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user5645

Pen and paperA modular approach offers the most flexibility.

The problem is that every book I write I do it differently, and no software is flexible enough to both offer all possible options and be free of clutter. I use a mix of taking notes in paper notebooks, outlining on loose paper and small file cards (with the help of scissors, glue, colored markers and a large floor --– a very sensual and fun process), writing in a text editor (TextWrangler) and writing and rewriting in Scrivener. I have also used Aeon Timeline, Excel, HTML files (edited in an editor and viewed in a browser), photographs, and other applications and media to help me alongside my paper/editor/Scrivener core apps. 

If you want a software that exactly fits your personal writing style, you need to program it yourself --– possibly a new one for every new book that you approach differently. The more flexible approach is modular, using different software for the different tasks you need done. This is not a costly approach, since a lot of the software you'll need is either free and open source, or obscenely cheap.

Pen and paper offers the most flexibility.

The problem is that every book I write I do it differently and no software is flexible enough to both offer all possible options and be free of clutter. I use a mix of outlining on paper and small file cards (with the help of scissors, glue, colored markers and a large floor -- a very sensual and fun process), writing in a text editor (TextWrangler) and writing and rewriting in Scrivener. If you want a software that exactly fits your personal writing style, you need to program it yourself -- possibly a new one for every new book that you approach differently.

A modular approach offers the most flexibility.

The problem is that every book I write I do it differently, and no software is flexible enough to both offer all possible options and be free of clutter. I use a mix of taking notes in paper notebooks, outlining on loose paper and small file cards (with the help of scissors, glue, colored markers and a large floor – a very sensual and fun process), writing in a text editor (TextWrangler) and writing and rewriting in Scrivener. I have also used Aeon Timeline, Excel, HTML files (edited in an editor and viewed in a browser), photographs, and other applications and media to help me alongside my paper/editor/Scrivener core apps. 

If you want a software that exactly fits your personal writing style, you need to program it yourself – possibly a new one for every new book that you approach differently. The more flexible approach is modular, using different software for the different tasks you need done. This is not a costly approach, since a lot of the software you'll need is either free and open source, or obscenely cheap.

Source Link
user5645
user5645

Pen and paper offers the most flexibility.

The problem is that every book I write I do it differently and no software is flexible enough to both offer all possible options and be free of clutter. I use a mix of outlining on paper and small file cards (with the help of scissors, glue, colored markers and a large floor -- a very sensual and fun process), writing in a text editor (TextWrangler) and writing and rewriting in Scrivener. If you want a software that exactly fits your personal writing style, you need to program it yourself -- possibly a new one for every new book that you approach differently.