Hi all!
In a couple of months I'll be sending my novel to agents. Currently I use Ulysses for composition which works really well to navigate the 85 K word manuscript. I can write in markdown and then export to a nice clean word file... Great... all well and good.
The problem I foresee, and have experienced in the past, is feedback, namely in line comments in the word file. During my MA I had a lovely PA who would decant this nuggets of genius into a document which I could use as a reference but, alas, my university days are over and I'm on my own.
Word, as has been stated many times and in many places, is dreadful on mac. It simply chokes when I feed it a novel length document. Unless anyone knows something I don't, word, THE INDUSTRY STANDARD, is not accessible, which is a pig.
I've just had a play with apple pages and though it works, not choking on the document, it has the usual bloat of poor accessibility design common to all first party apps. IE, it's designed visual first, accessibility second. Too much drilling up and down through boxes, and there is the barrier of having to export each time to a word file as apple wants us to be using pages files. Admittedly usable, but there is a high degree of friction in doing so.
I've had a play with google docs, but I'm kinda baffled by it. I did see Paul's delve into it, but it just all feels a bit... Well, janky and I'm not sure it would serve my purposes anyway. it feels like it probably has the same annoyances as apple pages, though I'm happy to be corrected on this. Also, if I'm honest, it annoys me it's a web based app. I don't know if I'd trust it with a thousand hours of work. It seems far too ephemeral.
Again, my main goal here is to get feedback on my manuscript and action fixes. It needs to be tracked too so author, agent, editor are in lockstep with the document's development.
I know I could look to parallels, run word on there, learn how to use windows, navigate the keyboard conflicts between mac and windows and so on, but that feels just as much of a pain as other solutions. The other option, of course, is to get a cheap little windows machine exclusively for writing and editing, which introduces another bunch of decisions and pain points.
I'm looking for advice here from any author who works in long form and works with others on documents. I'd like to think an agent and editor, understanding the mess of the most basic of tools for writing on mac, might have some flexibility on working methods, my tutors certainly thought this would be the case, but I'd also like it not to be an issue at all.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Is mac going to be my friend here or should I be looking to a windows machine or even a Chromebook?
I don't tend to read stories written by blind authors, or none that I'm aware of. Any names with commercial success I could look up and bug with such questions?
Comments
Ask for comments in a separate document
You can request that the comments be supplied in a separate document or in email. At least for scholarly projects (which are what I'm familiar with), it is normal practice to write reviews of manuscripts as separate documents. The review comments can be general, but they may also point out specific errors or opportunities for improvement in identified paragraphs or sentences.
If you truly have to deal with comments in a word processor file, Pages is probably your best option. You can convert Markdown to Microsoft Word format, then import it into Pages once comments have been inserted into it. Also, I think Pandoc can convert MS-Word format to Markdown in a way that preserves any comments in the MS-Word file. This might require a command line option in Pandoc - you would need to look up the documentation.
Thank you for your reply
I've actually been playing with pages since posting this comment and, aside from some annoyances, it's actually quite good. I've created a shortcut to save in word format more rapidly, but dealing with comments and tracked changes seems doable. Navigation by context table is also pretty slick. It is hanging here and there, but nothing like word.
Yes, I can ask for wider comments in a separate document, it's the specifics fine grained stuff I'm trying to work out a process for.
To be honest, I don't know exactly how agents work, or even if different agents have different modes of working. I just feel, arming myself with a few ways of working will put me in a better position. I don't know the type of feedback I'll be getting, so better I have a range of solutions.
Something else to consider, and one of the greater frustrations of writing blind, is formatting, layout, style etc. Switching between apps, from markdown to word, word to pages, pages back to word, might mess around with layout. This is more about first contact with agents. Sending in a document that is a mess is not goig to put them in a good frame of mind. There are various templates out there for novels but using one assumes one remains in the same editor for the creation of the project.
It is not going to be perfect anyways
I’ve had similar issues when submitting articles to journals. On macOS, formatting is a persistent problem—I’m not sure why, but my documents often end up with inconsistent font colors, sizes, and types. Honestly, you might want to consider either investing in a low-cost Windows laptop or running a Windows VM. I bought a budget Windows machine as a temporary workaround, and it ended up reducing how often I use my Mac altogether.
On macOS, I even created a custom activity for proofreading, which announces changes in fonts, colors, and indentation. Still, it doesn’t compare to the dedicated NVDA proofreading configuration profile I built on Windows, which is far more reliable.
I know this might not solve your problem directly, but I just wanted to share my experience—I share the same concerns you do.
Really useful
I'm both sad and glad to know I'm not the only one. I do keep considering a windows machine for writing but, I'm reluctant to spend even a little money on something I don't feel I should have to. Silly, I know.
I also know, if I do go down that road, I'll want something with decent speakers, good keyboard, light blah blah blah... And soon I'll be looking at something that is over a grand.
Pages is looking good, actually. I think I'll be able to build some processes with it. I might even be able to do a full project in it. I'm hoping agents and publishers are a forgiving lot. I'd just rather not burn up my good will on something that is avoidable. I'm sure I'll need that good will with other things to do with the writing itself.
MarsEdit?
I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're after but it sounds pretty comparable. I tried out the free version of MarsEdit in conjunction with Dreamwidth, and it worked very well. Not sure whether MarsEdit is still around, but Dreamwidth is still alive and well and it is fully accessible with VoiceOver. I think you can even download and install the Dreamwidth code to be used elsewhere. I haven't personally done this so don't quote me on it, but it does seem possible. Hth and good luck.