a superior way to write Is it though? I don't have any experience with book authoring but I would expect stuff like Geronimo Stilton to be hard to produce with markdown: it is peppered with creative text highlighting (e.g. words written in a custom cheese-pattern font) and this is common in primary school geared books. Even decidedly grown-up books like GEB might have illustrations and diagrams, and it'…

Post by therealdrag0 » Tue, Jan 19, 2021, 7:12 PM UTC

michaericalribo wrote: post #121

kleer001 wrote: post #68

Looks fantastic! But, too late for me. I'm writing a novel now in emacs' orgmode (spacemacs) with lots of customization. The killer app for me is orgmode's foldable hierarchies of text. Beyond that even typing speed isn't my main bottleneck, it's ideas and sitting down in front of the keyboard and actually typing.

> it's ideas and sitting down in front of the keyboard and actually typing This is the crux of the challenge for every writer. At least for me, I use "finding the right tool" as a way to procrastinate from actually writing...

Post by ajarmst » Tue, Jan 19, 2021, 7:13 PM UTC

ajarmst wrote: post #170

I don't get it. Why "markdown-like". Do people writing novels have some need that is unmet by an existing flavour of markdown? Because I have to say that the last thing that ecosystem needs is yet another flavour. I thought the entire point to markdown was that you didn't need a special editor . Which of course has done nothing to reduce their mushrooms-in-a-damp-cellar proliferation.

Post by em-bee » Tue, Jan 19, 2021, 7:21 PM UTC

powersnail wrote: post #160

em-bee wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

publishers format for print, but the submission needs to be in a specific format too. this stems from the days where manuscripts were submitted on paper, and not electronically. one could argue that with electronic submission such format requirements are no longer relevant, but we all know that people don't like change. standard manuscript format looks roughly like this: lines are double spaced first line of each par…

These requirements seem to be easily within pandoc’s ability though, as it can use a reference docx file.

Post by michaericalribo » Tue, Jan 19, 2021, 7:27 PM UTC

therealdrag0 wrote: post #167

Bakary wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Part of it might be preference for plain text files with no vendor lock-in. Or it might be preference for explicitness, we've all fought with rich editors bleeding format from one word into another and struggling to un-format the text at the right location.