Possible to write a novel in Pages??

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Level 4

1,690 points

Possible to write a novel in Pages??

I have completed a novel using Word, and am starting out on book number 2 and considering Pages, but reluctant to sever the umbilical cord with Word.

If anyone has used Pages for typing a manuscript, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and comments.

Rachel.

Posted on Oct 26, 2005 10:34 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Brooks Peterson

Level 3

770 points

Oct 26, 2005 5:38 PM in response to Rachel

Rachel- I'm perhaps in exactly your position, plus about 6 months forward: I've written several longer publications in Word, but have now switched to Pages.

I've written (or finished) two complete manuscripts using Pages since it came out in January. One with about 70,000 words and one with about 70 illustrations. Pages works fine, handles text and images well, and is very stable compared to the multiple crashes per day of Word that I experience when I use Word. So this makes it a very nice writing tool and I would really not want to go back to Word as my main writing tool.

Like Dennis, I had it from Day One and learned it without needing to consult the manual. I grew to like it quickly. (I found Appleworks awkward, Pages was easy.)

However, I don't necessarily expect an editor to collaborate with me in any way using Pages and am ready to export to Word for that.

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Answer 2

DennisG

Level 5

6,518 points

Oct 26, 2005 11:27 AM in response to Rachel

Rachel,

Here's my experience with Pages. I bought it the day it was released (last January), installed it, fired it up, created a manuscript template in about 15 minutes (without reading the manual), and started writing my manuscript.

What I'm trying to say is that I've found Pages to be perfect for my needs -- so far.

What I'd do, if I were you, is to spend a few minutes building a manuscript template (or download Best-Selling Book at http://www.iworkcommunity.com). Next, copy some text into it from one of your manuscripts, then format it using your new styles. Finally, export it into Word format, then open it in Word to see how it looks.

Pages has no annotation feature, so when it comes time to get feedback from an editor, have him/her write the notes in a different color.

There have been dozens of threads in this forum about how well Pages exports to Word. The concensus is that it exports text very faithfully, but may have some trouble with graphics. Since my manuscript is 100% text, that's never been an issue with me.

Good luck. Happy writing.

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Answer 3

Rachel Author

Level 4

1,690 points

Oct 27, 2005 5:07 AM in response to Brooks Peterson

Hi Brooks,

Thanks for your response. I have written letters in Pages - using the templates, and love the style and elegance. In truth, I really can't complain about Word crashing - it worked pretty well for my manuscript needs over the years. What I miss about Word (Can't believe I'm saying I miss something of Microsoft...!!) but I like the features available at a quick click in Word. There are small things in Pages that I wish were as easily available, but I'll give it a try. I'm only four chapters into the second novel so I can switch to Pages quickly at this point.

My first manuscript was 130,000 words (novel) and I have imported a copy into Pages and it looks alright, so I'll go ahead and try it.

Thanks,
Rachel.

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Answer 4

Oct 27, 2005 4:21 PM in response to Rachel

Rachel... be sure to use the Pages menu to submit feedback requesting your desired features. Word worked "pretty well" for me too for more than a decade. I probably missed some of those same "quick click" features too when I started using Pages. I certainly wasn't forced to use Pages, and I still have Word, but I've migrated over to Pages despite a few familiar conveniences not being there.

I initially thought I "needed" auto correct, WYSIWYG font menus (and so on), but I find I don't miss the things I thought were "must haves" in the beginning...

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