Word processor for a Mac to write fiction on

[ProfJohn]

So my iMac and Macbook both come without a word processor, other than textedit.

I would like to do some serious writing on them.

So any suggestions??

I am trying to do this cheap, since I am a cheap bastard and am not sure how motivated I will be at writing.

 

[Megatomic]

Openoffice 3 is free, fairly feature complete, and robust. It's what I use at home on my macbook.

 

[ProfJohn]

Thank you dude!! You are my hero for the day. Will check it out.

 

[aphex]

Some people rave about Write Room, especially if you are easily distracted from your work; (but its $25 - $3 coupon)
http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom

I've used Bean a handful of times, its free and works well;
http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html

 

[TheStu]

If it absolutely must be free then yes, OpenOffice / NeoOffice 3 is your best bet. However, with regards to features and performance and compatibility then you are looking at spending money, either on iWork or Office.

 

[VinylxScratches]

IBM has Lotus Symphony for free which I think is way better than Open Office.

 

[reverend boltron]

For writing fiction you might want to check out StoryMill. It seems like it would be up your alley.

 

[theflyingpig]

Originally posted by: TheStu
If it absolutely must be free then yes, OpenOffice / NeoOffice 3 is your best bet. However, with regards to features and performance and compatibility then you are looking at spending money, either on iWork or Office.

Don't buy Office for mac. It's a worthless piece of shit.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig

Originally posted by: TheStu
If it absolutely must be free then yes, OpenOffice / NeoOffice 3 is your best bet. However, with regards to features and performance and compatibility then you are looking at spending money, either on iWork or Office.

Don't buy Office for mac. It's a worthless piece of shit.

that's quite a harsh review for office. i wrote my master's thesis on office last summer and it wasn't bad... in fact it was quite a pleasant experience.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig

Originally posted by: TheStu
If it absolutely must be free then yes, OpenOffice / NeoOffice 3 is your best bet. However, with regards to features and performance and compatibility then you are looking at spending money, either on iWork or Office.

Don't buy Office for mac. It's a worthless piece of shit.

I don't disagree, and I feel the same way about OpenOffice. However, if you want absolute compatibility...

 

[mmntech]

I used OpenOffice all through university and I was doing a double major in history and poli sci. That's A LOT of writing. I've always found it to be a solid word processor. Compatibility issues only come into play with certain Microsoft-only features in Office such as the more advanced features in Power Point. Other than that, I've had no issues working with Word or Excel documents in OOo. I have no problems with Office but it's just the admission fee is so steep for such a basic necessity. I mean the "Home and Student for Mac" edition is $200. Free is a hard price to beat for something that offers nearly identical functionality. When it comes to just basic writing, a lot of the fancy features in Office and iWork are superfluous. I'd only recommend them if you're going to be heavy on Powerpoint, marketing projects, or web page creation.

 

[DW in UT]

If your intent is to write in script formats, check out Celtx. http://celtx.com/overview.html

It has templates for many kinds of media-related writing, from screenplays to audio drama, etc. Also allows for multiple users to access the same script for collaborative projects. But that feature is just optional - if you work alone, then you can use it securely. Mac version requires 10.4 and possibly intel processors...


If you are intending to publish fiction using POD companies, I'll give another vote for OpenOffice Writer. I've done over 30 book layouts and published them through Lulu.com and CreateSpace. Also prefer Scribus for book covers. I've also done books using Adobe InDesign, but am just as happy with the freeware for basic projects.

 

[silverpig]

nano works on my mac...

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

I heard Scrivener was a good writing program.

 

[theblackbox]

scrivener or storymill if you plan on writing a book. both are good at what they do. writeroom is good if you want to write poems or really short stuff. i use storymill. i tried celtx, and it just underperforms. it's good for screenwriting, though.

i use open office and office 2008, depending on needs, and office 2008 isn't bad, it's not as fancy as the windows version with all it's bells and whistles, but it works. open office is okay, its so vanilla some times you feel like you are using wide ruled notebook paper.

storymill and scrivener both offer some neat functions for the writer, and are both pretty cheap. the only downfall of storymill is that Mariner will send you emails every other day asking how you like it, if you'd like to buy there other products, and in about two months, they forget you bought storymill and start asking if you would be interested in buying it.

 

[dnuggett]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig

Originally posted by: TheStu
If it absolutely must be free then yes, OpenOffice / NeoOffice 3 is your best bet. However, with regards to features and performance and compatibility then you are looking at spending money, either on iWork or Office.

Don't buy Office for mac. It's a worthless piece of shit.

Really? I have 08 and quite like it....

 

[theflyingpig]

Originally posted by: dnuggett

Originally posted by: theflyingpig

Originally posted by: TheStu
If it absolutely must be free then yes, OpenOffice / NeoOffice 3 is your best bet. However, with regards to features and performance and compatibility then you are looking at spending money, either on iWork or Office.

Don't buy Office for mac. It's a worthless piece of shit.

Really? I have 08 and quite like it....

Have you used the Windows version? The mac version is a sllllllllllooooooowwww piece of shit. In fact, Office 2k7 running in VMWare Fusion is faster than '08. How the fuck can something running in a virtual machine be faster than a supposedly 'native' app?

Edit: I'll say it again. Don't buy Office '08, it is a worthless piece of shit. If you need full office compatibility you're better off running 2007 in a virtual machine or in bootcamp.

 

[dnuggett]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig

Originally posted by: dnuggett

Originally posted by: theflyingpig

Originally posted by: TheStu
If it absolutely must be free then yes, OpenOffice / NeoOffice 3 is your best bet. However, with regards to features and performance and compatibility then you are looking at spending money, either on iWork or Office.

Don't buy Office for mac. It's a worthless piece of shit.

Really? I have 08 and quite like it....

Have you used the Windows version? The mac version is a sllllllllllooooooowwww piece of shit. In fact, Office 2k7 running in VMWare Fusion is faster than '08. How the fuck can something running in a virtual machine be faster than a supposedly 'native' app?

Edit: I'll say it again. Don't buy Office '08, it is a worthless piece of shit. If you need full office compatibility you're better off running 2007 in a virtual machine or in bootcamp.

Yes, I created about 7GB worth of excel files from text files over about a one week period. So yeah.. I have used it.

 

[RandomFool]

I got pages with my Mac it's not bad. Not quite an office replacement but it's good enough for my needs.