djtinytim replied to your post “Two questions: 1. Can you recommend any writing programs that are free to download and that are safe to run on a Mac and 2. I love your blog and I was wondering if there are any other writing blogs out there on tumblr that you could recommend to me? Thanks!~”
Serious question, though it may come off as snarky: how does a writing program help with writing? Either you do the work or you don't do the work - a program won't write a book for you, or compel you to get off your butt and get moving. Editing I can see.
You're right, a program won't write a story for you! But it can be very much like changing the medium you write on.
I (Ari) find, when I'm freewriting, that even the kind of paper I use makes a difference; blank white paper is easier/less anxiety-inducing for me to write on than traditional lined foolscap and it's not a difference I can describe logically, just a difference that I've noticed. The same can be true with writing programs. Right now I use Microsoft Word (sobs) and ZenWriter. ZenWriter is much, much easier for me to use for freewriting and making myself churn things out, and it's a space where I can just open a document and start writing and keep going, no other hassle, nothing else to worry about. After I'm done a certain amount I transfer my work over to Word to edit/organize/etc. It's a process that works for me.
I've also used yWriter, and while I think it's a great program with lots of great functions and organization capabilities, I got really overwhelmed by it at first because I just wanted a space to WRITE in without having to plug in plot and character and setting details. It was a bit too structured for my needs, which is why I turned to ZenWriter. That's not to say that ZenWriter is better! Both programs suit different needs in a writer. People have different needs, as writers, at different stages in their writing process and their development as a writer, and certain programs are tailored to better fit those needs.
So while a writing program absolutely won't write a book for you, a more comfortable program to work with (which is personal and can change) that makes the writing process less stressful and easier to manage can, I think, definitely make the entire writing process more compelling. It might just be a small thing, and the most important thing definitely still is the compulsion to write, but there's lots of different ways to assist that compulsion.
