What do you use for your writing?

[Imperial]

Thank you for your descriptive answer!

Yes I know what a problematic question asking writers for a consensus! Hah!

[Havenstone]

I wrote XoR 1 in Notepad++ and found it really helpful, notably the option to set macros for often-typed code snippets like *if aristo, ${simon}, ${lname}, etc.

I’ve started writing XoR 2 in CSIDE and expect I’ll stick with it because of the testing features. Or I might use a combo of Notepad++ for coding and CSIDE for testing…unless and until @CJW finds time to add a macros function like the one I use in Notepad.

[Vendetta]

@rinari

@Vendetta I’ve been using CSIDE exclusively for months now and still had no idea about some of the features you mentioned! Thanks for teaching me about a bunch of new things today!

@Hazel

I did not know this feature worked like this. Now I absolutely have to start testing this. Tip of the hat for the, uh, tip.

You’re most welcome.

It’s worth noting that for the ‘Popout’ facility to serve the oh so useful purpose I describe there (its other main use being to compare conditional narrative for any inconsistencies or formatting problems), it’s necessary to insert a *finish command at the very bottom of your startup.txt file (which is why, when creating a brand new project within CSIDE, it automatically inserts this command for you in the starting file).

@Havenstone

unless and until @CJW finds time to add a macros function like the one I use in Notepad.

It’s on my wishlist, too! At present I keep my most-used snippets in a separate reference file / project, which at least serves, but the ability to hot-key certain stuff would be the ideal.

[Jake8517]

For my Project i began with sublime text and uploaded to dashingdon to test it myself. as i didn’t know any better. but i did know as the game got bigger. this led to me using CSIDE. i did use Wordpad++ for a tiny bit. but it just felt a bit clunky due to my experience with Subline text 3. so i settled on CSIDE

[Hattab05]

I prefer to use Scriptlt.

It is easy to handle and it allows you to save your.txt files in the internal memory of your phone.

[Hazel]

This Script It? It looks strong. If they had it for Android phones I’d be mightily tempted.

[Hattab05]

It’s available for android. I myself am writing with my android phone. Search on the play store ScriptLt not script it.

[Hazel]

Google Play must have done something funky to their search results again, or else it’s blocked in my region. I’ll look into it tomorrow.

[Speedcubing_Gaming]

I am not sure how good it is, but as an amateur writer, I have been looking for a program to organize all of my characters, settings, stats, chapters, ideas, and other thoughts. So far, the best match for me has been Quoll Writer.

http://quollwriter.com/

For coding, I will be using CSIDE for its debugging and syntax features, as well as the ability to manage entire games.

If anyone could share their thoughts on where to write, especially the longer narrative sections, I would appreciate it.

[Eiwynn]

@Speedcubing_Gaming

If anyone could share their thoughts on where to write, especially the longer narrative sections, I would appreciate it.

I will repeat what I said almost two years ago – this is the set-up I use currently.

@Eiwynn

This workflow thread might also be of use - the chart listing all the various tools is updated as of 11 days ago.

For my contest entry game, I used Notepad++ but then switched to CSIDE, as I found it easier to control testing and formatting together with the writing.

For a short story and contribution to Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven I used CSIDE exclusively.

Now I am learning Scrivener and plan on using this for my next project starting with the outline all the way to the manuscript and then move the project to CSIDE for scripting and testing.

Scrivener is a joy to use - I have everything that is normally all over the place in one container and I am able to use and manipulate all the notes, graphics, text files and character/locale sketches in multiple ways, including linking key words across multiple documents and the tracking of all sorts of project goals.

Scrivener will also allow me to switch the format of the project from a CS game to a novel, screen-play or any other writing I may want to use my subject material for in the future.

Scrivener is really allowing me to manage all my projects in an organized and efficient manner. I still recommend it, today.

[Kefs]

@Speedcubing_Gaming

If anyone could share their thoughts on where to write, especially the longer narrative sections, I would appreciate it.

Warning! In screenshots are small spoilers for Chapter 2 in Northern Winds: Dragonships

I personally use CSIDE for ChoiceScript writing and Word for any other writing. CSIDE I think is the best tool there is for working with CS.

Here is example of that in my current project:

Then for worldbuilding part (places, chars, culture, mythology, notes etc) I use OneNote. It can be accessed from anywhere, be it on browser or on phone if you have MS account.

Example:

You can even draw there and use text-to-speach.

For tracking stat changes and choices I use simply Word. It make super easy to know how to scale difficulty for any skill check. And as with any OneDrive thing can save automatically to cloud. (I once lost txt file for stat tracking and was super frustrated!)

Example:

This is my work pipeline. Very likely not for everyone, but it works superb for me. Before this back in 2017 I used just notepad++ (As I use it for script writing at my day work) and changing into this style has made me to progress and plan story way faster.

[Wiwyums]

Notepad++, although I’m going to start my next project with CSIDE to see how I like it. Before lockdown, I also bought a Chromebook because it has a long battery life and I like to write while walking (not literally!), but I found it hard to find a decent text editor that works with gdocs. Would be grateful if anyone can recommend any.

[Szaal]

In addition to my previous WA suggestion, I like to add Campfire too. I believe if you’re similar to Scrivener you should be able to jump in with Campfire. The pricing can be a bit confusing tho, $50 base with addons.

[Sargent]

I created an extension for Visual Studio Code, which is a free text editor like Notepad++. I wanted something that would auto-complete variables, color-code commands, and do things like let me find where all I used a variable or re-name a variable or label across my entire game.

It also highlights common errors I tend to make, like forgetting to put parentheses around multiple comparisons in an *if statement.

[rinari]

@Szaal I’ve had my eye on Campfire for a while, would you say the features are worth the price? Is it pretty stable or are they still ironing out the kinks?

Adding to my (also almost two years ago) response to say I still exclusively use CS-IDE to code my ChoiceScript games; I literally could not imagine writing ChoiceScript without it, to be honest. The ability to play through a file instantly alongside the code itself is invaluable.

I use Sublime Text Editor when I can’t use CS-IDE/for other coding, and I maintain it’s superior to Notepad++. For worldbuilding I keep a bunch of Word Docs in a big folder and separate them out by entries–one doc is “culture”, the other might be “religion”. But for really heavy worldbuilding and a nice repository for it all, I also really like World Anvil. I’m too lazy busy to really put all the effort I could into it, but it was recommended to me by @Fawkes and she does some amazing things with it to give shape to her world!

[Fawkes]

I use Scrivener for all non-interactive fiction/limited-interactive fiction and Scapple and Typora to plan out my interactive fiction. I code ChoiceScript exclusively in CSIDE, but I use Visual Studio Code for all other coding (except when I’m just coding directly into Twine).

Like Rinari mentioned, I also use World Anvil, though it’s meant to be a public wiki once it’s done rather than a resource for myself. I have tens of thousands of words across various .txt files and note-taking apps where I keep most of the information I need to know.

Additionally, I use FamilyEcho.com to make quick and easy family trees (a necessity for what I’m writing) and then Draw.io when I want to make a version for my readers to view.

I tend to be bad about keeping a lot of stuff in my head without writing it down, but I usually mention things to my friends/on my thread/on my Tumblr. If I know I said something about the plot or lore but can’t remember what it is exactly that I said, I’ll ask @StarlitOpal, who seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything I’ve ever said, lol. She’s absolutely an asset to me, and I have no idea what I’d do without her.

It’s definitely overkill, tbh. All you really need to write is pen, paper, and a program to write in. (But boy, it’s nice to have some other programs to help out.)