[stylist] Writing Software

Wed Jun 15 01:43:25 UTC 2016

I've not used the mark place feature. Is that in the Insert menu?

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sherry Gomes
via stylist
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2016 6:21 PM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List' <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Sherry Gomes <sherriola at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writing Software

I do pretty much what you do. Also, I use the mark place in word feature in
Jaws, if I need to move around some text. I moved a whole group of chapters
that way once, can't remember why. But I marked the beginning, used the word
find feature to find the place I wanted to move to, cut and pasted and it
worked out fine.

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit
Kuenning-Pollpeter via stylist
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2016 5:16 PM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List' <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter <bkpollpeter at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writing Software

Sarah,

A lot of this sounds great and worth looking into when working with a lot of
research. But I still find Word perfectly capable and adequate for some of
these purposes.

First, I would never create one single document for 200 pages unless a final
manuscript I'm submitting. I create individual doc files for chapters and/or
sections. I keep all the files in a single folder, including any research or
notes. This keeps an individual doc from becoming too big and potentially
slowing down, which will happen to blind and sighted users alike.

In Word, you can create headings that allow for quick access to chapters or
sections or particular parts of text you wish to highlight. I've done
headings for many things, including when editing.

Using control and F to search has not been a problem for me. It generally
takes me seconds or minutes to find what I'm looking for. When editing, my
work or others, I may use asterisks or other marks for noting or
bookmarking, also making it easier to find things.

When editing others material, I tend to use the comment feature, which I
have found easy and accessible.

I recently wrote a personal essay that included research. As I was writing,
when I needed to refer to my research, I just alt and tabbed to my notes,
getting whatever info I needed to incorporate into my essay.

With literary nonfiction, you rarely need to site sources, so this is not a
huge problem. But I have written several academic papers in several writing
styles-- MLA, APA, Chicago Manual, etc.-- and I have not found it overly
tedious or problematic to create end notes or foot notes or in-text
citations. And again, for larger works, I create separate files for
different sections until I'm ready to put the entire manuscript together.

I don't often copy and paste large bodies of text, but when I do copy and
paste, I find it fairly easy to navigate para or section to section,
locating where I want the text to be. Or you can do control and F as well.
Finding where I originally copy or cut is just as simple.

This is my experience with Word. I'm not saying it's the best program or
method- it's just how I use it. Others may have better suggestions for how
they use Word, and others, like you, may find it more tedious. It's all
about learning what works for you, and what you're comfortable with.

I use a screenreader, JAWS, so I navigate using hot keys, which usually
works well. I don't find a lot of difficulty in navigating documents this
way personally, and I do a lot of writing and editing. But again, this is my
experience.

But for sure, one thing I would advise is to create smaller files for
individual chapters and/or sections. This just makes the job easier all
around.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sarah Clark
via stylist
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2016 2:31 PM
To: Writers' Division Mailing List <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Sarah Clark <sarah at sarahaclark.com>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writing Software

With a 200+ page document, its just hard to jump around. Finding the start
of a chapter or section in the middle of the book. Or cutting and pasting
something from one location to another, and then getting back to the first
location... from what I understand, most of the writing software programs
allow these things to be done with ease.

I know Scrivener in particular has many features that I would find extremely
useful for one project or another. For instance, a feature that tracks
individual characters through the book. (I am not writing novels, but for my
business related books this feature could probably link together all the
locations where a particular topic has been discussed, so that I can see
what I have already said and what still needs to be said.) Also there is a
feature that allows you to put bookmarks in locations that need to be
updated in subsequent editions, so that you can easily locate them for
updating. There is another feature that allows you to attach external
research sources to particular locations in your document, so that you can
reach a given part of your document and immediately pull up whatever
research you used for that section.

These types of software programs provide many features that either cannot be
duplicated in Word or cannot be done without a great deal more difficulty.

Sarah

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via stylist" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
To: "'Writers' Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter" <bkpollpeter at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2016 11:43 AM
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writing Software

> Sarah,
>
> What do you mean by complicated? I'm getting my MFA in writing and 
> work only with Word. I do all my writing and editing in Word, and I do 
> not find it difficult or tedious. So can you clarify your specific 
> issues, please?
> That
> may help us better understand your concerns.
>
> Bridgit
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sarah 
> Clark via stylist
> Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2016 1:33 PM
> To: stylist at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Sarah Clark <sarah at sarahaclark.com>
> Subject: [stylist] Writing Software
>
> Hi all,
>
> Up to this point I have been writing in Word, but it can be 
> complicated with an extremely long document, so I am looking for a 
> better option. From what

> I
> have read, Scrivener seems to be the most popular writing software. Is 
> it accessible with any screenreader? (Jaws, NVDA or VoiceOver for the 
> mac) If not, is there an alternative program that is accessible? (I'm 
> most interested in Windows based programs since I'm not very good with 
> a mac yet.
> But if that's the only option I'd work on becoming more proficient 
> with
> VO.)
>
> Thanks,
> Sarah
>
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