Jul
20
50 Awesome Open Source Resources for Writers and Writing Majors
With the popularity of blogging and online journals, writers working in the online realm have a growing number of opportunities all the time to practice and refine their craft, and maybe even get paid for it. And if you’re a writing major, why not take advantage of all the opportunities to get great free and open source resources that can help you to write, edit and organize your work? Here’s a list of fifty open source tools that you can use to make your writing even better.
Word Processors
Why pay for expensive word processing programs when you can get high quality and open source alternatives for much less? Here are a few programs to try.
- yWriter: This word processor is designed especially for writers. Created and maintained by a novelist, writers will enjoy the features that are specialy tailored to their needs that help writers stay organized and focused.
- OpenOffice Writer: Part of the incredibly popular OpenOffice suite, this word processor is a great alternative to more traditional options like Microsoft Word. Writer is just as fully featured and easy to use, making it a powerful choice for writers.
- wikidPad: This tool is a wiki-style notepad that allows users to to quickly and easily jot down their ideas and notes. Perhaps one of the best features of it is that it allows you to easily cross-reference information, helping you more easily draw plot points and facts together.
- NeoOffice: Similar to OpenOffice, this open source suite contains a word processor that allows Mac users to enjoy great functionality and ease of use when typing up manuscripts or anything else.
- TiddlyWiki: Another wiki style notebook, TiddlyWiki allows users to take notes or jot down ideas anywhere they have an Internet connection. Users can easily link and organize their thoughts using the program.
- NotePad++: An open source version of Microsoft’s NotePad, NotePad++ has more features and functionality for users built right in. For writers looking for a very simple way to get their ideas written down, this can be a good, lightweight choice.
- Scribus: Scribus has much more than just word processing capabilities, it’s also a great open source desktop publishing solution. Whether you’re printing your own writings out or want to organize documents for online viewing, Scribus can be perfect tool.
- RoughDraft: Created with writers in mind, this free tool is a great way to organize a story or screenplay. Writers will enjoy formatting, instant backups and automatic generation of cover pages.
- AbiWord: One of the most popular open source word processors, AbiWord can be a great alternative to Microsoft Word. It’s available in a number of languages and for a wide variety of operation systems for writers of all kinds.
- Kword: Create great literary works using this fully-featured word processing program. You’ll be able to write and organize your writings easily in the program’s frame-based setting.
- Bean: Bean is an incredibly lightweight word processing program for Mac OS X that can make it easy to type up and edit your writings.
- WordIt: This small word processor is ideal for students or business writers. The program is simple to use and provides advanced features like PDF exports.