[stylist] Writing Software

Wed Jun 15 01:45:18 UTC 2016

Sarah,

I still think this Scribner program sounds interesting. Thanks for bringing
it up. I will be curious to find out how accessible it is, if at all.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sarah Clark
via stylist
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2016 8:09 PM
To: Writers' Division Mailing List <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Sarah Clark <sarah at sarahaclark.com>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Writing Software

Hi Bridgit,

Breaking the chapters up is a good suggestion. Unfortunately its too late
for me with this one, since I already have my complete manuscript in one
long document, and its just about ready to go to the person who is going to
edit the formatting. I'll remember that for the next time though.

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 4:15 PM
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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>
>
>
>
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