{"id":78044,"date":"2026-10-18T21:45:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T04:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=78044"},"modified":"2026-10-18T21:45:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T04:45:43","slug":"writing-tools-over-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=78044","title":{"rendered":"Writing Tools Over Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tonight, I’m going to talk about what I’ve used for writing. This will be as comprehensive a list as I can come up with, but I’m only covering the tools I’ve<\/em> used. There are other writing tools other writers have used that I never laid a finger on, and that’s okay. Every writer is different, and every writer has different needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good old pencil and paper<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is how most of us began, sometimes at a very early age. We dig into our school supplies, pull out what we need, and start writing. Sometimes the first bit of writing is for school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several times in my life, I returned to pencil and paper, because it uses a different part of the brain than typing, and the slower pace is what I need to get the story out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, I very rarely write by hand. My wrist cramps up too quickly and it burns to handwrite for more than a page or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appleworks on the Apple IIc and Apple IIgs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I got tired of playing the same games over and over on the Apple, I still had a word processer I could open and play with. And sometimes even when I had a new game, I was still drawn to work on my little stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That first Apple IIc was supposed to be for the whole family, and my Mom used it occasionally in the beginning. It quickly became clear that I was the main user. It took up a bunch of room in the kitchen for a while, and then they let me move it to my room, and that was that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those old Apple computers had mechanical keyboards, and I loved the clickety-clack as I wrote. I still love the sound. It’s one of the reasons I like making mechanical keyboards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I still have those old systems and the software, there is no good or practical reason to use it to write anymore. I believe George R. R. Martin uses a similarly old system disconnected from the Internet to write. I may use two middle initials in my writer handle like he does, but other than that, he and I are not the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wordstar?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There was a brief time at the end of school where I used the computer lab in order to write essays. I don’t have particularly fond memories of using the word processor in that lab. I think it was called Wordstar, and the little bit of fiction I wrote on it was just for school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that’s the application George Martin still uses, actually, though don’t quote me on it. Also, I’m too busy right now to go look it up, so if you know for sure what it is George uses, let me know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MS Word, multiple versions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t have my own PC until after Melissa and I were married. At that point, I switched to writing in Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Word is… fine, really. If I needed to, I could draft in Word again, as long as I was sure all the stupid Copilot stuff was disabled. For as long as Word was my primary software for drafting, it was fine. It did get a little bit squirrelly when the word count got high, but it did what it had to do and mostly stayed the hell out of my way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early Word did not autosave. Crashes or power losses resulted in lost words, until I got in the habit of frequently saving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Repossessed Ghost<\/em> was initially drafted in Word. I drafted several short stories in Word, too, including Unclaimed Goods<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dropbox, then OneDrive<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What I haven’t talked about yet is the vast number of stories and documents I’ve lost over years. I have most of what I wrote on the Apple, but that’s because I made extra copies of the discs over time. Some of those discs haven’t survived the years. Some of those backups weren’t enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t get me started on the paper drafts before that. Before coming to Sacramento after my time in the Air Force, I moved many times and none of those handwritten stories survived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a certain point, I realized that online backups were a remarkable way of preserving copies of my stories going forward. First I used Dropbox, pointing it directly at my folder where I saved all my drafts. Eventually, I moved to OneDrive, because changes to both made one more appealing than the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I keep offline backups as well, but having automatic backups ship up to the cloud whenever I save and am online is precious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scrivener<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here is a link<\/a> where you can check out Scrivener for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scriver is famously dense with features. Overstuffed, even. However, you don’t have to use all of the features, and if there is a feature you’ve been wishing for and haven’t seen somewhere else, you might find it in Scrivener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reasons I like Scrivener so much:<\/p>\n\n\n\n