Section 53. Creative Writing

53. Creative Writing

Writers: Microsoft Word is not your only option.

Since switching, I love Nisus Writer Express (www.nisus.com, $69.00). Its full-screen mode squashes distractions, letting me concentrate on my writing. Text styles, a real-time thesaurus, and other tools reside in a convenient drawer that pops out on demanda feature that makes Word's nested menus, drop-down lists, and floating palettes seem crude by comparison (see Figure 19).

Figure 19. Nisus Writer Express provides a distraction-free full-screen mode and a conveniently organized collection of writing tools.

MacJournal (www.marinersoftware.com, $39.95) provides a secure, encrypted space for private thoughts, and Montage (also from Mariner, $139.95) is the only screenwriting software designed exclusively for Mac OS X.

Finally, Jer's Novel Writer (jerssoftwarehut.com, free) stores a novel outline, a character and setting database, and random notes in a quick-access drawerbut the marginal notes (for capturing reminders and insights and linking them directly to related text) are my favorite innovation.