Thus begins the final week of tweaking Starforgers before I send it off to my editor. I’m checking my list for things I may have missed and editing here and there as I read through it for the umpteenth time. Many of the changes suggested by my Beta Readers were incorporated into this new draft. But not everything. That’s my prerogative as the writer.
An equipment note. I’ve moved the Starforgers manuscript to Word on the MacBook for editing. Unfortunately, the MacBook has been assimilated by my family and getting time on it is rare. So hopefully I won’t ruffle too many feathers this week. We really need to get a second full size laptop. I’d love to get a cheaper Windows laptop and load Linux on it for my own personal writing machine. But the truth is, I need Word. My editor uses Word for her edits and so do many other publishers and editors. Word is still a mandatory program for a writer. I can create in LibreOffice on my HP Mini, but editing still need to happen on Word. I might be shelling out for a new MacBook Air this fall.
I’ve also updated Scrivener on my MacBook and I’m toying with using it to write Starveyors, my next novel. Scrivener has changes a bunch since I first used it for my second novel. I’m having to figure it all out again. I’ll get into it more in-depth next month while I wait for my manuscript to come back from the editor. I have created a file for Starveyors and imported my notes. Next up is to start the outline. Can you do that in Scrivener? Or does it happen as you create chapters? I guess I’ll find out. If not, I’ll be back to the spreadsheet for the outline.
Okay, you are all caught up on my writer news as of today. Carry on.
True, but I’d thought with the minimal formatting usually used in manuscripts it would work. It’s good to know that it’s still somewhat touch and go.
Scrivener. I’d looked at that some time ago and wasn’t impressed with the Windows version at all. Not having a Mac I couldn’t compare it against the platform it was designed for (the Mac) so the fact that it didn’t impress me should say something. I should take another gander at it, see if it’s improved enough to be worth the learning curve and porting my workflow.
The edit formatting in Word does not always come back the same in LibreOffice. It’s close, but no cigar. And then there is Scrivener. If I decide to go with that, I need Mac or Windows. Only a Mac would get me the best version of Scrivener.
I’m curious about something you mentioned.
Why haven’t you used the ability of LibreOffice to save as a Word doc?
I’ve used that feature with success but my situation was different from that of sending a manuscript to an editor. However, such manuscripts tend to be minimally formatted at best, right? So in that case, I don’t see why you couldn’t do what you said: get a cheap Windows lappy and put Linux on it and run LibreOffice there. Just do the final Save as a Word doc and send that to your editor. Then import what she sends back into LibreOffice.
Makes sense to me, so why wouldn’t that work? Inquiring minds want to know.