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There are actually a looot of interesting word processors out there for free. I’ve tried most of them because I’m not a fan of the typical MS Word style. Too many features I don’t use so it takes up too much Memory. Like yWriter, which is designed by a writer for writers. It lets you plan and organize scenes and keep character lists in the writing file and much more. Downside was it cluttered the folder it was in, which was what made me ultimately stop using it. There are a lot of distraction-free processors (Designed to write full screen without panels/menus visible) , from simple no-bells-and-whistle ones, to slightly more complex. My favourite of these is FocusWriter, because it has a spellcheck and wordcount, and it allows you to customise the background so I can write on any picture I stick in it, from blue birds to half naked men to, I don’t know, Grumpy cat. These kinds of writers you’ll wanna pair with something like Libreoffice or WPS writer for formatting/editing. But when it comes to ones like MS word, I agree with the others, Libreoffice is excellent. I like it much better than OpenOffice even if they are from the same vein. If you want something lighter with similar features, WPS writer is an excellent lightweight alternative, and Google docs is great. I use google exclusively for collab work, but I prefer to work offline for my solos with Focus/Libre combo (since I’m on Linux and WPS doesn’t work well on mint, sadly.) An unusual one I haven’t mentioned is Jarte. Some people looove it, some people hate it. It’s certainly different. Have fun with your return to writing! Trying new processors is fun. I envy you!

I agree with everyone, JayDee. LibreOffice is quite functional, and does everything I need it to do. Google docs is great for sharing and working with others in!

I have Word on my laptop, but I still use Google Docs because of the ability to look at the same documents on my computer and my phone. (This is handy when inspiration strikes while I’m on the train or in line at the grocery store.) And there’s a little icon that shows whether a document has been shared with someone else.

I use LibreOffice from draft to formatting final layouts for self-pub. (Open Office pretty much lost it devs after it was required and hasn’t added anythig in over 10 years) I use iDrive for backups which has been as low as 10$ for a year.

JayDee, if you’re coming from word 2000, I suspect libreoffice is closer to what you’re used to than the latest offering in Word. While I’ve been shifting from LibreOffice to LaTeX, I still recommend Libreoffice. (LaTeX has a learning curve with way less GUI).

Thanks DG and CloverReff for your thoughts, google docs and libreoffice continue to get the love. It’s a bigger field than I realised. I really doubt that I’ll have the time to trial lots of different processors though; I don’t even know if I’ll have much for the writing! It’s quite a bit to think about

AFAIK, you weren't banned, just sanctioned due to underage characters being exposed to sexual situations and your - justifiable - resistance to editing the BITG storyline to make it fit their attitudes. Anyway, I was glad to see your name in their Most Recent list - not that I have spent much time over there since they ran off so many writers.

Thanks again folks, especially for the re-assurance on the google docs sharing. I actually use a much more recent version of word occasionally in the day job, but that’s not a good setting to write porn with I’d not heard about LaTeX, but yeah it does seem like much of the typesetting features wouldn’t be needed for me since I mostly publish to AFF and don’t put out e-books or similar.

yeah, I popped in to see if they’d let me post, not exactly loved over there by the Mods LOL

You have to actually share a Google Doc with someone deliberately. You can invite them to edit, or share with them by naming them when you click the blue “Share” button in the corner. So, unless you’ve opened up the document, it remains private.