Some writers swear by their word processors. Others stick to pen and paper.
This Computing and Writers section of the WritersShop.Com website will publish my recommendations on:
whether to purchase a desktop or a laptop personal computer?
what writing and desktop publishing software is available to enable writers to get the best out of their computers?
and
what accessories are particular useful?
Personal Computer or Laptop? Which is best for you? Coming soon to this section of the WritersShop.Com website will be advice on the two types of computer and how best they might help you write your books and articles.
I will be carrying reviews and recommendations to help you make your choice. Look out for them here!
There is a variety of software available to the computer-minded writer that helps make the task of producing articles and manuscripts much easier.
Aside from desktop publishing software, some items are designed to help you write that novel or script that film or play.

Deciding to get back to writing two uncompleted novels, I took advantage of New Novelist (£23.99). New Novelist offers a writer drop-down menus that help you create and develop ideas for characters and scenes. It allows you to work on as many different books as you want. A saving of 20%.


Another popular, but more expensive, aid to writing is the Final Draft 7.0 Professional Scriptwriting software (£169.14, saving 20%). This word processing software is designed for writing scripts for film, television and stage. It formats your screenplays and teleplays to industry standards, tracking pagination and organising the storage of character names, scene headings and transitions..

Desktop publishing software can be really useful to a writer, especially those involved in self-publishing. I use Adobe InDesign on a daily basis and it is a fabulous piece of software.
Adobe InDesign CS 3.0 (£638.04). With improved colour and text handling and increased support for XML documents, Adobe's heavyweight desktop publishing application InDesign 3.0 CS Win can handle most document design tasks with ease. Also new is an integrated Story Editor. Working like a small word processor within InDesign, you can edit and style large quantities of text without having to zoom into text frames and edit on the page. This could help protect the eyesight of those who work with longer documents. Ever since Adobe launched InDesign as a direct competitor to QuarkXpress, this high-end, professional desktop publishing application has been taking a growing market share. It's of particular interest to people who use other Adobe products, as it shares a similar interface and close ties to files generated by Photoshop and Illustrator.
PROTECT YOUR PC OR LAPTOP with security software. McAfee offers software than Scans for Viruses, Kills unwanted Spam and provides a Personal Firewall to stop hackers accessing your computer while you are online.
McAfee VirusScan 2005Prevents viruses when emailing, downloading and surfing Destroys viruses and virus-like threats Identifies spying and pop-up ad programs Updates automatically to protect against new threats. Click the link below


Printers form a vital part of computing. You need one to print your proofs, manuscripts and articles. Luckily, they are reasonably priced. Over the past few years, I have used printers manufactured by Canon, Epson and Hewlett Packard.
Printer 1: Full details here shortly.
Printer 2: Full details here shortly.
So, should a writer get a domain name? Well, if you are going to create a website that publicises your work - an online communication tool, if you like - I believe it is sensible to do so.
It works out relatively cheap and if you pick the right domain name seller and web hoster, setting up your own website is quite easy. For example, .com domain names cost around £8.99 per year, while .co.uk domains cost, currently, £1.99 per year. I’ll provide more advice and information on setting up your own domain, soon.
I purchased my own domain name from 1&1, and was so impressed with their service that I asked them to host my site - this one.
It is quite easy to find out if the domain name you are after is available, and more details on how 1&1 web hosting works. All you have to do is click on the 1&1 logo below.
It is much easier than you think to create your own website and there is a good selection of web creation software to help you.
I have personal experience of using two different brands of web-building software. Click on the software box logos below to find out more about them and to purchase them:

Dreamweaver MX 2004 is the professional choice for building websites and applications. At £323.99, it is not cheap, but it is pretty good.



Microsoft’s FrontPage 2003 (£145.99) is packed with professional design, authoring, data and publishing tools to enable you to create sophisticated websites.



Net Objects Fusion 8 (£115.97, saving 20%) is a cracking bit of software and very easy to use. This website was constructed using its predecessor. Simplistic, intuitive, what more could you want?
Writing for the Web is quite different to writing a novel and there are a number of useful guides to mastering this style.
One of the best writers on this subject is Jane Dorner and one of her books is particularly useful. Indeed, I referred to them myself when putting together this website.
Writing for the Internet (£6.39, saving 20%) provides advice to readers wishing to write effective web copy for personal or company websites. It shows you how to prepare, structure and style web copy, evaluate what makes an effective website and how to keep readers interested. It is very good value and is packed with lots of valuable information for both the first time and experienced website constructor.

Paul Chronnell has produced thegoodwebguide for Writers. It costs £7.19 (saving 20%) and is packed full of lists of websites on general writing, non-fiction and reference and organisations and professional bodies. A very handy item to keep to hand. The price includes free on-line updates.


A Writer’s Guide to the Internet by Trevor Lockwood and Karen Scott offers practical, jargon-free advice on how to marke money from your writing online, submitting work to publishers electronically and selling non-fiction articles to online magazines, as well as using the internet to research your subject. Priced £7.05.


When researching your books and articles, the internet is an increasingly useful tool to find that elusive quote or a map of that town where your novel is based. Here are a few useful links:
Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS)
www.alcs.co.uk
British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA)
www.bapla.org.uk
British Library
www.bl.uk
British Library Newspaper Library
www.bl.uk/collections/newspapers
Chartered Institute of Journalists
www.ioj.co.uk
Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd (CLA)
www.cla.co.uk
Crime Writers’ Association (CWA)
www.thecwa.co.uk
Google
www.google.co.uk
International Movie Database
www.imdb.com
Illustrator of Children’s Books
www.jackiemorris.co.uk
National Union of Journalists
www.nuj.org.uk/
Society of Authors
www.societyofauthors.org
Writers’ Guild of Great Britain
www.writersguild.org.uk
Society of Authors
www.societyofauthors.org