Ok, this is the usual boring “tools I use for writing” post which they tell me is a must on an author’s blog.
But then who knows, someone out there might find it interesting, or useful.

First thing first – the only piece of hardware you need to be able to write anywhere/anytime is a paper notebook (aka “the platform”) and a pen (aka “the input device”).
And please take notice – this is not some form of silly nostalgia thing, but a simple statement of fact: in the middle of the wilderness, with no energy grid and no hi-tech, good old pen-and-paper works.
One has to spend some time to find the right notebooks and the right pen – because writing is also a phisical activity, and the tool must fit the hand.
But given some times, anyone can find his fave low-tech writing environment.
For me, it’s Mead Composition Notebooks and BIC black-ink pens.
But I’m developing a sort of fetish for the sort of rough, blank-pages hardbound notebooks you find at IKEA or other such places.

Incidentally, a notebook can be used for two good writing practices
. keeping a journal
. keeping a commonplace book, to use H.P. Lovecraft’s definition – a book in which you jot down ideas for future reference.

Moving on to computers and software, now…

I run on Linux.
It works for me, it’s free, solid, reliable.
I use Ubuntu on my home PC and Mint on my netbook.

I don’t seem to be able to embrace “writer’s software”.
I have friends that tell me marvels about Scrivener.
I’ve tried yWriter, Storybook and Writer’s Café – they are certainly great softwares.
The problem is me: graduating from typewriter to computer, I developed my likes and dislikes, my habits, my approach.

So, here’s how I go about it.
IF I do an outline (and sometimes I don’t, so sue me) I use GNote, a handy software that used to be called Tomboy.
It allows me to create a cloud of text files, linked to each other.
So I can outline my story, doing a scenes breakdown, then link a new note to the outline, one link for each scene, one new note for each scene, and also add linked notes about characters, places, situations.

THEN, I do a first draft using a txt editor.
Gedit is my notepad of choice*.
It is to me much more distractionless than a distractionless word processor – old habits, as I said**.

I do research before and during the writing phase – using my personal library, but also using the web (Opera or Chromium web browser), and taking notes with a software called KeepNote which… well, keeps notes.
I keep a pdf reader handy as some informations can be found in pdf format online.

As English is not my first language (and I slip often), I use Artha as a thesaurus and dictionary, to check for words when I’m in trouble.

IF the first draft shows some promise, I move the file to LibreOffice Writer, where I save it as an odt file and then I do the the various edits, the final draft, and while I am at it, I format it.
LibreOffice Writer allows me to share the file with others – my editors and my early readers, if any – and share edits, notes and what not.
LibreOffice also allows me to save my finished work as a pdf or as an epub – for distribution as an ebook.

IF I go for the epub, I re-edit and check it out using Sigil.
IF I go for a mobi file, I use Calibre for the conversion.

IF I do my own cover – which I did a few times in the past, despite being graphically hopeless – I do it with the GIMP.

THEN I zip the lot, and archive a copy, and also upload a copy on a cloud server – I learned the hard way that file manuscripts are a fragile thing, and multiple backup copies are a necessity.

And this is almost it – I often write while listening to music, so a good media player is an essential piece of writing software to me.
I go for VLC or Rhythmbox.

Oh, and anyone interested in doing some journaling on a software instead of a notebook, may want to try RedNotebook, which is a fine piece of software indeed.

And this is it, I guess.
Of course, the best software is no guarantee that one will be able to write something worth reading.
But finding the right tools helps keeping the writing process as natural as possible.
I think.
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* I’m using it to write this post, which I did not outline

** Again, as with writer’s software, I have nothing against distractionless word processors – I simply do not feel the need for them.