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Rough Draft: Software Review

© Regina Avalos

In last week's article, I discussed the various types of computer software a writer could use on their computers to aid them in writing. This week, I will focus on a word processing program made specifically for writers called Rough Draft. The latest version of this program is 2.0 and it was released in January of this year. Rough Draft is a freeware program which means that is free for the user to use for as long as they want without paying anything.

The software program is made specifically for writers. Within the program you can choose one of three writing modes: normal, screenplay, and stage/radio play. After you choose the mode you wish to work in, Rough Draft will format your material to the standard format for that type of writing.

The software has many user friendly features including a tabbed interface which allows the user to have several documents open at the same time and switch between them easily by clicking on a tab. Another feature of the program is the ability to obtain a word count from all of the open documents. This is helpful when doing a word count of a novel when you have it broken into chapters. Another helpful is a sidebar which contains 4 parts: a files section, a notepad, a find feature, and an insertion feature which will insert any special characters you need. The files section is particularly helpful because it will show you all of the files in a certain folder and it willl remember the folder you were using last on the next start-up of the program.

Rough Draft is also set to work with another freeware program called Word Web. Word Web is a dictionary/thesaurus program. If you have both of these programs on your hard drive, you can use them together to write your best.

Both of these software programs are available for download online. Rough Draft is a 1.2 MB download available from http://www.rsalsbury.co.uk/roughdraft/in... . Word Web is a 5 MB download available for download from http://www.wordweb.co.uk.

This week's market and contest of the week are:

Market of the Week
Editor: Darren McKeeman
Website: http://www.gothic.net/
Email: fiction@gothic.net, poetry@gothic.net, nonfiction@gothic.net
Address: Gothic.Net Webzine Attn: Editor 431 Holloway San Francisco, CA 94112
What do they publish: Poetry, short stories and reviews.
Payment: For short stories 5 cents a word for originals. 1 cent a word for reprints for exclusive rights for one month. Reviews are work for hire and payment is $10.

The copyright of the article Rough Draft: Software Review in Literary Markets is owned by Regina Avalos. Permission to republish Rough Draft: Software Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.