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Two Writers, No Hook · Wednesday · 55 min

Software Tools for Writing

Recorded 2026-04-06 I think when we started these conversations, we figured they would run about 30 minutes. We were wrong. 45 minutes seems like a more typical length, and this time we went way over, just about four minutes short of an hour. I don't think either of us are quite sure how this happens, although my digressions into Substack, marketing, and open source as a defence against enshittification certainly contributed. As is typical, we open with weather, specifically a comparison of spring in Italy vs. Canada. We talk about the differences in Easter holidays between the two countries. Before we get to our actual topic, Michael asserts that haircuts in Italy are different (as in better) in Italy. I remain skeptical. Progress reporting: Alan really struggled to make progress, Michael has too much going on, editing his previous story and setting a target of 50K for his April write-a-thon. He's Editing is coming along, tightening the story up. He's also having trouble writing at his desk but has found a place that works. Goals: Michael keep writing new story. Keep editing, get edits done by end of April. Has a lot on his plate. figures edits will get pushed into May. He dislikes editing and we talk about that for a while. My goals: finish the damn novel. We talk about giving up on a story, and how some stories seem to want to be told. I discuss my decision to stop posting on Substack, which leads into a discussion of marketing. Then this episode's topic: Programs we use for writing: novelWriter vs Scrivener. Michael's uses Dabble and we talk about limitations. We discuss open source vs. proprietary software.

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Recorded 2026-04-06

I think when we started these conversations, we figured they would run about 30 minutes. We were wrong. 45 minutes seems like a more typical length, and this time we went way over, just about four minutes short of an hour. I don't think either of us are quite sure how this happens, although my digressions into Substack, marketing, and open source as a defence against enshittification certainly contributed.

As is typical, we open with weather, specifically a comparison of spring in Italy vs. Canada. We talk about the differences in Easter holidays between the two countries. Before we get to our actual topic, Michael asserts that haircuts in Italy are different (as in better) in Italy. I remain skeptical.

Progress reporting: Alan really struggled to make progress, Michael has too much going on, editing his previous story and setting a target of 50K for his April write-a-thon. He's Editing is coming along, tightening the story up. He's also having trouble writing at his desk but has found a place that works.

Goals: Michael keep writing new story. Keep editing, get edits done by end of April. Has a lot on his plate. figures edits will get pushed into May. He dislikes editing and we talk about that for a while.

My goals: finish the damn novel. We talk about giving up on a story, and how some stories seem to want to be told.

I discuss my decision to stop posting on Substack, which leads into a discussion of marketing.

Then this episode's topic: Programs we use for writing: novelWriter vs Scrivener. Michael's uses Dabble and we talk about limitations. We discuss open source vs. proprietary software.

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