What's good free word processing software?

[JayDee]

In the event I get back into writing, it’ll be without my old Microsoft Word 2000 / Wordpad combo (for rtf formatting). I’m now on a not quite as old, but still ancient, machine and I can’t find the old CD to try a re-install! I’m not interested in pirating software, but there’s freely available options like OpenOffice, LibreOffice that I don’t know a lot about.

I need something with a word counter and spell checker, and maybe some of Word’s grammar check functionality like double words and so on. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Google Docs, but I am not sure how powerful it is. Thoughts? 

There might well be an old discussion thread about this somewhere but I’m assuming that the tech has moved on some.

Thanks in advance for everyone’s thoughts.

[pippychick]

I’m using Libre Office and Google docs for writing collaborations. Libre office works just fine for me. If you want all the functions of word, it has them, it’s just a case of finding your way around. Though Google Docs doesn’t have as many useful bits and pieces, it’s got a big advantage in that your work is stored for you. You can’t lose your work.

[BronxWench]

I quite like Google Docs. I do use it now for collaborative writing, and it does have some distinct advantages in the auto save feature as well as the ability to access your documents from anywhere you have internet access. It has a word counter, spell checker, and I’m not sure about double words.

LibreOffice is also very useful, and free, and definitely mirrors Word’s functionality.

[JayDee]

Thanks guys! Im leaning even more towards google docs now. I already have the google account even! I know google docs has the document sharing features, is it easy to check you havent inadvertently shared something? Some of my stuff really needs to ensure it has a detailed Dont read any further notice. Especially the WAFF. I suppose one way to do it would be to start with google docs and then maybe look more at libre office if I am missing the extra functions.

Like a paperclip saying “It looks like youre writing erotic horror. Here is the template for a psychiatric examination application.”

[BronxWench]

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.

 

[Desiderius Price]

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).

 

[Anesor]

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.

[GeorgeGlass]

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.

[JayDee]

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.

[DemonGoddess]

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!

[CloverReef]

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! 

[JayDee]

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

 

[JayDee]

I couldn’t get on with libreoffice. It seemed to freeze up on trying to select words for spell check, luckily I found my old Microsoft office cd today and have just re-installed. Haven’t had time to write for a while again, but fingers crossed soon!

[pippychick]

*crosses fingers*

*crosses toes*

*eventually ties self in knots and fall off of chair*

… thud!

[Anesor]

Good luck with that. I don’t have access to Word. I will note that repagination when you have autosaves in LibreOffice tends to slow or gum things up when your file gets bigger than 50k words. Inserted art hurts too. I turn off autospellcheck while I’m working on my draft and slow saves to 10 minutes and it stopped crashing. Repagination and spelling take too many resources I think. I turn spelling back on for editing.

[BronxWench]

I’ve been working mainly in Word and Google Docs, to be honest. Anything I have in LibreOffice is small, so I don’t seem to encounter issues.

Google Docs sometimes freezes up, but the autosave is extraordinary, and I’ve never lost anything. Word, of course, is what I use for most things I submit, because if the publisher wants it, I can convert to .rtf with relatively few complications.

I wound up getting Scrivener, and I’m playing with it, but I’m not entirely overwhelmed, yet. That may change as I get further along in the process of editing.

[Desiderius Price]

Hmm… I generally had good luck with LibreOffice, but then, I typically kept it to one file per chapter, so 50kwords is a bit much.  Though, I’m on Gentoo Linux, and I’ve had an unstable build or two of it, so those unstable ones would crash.  And anymore, I’m typically using a simple text editor using Latex as a post-processing.