On being a writer in a world of open-source software and inexpensive cloud services.
I write.
I write short stories, novels, and poetry. I blog. I freelance write and edit. I sometimes collaborate with others. I am currently an editor for a literary journal.
I am a past contributor to an online news outlet. I have written copious marketing and sales copy. I have contributed to a number of technical manuals.
I'm also a advocate for open source software and have been for 25 years. My desktop of choice is Fedora Linux and I do all my work using a mix of open source and cloud-based services.
Sharing my tools, templates, and how-tos …
Over time I have adopted patterns, configurations, and technologies that have made my life easier. Occasionally, I put pen to paper, so to speak, and share my experiences with others. Some time ago, I started an IT how-to repository. And now, I aim to do the same but focused on writing. Thus, this GitHub repo was born.
The objective of this repository is to be a dumping ground of ideas and how-tos for writers who prefer to work using free and open source tools. I'm not entirely sure of the scope of this project just yet, but for now, it will merely reflect the tools and experiences I bring to the table. I like to experiment, and therefore, it will not be limited to pure open source. I will definitely be coming at it from a Linux-first perspective, though many of the tips and tricks will apply to anyone using the same tools on any desktop platform.
I hope you find this valuable, and I invite all of you to send me corrections and suggestions. Thanks!
- The Documents folder. Go here now.
How-tos, tips-n-tricks, configurations, etc. How I leverage LibreOffice to format a manuscript. My thoughts on Google Docs. How I use Joplin for draft development. A discussion of fonts. How I set up a Linux machine to make typing em dashes and Chicago-style ellipses far easier. And much more. - The Artifacts folder.
Templates, example manuscripts, and CSS in support of everything articulated in the Documents folder.
- Write your story in Markdown and export it as a Manuscript Formatted PDF
https://github.com/taw00/manuscript-css/
Write well.
—Todd Warner todd@errantruminant.com
At least not at length but will likely be expanded upon eventually.
Desktop:
- Bibisci — Really shines as a character and world-building tool.
- Calibre — for ebook development. I have heard mixed reviews about this.
- LyX — See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LyX. Lyx is a graphical front end to LaTeX, which is a kinder and gentler front end to TeX, a powerful typesetting engine.
- WPS Office — a competitor to LibreOffice.
- Image manipulation: GIMP and Inkscape. I use both pretty extensively. Until I put together some advice on using them . . . GIMP is for photo manipulation (think Adobe Photoshop) and Inkscape for vector graphic (svg) development (print-ready images for publication; think Adobe Illustrator).
oStorybook — Scrivener-like. The website makes it look abandoned, but I think it still is under development. Just don't use this. It barely works.
Online services:
- The Reedsy Book Editor — for book preparation, in particular ebooks.
- Overleaf — an online LaTeX service which looks pretty slick.
- Zoho Workplace — a cloud-based competitor to Google Docs (and so much more).
Zoho offers a TON of tools, primarily aimed at the business community. - Miscellaneous services such as:
- Google Keep and Trello
- Keybase Filesystem (kbfs)
- and even how I use Signal in my writing process.
Other topics:
- Thoughts on query letters and the publishing process. Not yet anyway.
- Thoughts on submission to literary journals and the like. You are more likely to see a discussion on this topic on my blog, Ruminations.
- Scribus — A powerful desktop publishing platform. (Think Adobe InDesign.) Use this to typeset your book. RECOMMEND.
- Scrivener, Dabble, Novlr, Ulysses, Vellum, Word, Publisher, InDesign, QuarkExpress, Framemaker, and the like. But they may be mentioned in passing or in general statements.
Manuskript — Scrivener-like. Interesting. Currently, a bit unstable. At least for me. I don't recommend.- Trelby — a neat screenplay composer.
- Fountain Markup — a plain text markup language for screenwriting. I really wish there were a novel equivalent of this.
- Abiword
At one point in time, Abiword was the darling of the open source community. But today the project is on life support, and has been for a decade or more. It is useful for certain things, but LibreOffice put a stake in poor Abiword's heart. Maybe someday someone will make Abiword relevant again. - DocBook
I have worked with docbook in the past, but I don't think it fits for this kind of writing. I may mention it in passing. But who knows? If I ever do serious technical writing again, maybe I will revisit this topic. - Advanced typesetting guidance.
I am an amateur when it comes to typesetting, but I will do my best to ensure anything I state is accurate. - Self-publishing guidance (at least for now).
I'm no expert. Do your own research. I hear lots of good things about a lot of providers—Lulu, BookBaby, Kobo, and others. In the past, there was Lulu and really no one else. The field has widened. Joanna Penn is the queen of self-publishing. Subscribe to her podcast and review her site. She knows what she is talking about. - Audiobooks.
I know nothing about audiobooks (but Ms. Penn does, see above).