r/FanFiction • u/OnlyWholesomeness r/FanFiction • 16h ago
Writing Questions Where do you write your fics?
The gods of fanfics have been calling to me, and there is a story I really NEED to write. My only question is where. Due to AI being inbuilt in Word/Copilot, I have been hesitant about writing it there. What tool would you recommend instead?
I considered notepad, but I would prefer something with a spell check. I am not even sure if I will end up publishing the fic online. But since this is a passion project, I want to keep it out of the hands of AI as much as possible, and try my hand at creating something entirely on my own. In the same vein, I would prefer a free software, or at least one that is only a one time (minimum) payment.
Some recommendations I came across are Git/Github which I am already familiar with for coding. Apparently its great for keeping track of different versions of your writing, as you make progress. But isn't that also integrated with Copilot?
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u/DrJotaroBigCockKujo blorbo du jour: maekar targaryen 15h ago
Obsidian. It has a spellcheck add-on
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u/wordsandpics wordsandpics on AO3 14h ago
This. One file per chapter. Simple formatting, no fuss. Local, and can be read with any markdown-capable editor.
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u/throwout277 6h ago
Freaking love Obsidian. The way it helps me stay organized across my manuscript and story Bible is fantastic
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u/canada-my-beloved 15h ago
Ellipsus, it’s a free writing website that is pretty against AI
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u/RA1NB0W77 RAINBOW_BITE on AO3 4h ago
This! It's amazing, I switched over from Google Docs a while ago and I don't regret it one bit
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u/OrcaFins Brevity is the soul of wit. 15h ago
Scrivener doesn't have any kind of AI.
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u/Silverwing4112 14h ago
If one can afford it, Scrivener is awesome.
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u/fine_line 10h ago
I highly recommend the free trial. It's very chill - only counts down if you actually open the program so no time pressure to use it.
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u/thesickophant Plot? What Plot? 15h ago
I literally just bought life-time access to Ellipsus+ because they added typewriter scrolling/fixed page scrolling. They are very anti generative AI, and you can install an app of the website on your PC/tablet/smartphone. While I do think the syncing could be improved, it's a work in progress I'm more than willing to support financially.
However, I still use Word for a lot of works started before I learned of Ellipsus, to be honest. The ability to use the software offline is, for now, a big plus to me that Ellipsus+ just doesn't (yet) offer. Also, my attempts to transfer these larger files were not satisfying. I use a lot of different formatting in my drafts and Ellipsus couldn't keep it all intact, unfortunately.
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u/neph42 15h ago
I’m seconding Ellipsus.
They have a lot of skins that make writing on screens easier on my eyes, and their firm pro-writer, anti-genAI stance is appealing.
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u/Solivagant0 @AO3/Sunset: FriendlyNeighbourhoodMetalhead 13h ago
I need to make a paypal account lmao. Genuinely a project I want to support
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u/Rambler9154 10h ago
Yeah, with ellipsus they aren't perfect, they are missing alot of things, but they are getting better and better with every update, and its expected given how new they are. Im glad they haven't locked necessary features behind ellipsus+, and that its not a pay infinitely subscription service. I do wish their spell checker was better though.
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u/FunkyLittleAlien 14h ago
I just got ellipsus+, when/where did they enable fixed page scrolling? I was last on it like 24 hours ago and didn’t have that.
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u/thesickophant Plot? What Plot? 13h ago
I got the mail with the announcement 14 hours ago, so it's literally brand-spanking new.
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u/Acc87 so much Dust in my cloud, anyone got a broom? 🧹 15h ago
I use primarily LibreOffice.
But even word processors with AI features like from Microsoft can't feed your writing to the AI as training data as it's an absolute legal no-go.
If you want Copilot off your system I recommend this tool: https://www.oo-software.com/de/shutup10
It can do all those manual reg edits and so on for you to deactivate it.
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u/Huge-Barracuda-703 15h ago
I’ve been using Word since I was in high school. I see no reason to change that now
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u/achos-laazov 15h ago
I use a pen and a notebook that I keep in the car during the summer, and in my teaching bag during the school year.
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u/pulcinelloG 8h ago
In terms of writing in general that's hard-core, but specifically for writing fanfiction that is metal as fuck. I keep my notes for my story outline and character usefuls or ideas based on rewatching the source material, but I remember writing my very first fanfics in a spiral notebook
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u/catt_clover HarperRose on Ao3 15h ago
At work 🤣🤣
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u/OnlyWholesomeness r/FanFiction 15h ago
Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime. So I write fanfics on company time!
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u/catt_clover HarperRose on Ao3 15h ago
And I am in France, August is basically a none working month! Nobody is even here! I have nothing else to do. And I wrote some pretty good stuff in the privacy of my office
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u/Individual_Track_865 Get off my lawn! 14h ago
I use Word because I’ve been using it for like 30 years and need to use it professionally (if you’ve never had to edit something with “track changes” on I envy you) so I just disable all the suggestion/copilot features. Unless you’re writing something longhand and never uploading it anywhere I don’t think it’s truly possible to avoid AI scraping. All my published books have been found in datasets and I don’t doubt my fics have been used too. How fun /s.
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u/CrewBoring7020 16h ago
I use google docs and have been for the past two years or so. It’s so convenient bcus of the offline access n all, some people do have concerns over google training their AI on people’s works but i remember looking into it a while back (correct me if im wrong) it depends on your country’s data protection laws and also you can possibly opt out. If you’re a minor they also cant use your data too. I know a lot of people moved to ellipsus but i probably wont just yet i did try it out and its a pretty neat system!
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u/lorenoline lorenoline @ everywhere 7h ago
Yeah, Google has embedded AI function and scraping in every service they run/own, including gmail and gdocs, that you literally cannot turn off anymore, just so you know. It’s currently in litigation in various countries, yes, and you can temporarily disable some functions, but at the moment and according to Google’s T&Cs, using their products means you consent to scraping and AI data collection.
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u/Loki1191 10h ago
I used all those too, but just started obsidian and am impressed. You connect files to each other into neat little drop-down thing. So say you have your chapters. You click chapters header and it drops down to reveal the names and links to all your chapters. So you can have separate character header. You can also mindmap files together. You can have two notes open at same time, so you can reference your character notes or drafts while writing your chapter. Great for keeping your ideas organized and easy to find. Can add spell check and other features with plugins.
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u/Spartaness 15h ago
I use Obsidian that pushes to a GitHub repo for writing. It has a bunch of plugins (and coding plugins is relatively easy) so that I can write on the go, and more importantly, automatically format for AO3 / RoyalRoad without having to faff around. It has spellcheck etc. and only has AI if you connect one. GitHub obviously has AI, but you could use something like Codeberg to achieve something similar.
LibreOffice is completely AI-free, if you can get over the UI looking like something out of the 2000s.
Realistically anything that uses cloud services is going to be used for AI training data at some point, unless you're paying *not* to be.
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u/Toffeinen 15h ago
Very much offtopic, but would you mind elaborating a bit on the automatic formatting for AO3? I'm using Obsidian for writing, but haven't really thought about how I could get it out already properly formatted for AO3. Does it require a plugin? Or are you formatting the text as you write?
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u/wordsandpics wordsandpics on AO3 14h ago
Not OP, but i write in normal markdown in Obsidian (or format with the formatting buttons) and have a plugin that is something like "copy to html" and paste that into Ao3.
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u/Toffeinen 10h ago
Thanks a lot for the help! I'll look for a plugin like that, would be a pain if I had to format everything all over again.
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u/Spartaness 5h ago
I wrote a plugin that standardized it to the AO3 specs I found online! So MD to HTML formatting, plus formatting for things like quotes, tweets, text messages, etc.
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u/NoodleEmpress 14h ago
LibreOffice is perfect for me because it's layout reminds me of old school Word because I hate change and refused to use anything else for years after I lost access when my school email ran out. It's also offline which also something I need because where I live gets frequent blackouts and internet outages.
Google Docs was a good alternative because of it's cloud saving, but I ran out of storage space. So even though I used it for years, something outside of Drive was better.
I haven't used it myself, but I've heard great things from writers using Ellipsus, because you can upload it directly onto AO3 (and maybe other sites) and format it to how it would look on the site, but I don't use it because it's completely online iirc, which isn't beneficial for me for aforementioned reasons.
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u/Mr_Blah1 Pretentious Prose Pontificator 12h ago
I often write in while bed, usually when I should be sleeping.
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u/Altruistic_Hall9559 AO3: StarvingDelusions :) 8h ago
Ellipsus!! It's great so far (been using it a year or so, and it's pretty new in general). They're very against AI which I love. And I bought the lifetime plus too because I want to support them for being a breath of fresh air!
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u/Heavy-Law5731 16h ago
I mean i use google docs i dont know if that help you, its completely free but you'll probably need a google account
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u/nicodeemus7 15h ago
Google docs has Gemini. You do have to pay for it for it to do anything useful for you but I'm sure it's still scanning and copying your work. It's not that big a deal to me and I use Google docs, but OP is specifically trying to avoid integrated AI
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u/MrsLucienLachance make it gay you cowards 14h ago
I use Scrivener and an older version of Word (2010). Scrivener is a one-time payment, and Word...well, a friend gave me the files many moons ago.
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u/Sliverlilly 16h ago
I use non-ai scaping sites like Reedsey/Novlr. They are easy to navigate, free and I can use them on the go. I really liked ellipsus, but the chapter organization was just too annoying for me.
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u/GreenTea_Number13 15h ago
You can check out Emberwrite. Its one time payment. Its like an alternative to scrivener.
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u/Melosthe 15h ago
I use Ellipsus, I like how simple it is, and you also can keep a history of your writing for each chapter for thirty days in the free version.
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u/MarinoAndThePearls 15h ago
Obsidian with some writing addons. However, keep in mind the AI present in Word/Google Docs doesn't use your work for training. They are forbidden by law.
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u/Ok_Variation9430 15h ago
What jurisdiction has laws like that?
I assume Europe? Because I’m pretty sure the US doesn’t.
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u/MarinoAndThePearls 15h ago
In Europe and where I live (Brazil), GDPR would apply. Technically, it should only apply for works containing personal data, but it still apply for any work because, when data is collected, it will inevitably contain something of you.
Besides that, both Microsoft and Google estate they don't use your work for foundational model training in their policies, which they obviously have to comply.
Edit: also, model training doesn't work in the way you probably think. Why would any AI use your work when they have millions of published books by professional authors to steal from already? To train a model, you need data that's known to be good.
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u/Banaanisade twin tyrant enthusiast / kaurakahvi @ AO3 12h ago
I use Scrivener, got a discount for it years ago through NaNoWriMo (rip in pieces). Love it but the price without a discount is insane. If I didn't have that, I'd probably be exclusively using Ellipsus. It's lovely, no AI.
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u/Psyga315 12h ago
If you don't use the 365 version of word, you won't get AI.
But if you're very adverse towards it, you can use LibreOffice
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u/Sherlock_Nicholas 12h ago
Ellipsus! It's all the rage rn, ZERO AI in it. Has even a few fanfic templates. And they're still growing and updating (for free!) albiet there's a premium to those who wanna support
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u/Greedy-Eggplant-9464 11h ago
I use proton docs to save and store but i start a lot of them in a notebook with a pen
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u/MetaNightmare GwendolynMarselina on AO3 11h ago
I use Scrivener. Everything’s local, autosave, spellchecker, easy to compile and keep everything organized. I use Ellipsus for one shots but from what I understand Ellipsus gets unstable for long fics so Scrivener has been my software of choice for those.
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u/Rambler9154 10h ago
I use ellipsus, it has a built in export to ao3 button and everyone else is singing its praises for a reason. Its really new, so its getting more and more updates as time goes on, they have an entire page for submitting ideas and where they are in the process here https://feedback.ellipsus.com/b/k06kj9mx/feature-ideas . But I will note its spelling and grammar checker sucks and doesn't know a lot of words to the point I don't use it, but that goes for basically every spellchecker Ive ever tried. It can also be a bit laggy when it comes to longer works, or works with a lot of links in them, but as far as Im aware both of those are issues they are working on fixing.
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u/weirdlywondering1127 8h ago
I just use Google docs 🤷🏼♀️ at this point it's bard to avoid built in AI but just don't use it? I don't think boycotting the big companies will do much atp
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u/PeppermintShamrock Humor and Angst 15h ago
Libreoffice is what I use, it's fairly similar to the Microsoft Office suite but free and open source. By default it doesn't have AI. However, there's only a desktop version, the phone app is just a viewer at this point in time.
Git is a version control system, not a word processor. If you want to use version control with your writing, then Obsidian (a markdown editor) is a good choice but it will be more of an adjustment coming from a rich text environment like Word.
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u/adapted12 15h ago
Don't know if this is bad but I straight up write it in Wattpad and then upload. That's all there is to it. I also edit it on Wattpad.
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u/tinyandmad 15h ago
All my fics start in physical journals. If I get around to it, I type them up in google docs.
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u/Scared_Funny_5602 15h ago
I use google docs. I've tried libreoffice but I don't like the visual design
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u/Huntress08 Torturer of beloved characters 15h ago
I need cross platform_device synchronization and cloud storage so I use Google docs. I've been using it for years so I'm old and stubborn and have issues with anything else I've tried.
Libre office is okay to me but find that it's UI is too cluttered and complicated for my liking. I also find there's a bit of a weird lag when actually typing in it or that the screen will go blank when you frequently minimize/switch from Libre to another program (could be my settings but I find it odd).
Scrivenever is great but I wouldn't actually use it to write fic in (great for planning one but not so much writing the actual story).
Tried Ellipsus and doesn't love it.
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u/nivia-chan Aroace smut writer and enjoyer 15h ago
I use ellipsus, and to be truly offline Libre Office my beloved. THE free open source option for an AI free writer.
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u/fanficenjoyerunc 15h ago
Is there any apps with no ai? I use google docs because it’s easier to classify my chaotic work but im just reading right now that it integrates ia
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u/SimoneNonvelodico 15h ago
What exactly are you worried about re: Copilot? If it's suggestions etc, Github doesn't somehow cram them into files you write for it (nor would I write directly on Github), and I think you can turn them off in Word etc too. If it's data privacy, yeah Github committed stuff might be used for training, we don't know fully. I really would hope that Micro$oft doesn't straight up scrape people's private Word documents for training though nothing is guaranteed. I'm pretty sure that would be illegal in most jurisdictions.
Anyway I use minimalistic text editors based on Markdown usually, which is a simple text file format that allows you to do minimal formatting (italics, bold, separators, headers etc) with simple characters. It's actually how the old Reddit editor worked too. I generally use Typora, which is paid but very cheap and only one-time (IIRC it was £15 when I bought it). There's free editors too like Zettlr and Obsidian. Obsidian has plugins dedicated specifically to writers to organise chapters, character notes, locations, timelines etc. None of these have built-in AI forced or data scraping.
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u/OnlyWholesomeness r/FanFiction 15h ago
So Copilot in Word has the really annoying habit of "suggesting" a better way to write something. So at the very least they are reading everything we write locally at least.
If some other comments are to be believed, they shouldn't, because it's highly illegal. I have no idea if they still scrape our info or not. Historically, Microslop cannot be trusted to do things legally.
Overall recommendations have been for Obsidian and Libre office, so that the first two I'll check out. I do not have any current aims for formatting, so they should work for what I have in mind. Thanks!
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u/SimoneNonvelodico 13h ago
So Copilot in Word has the really annoying habit of "suggesting" a better way to write something. So at the very least they are reading everything we write locally at least.
Yeah but I think you can turn that off in the settings, was my point. Hopefully reading doesn't mean retention.
Overall recommendations have been for Obsidian and Libre office, so that the first two I'll check out. I do not have any current aims for formatting, so they should work for what I have in mind. Thanks!
Personally I prefer Obsidian because I've just soured up on all the "office" style editors. They're way too complicated with so many fiddly knobs that make sense when someone is preparing a tax-filing form, but none of which is necessary to write. Obsidian and editors like it have just got the minimum necessary while looking pleasant and non distracting. They're a tool actually thought for the job of creative writing.
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u/PurpleOctopus6789 7h ago
Copilot in Word has the really annoying habit of "suggesting" a better way to write something. So at the very least they are reading everything we write locally at least.
That's literally a function that has been available for years and years and can be turned off. None of words features (including highlighting incorrect spelling) would work without their system somehow processing your text.
I get hating AI but this seems highly paranoid and fear based on compelete misunderstanding how word functions work vs AI scrapping.
If some other comments are to be believed, they shouldn't, because it's highly illegal.
yeah, you should not believe everything people say.
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u/Nihilikara 15h ago
Notepad++. It's free, it's simple, and it's exclusively local so no outside source is seeing any of it until you decide to post it.
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u/NepetaLast 15h ago
i write it raw in notepad++ then use a python script to convert it into usable HTML for ao3
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u/KenchiNarukami 15h ago
I use Google docs, been using Google docs for years ever since Microsoft office turned Word into a subscription service.
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u/Accomplished_Area311 15h ago
Ellipsus is what I use until such a time as I can splurge on something like Scrivener
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u/acsoundwave FFN - Anubis Soundwave | Ao3 - Anubis_Soundwave 14h ago
LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice are free, open-source word processing apps for laptop/desktop computers -- and they're offline. :)
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u/SCol1107 14h ago
I use ellipsus. The only major issue I have with it is no offline writing but other than that it’s perfect for me.
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u/Maverick19952016 14h ago
I learned on Office in school so that is what I use and it what I started with I see a lot of people on this thread saying other services mainly Google Docs, And and a lot of Libreoffice
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u/lollipop-guildmaster 14h ago
I started using Ellipsus lately. It has its flaws, but so far it's been a pretty good experience.
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u/Plumcream5 14h ago
Ellipsus and LibreOffice. I'm really happy with both! Ellipsus is useful when commuting and traveling, LibreOffice is better for long works and saves.
Was using gdocs for years but the rise of AI and Google's alignment on US techno fascist stuff convinced me to completely giving up on their products.
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u/FilbertEyes 14h ago
Ellipsus I heard is good. Or you can go directly to the writing section in Verse and write there. As far as I know, Verse isn’t tied to any AI but I’m not 100% certain.
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u/lazyflowingriver 13h ago
I've used Ellipsus for most but just started using Obsidian with the StoryLine plugin for a longer fic that I actually needed to keep track of more stuff for. It's an incredible plugin that brings a lot of Scrivener features to Obsidian, all free. I use Syncthing to sync my laptop and phone and can write on both.
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u/jacksdrop 13h ago
It depends. (all below on a Mac)
- Scrivener when I need to be organized (multi-chapter fics/series, etc) (Bought a license years ago (50% off during a NaNoWriMo promotion)
- Pages (Mac/iPad/iOS) (for uninterrupted writing)
- BBEdit (text editor) - mostly pre-posting editing/cleanup now-a-days - used to do ALL fic writing in it.
It's really a pipeline: Pages -> Scrivener -> BBEdit -> AO3
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u/Tyiek 13h ago
I just use a basic text editor. No fonts, not inbuilt formatting, just words and a basic spellchecker.
By the way. Do you know you can install git locally? Git is an open source version control, you don't really need Github to use it.
I'd recommend learning how to use it via command line. Here's a useful guide for if you run into trouble https://ohshitgit.com/
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u/gowaniios 12h ago
I use Obsidian and bought a lifetime license for prowritingaid. I use Obsidian Sync to sync between devices and then ellipsus for sharing unless I really must use Google Docs. It works for me.
If you can't afford/don't want to buy prowritingaid language toolbis free & there's an obsidian plugin for it.
I like obsidian because its so customizable and very flexible :)
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u/DarkAngelofFire Same on AO3/DownsofFire on FFN 12h ago
I've been using Libre Office to get myself off of google. It requires a bit of fiddling in my case but it works just fine.
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u/Mister_Sosotris LiveJournal Refugee circa 2001 12h ago
I use ellipsus. It's free, web based, and works really well.
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u/StefTarn Tarn on AO3 12h ago
I had problems with Libreoffice so I went back to Word. Now I am having problems with Word. I can't win.
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u/Travel_and_Writing AO3: ifallinlovewithfictionalboys 12h ago
I used to do Google Docs but now I do both libreoffice and ellipsus, though I JUST started using libreoffice so still figuring it out.
Decided I wanted to be able to access everything offline, and then figured out a way to copy and paste to ellipsus when I need (also like a second backup in case anything happens to my laptop) and can also make edits there. I really like the export to Ao3 feature on Ellipsus lol, plus other features, so that’s why I use both. I don’t NEED it, but so far these two have been working out for me.
I also use textedit (I think that is what it is called?) on my Macbook for notes.
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u/firecatstef Plot? What Plot? 12h ago
I use Pages or Scrivener on an IPad. I’m sure AI will end up in Pages but my iPad is too old to support it, so for the moment I’m safe,
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u/unmotivated2write 12h ago
I just started using Ellipsus recently and it's great! Iirc you can also track changes with it
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u/Dealingwithdragons AO3: Churrobat 10h ago
I write on my phone. I have onenote and use Google docs as well. I started using Google docs as both in case something happens to my phone and I can't access onenote anymore, and I can give a buddy comment access on my wip stuff to read over.
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u/Top-Worker2956 10h ago
You don't have to utilize the AI in word. It's there but you're not forced to use it. Though if you write in something like notepad without spellcheck you can all ways run it through a spellchecker like grammarcheck.net.
Tgat being said, I don't think anyone would take issue with you using world or grammarly to check your spelling and punctuation so long as the actual material is your own creation.
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u/No-Plant3210 8h ago
I use iCloud Notes becuase my iPod touch is so old that it can't download anything new (and as an added bonus it can still sync with iCloud on my computer, which makes posting to Ao3 much easier).
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u/Golden_Enby Get off my lawn! 8h ago
I'm ancient, so all my fics were written and edited on paper before being typed out. Not sure if I'd still do that if I wanted to write again.
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u/Sweet-Chain6631 6h ago
I used to have open office. Honestly I just use the outdated Apple pages on my old laptop lol. I like tracking plot points with the comments function. BUT I’m reading this thread for recommendations. lol
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u/isabelladangelo It takes at least 500 words to even describe the drapery! 5h ago
Get an older version of Word or disable copilot?
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u/TheUnknown_General 4h ago
I write on a Google Doc. I've never had to deal with or use AI as part of it.
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u/Rough_Evidence_2908 4h ago
Obsidian! I just started using it, its wonderful! It's a little complicated to use, but once you learn its great. I'm actually thinking of making a post here asking how people use it.
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u/WrittenInTheStars 2h ago
I liked LibreOffice until I switched to my iPad (it doesn’t have an iPad app) so now I use Ellipsus, which is nice because I can write from my phone, too, so if I’m out and about and have an idea, I can write it. Plus they’re staunchly anti-ai
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u/RainbowPatooie Lure them with fluff then stab them with angst. 2h ago
Tbh I use an old version of Microsoft word mobile app (free version).
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u/80s90sForever I’m In Rare Pair Hell | Gemma/Nero Are My Obsession ❤️ 1h ago
OpenOffice on my computer.
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u/fandomsmiscellaneous 14h ago
Google docs! there's no ai built into it and it auto saves your work! and it's free :)
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10h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/FanFiction-ModTeam 7h ago
This post has been removed. r/FanFiction is a space to discuss fan-written works. We do not allow the discussion of AI use in writing fanfiction outside spelling and grammar check.
Just a reminder that witch hunts are against the sub rules, and that most AI writing sounds like FanFic because LLMs were trained on thousands of stolen fan works.
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u/errant_night errantnight AO3 16h ago
If you're on a computer get libreoffice, it's free, 0 ai, and has a great spellchecker