Luckily for us, writing is one of the cheapest and most readily available mediums in the world. I know not all of us have access to all the same materials. This is directed at Microsoft Word; the standard word processor. Fun fact, Word is awful. It’s terrible. They mess it up every year. And it’s the standard in the industry, so you need it one way or the other.
What I will be offering is workarounds for the month. I only use Word when I have to send to an editor and when formatting a manuscript for release. Other than that, I avoid it like the plague. Here’s some alternatives for use:
Paper
Yes, good ol paper. I actually do most first drafts in a journal with a pen. Be aware, you will not get a word count feature or a spell-check feature. What you will get is peace of mind every time you flip the page. No longer do your eyes wander over and guilt you into editing; out of sight, out of mind.
Another handy use is when you transcribe all your work onto a computer, you’re doing an extra layer of editing. You will have to comb every sentence and every word, and mistakes will pop out effortlessly.
The open source Word. I love Open Office, and it is possible to bypass Word completely with Open Office. The code will do funny things to a manuscript when it come to upload day, but that’s nothing a little extra time won’t fix. Open Office has all the same features at the low cost of Free. Take advantage of it.
I love Scrivener. I would kiss it with my mouth if I could. Scrivener can import and export most documents types. When I’m ready to send to an editor, I compile into a .docx without any hassle. There are other great features such as an in depth name Generator that I consider mandatory for character names.
Scrivener has a 30 day trial use on its website. Try it. Find out why this program is so popular with all kinds of writers. And if you don’t like it, delete it. Sweet and simple.
There you have it, three amazing alternatives to Word for NaNoWriMo. I would strongly urge everyone to at least have experience with both Open Office and Scrivener. Scrivener is one of the best programs out on the market, and Open Office can cut out the cost of buying Word. Writing shouldn’t have an invisible price tag, so don’t let it.
Unless it’s Scrivener; it’s well worth the cost.
P.S. If you “win” NaNoWriMo a 50% discount for Scrivener appears in your inbox. Hint hint wink wink