Ulysses III is based on text files; however, you can also export them as doc, PDF, ePub and HTML. Ulysses III is available for Mac for $44.99 and for iPad for $19.99 on the Apple itunes store. IA Writer Pro is a distraction-free text editor application for writers. The new Mac version also has a new version numbering scheme. The previous version, Ulysses III, was of course the third major version of Ulysses. It was a drastic rewrite of the software. Then came Ulysses III 1.1 and Ulysses III 1.2. Now Soulmen is dropping the III and just calling the app Ulysses 2. Ulysses 2 comes after Ulysses III.
- Ulysses Iii 1 1 – Creative Writing Text Editors
- Ulysses Iii 1 1 – Creative Writing Text Editor Software
- Ulysses Iii 1 1 – Creative Writing Text Editor Pdf
Writing tools and software for authors can improve the writing process from start to finish. Whether you are planning your book, in the process of writing, or editing your work, there's a piece of writing software designed to make things easier.
In this post, we're going to cover seven writing tools that make the writing process better.
Pre-Writing Tools
Writing Tools
Post-Writing Tools
Pre-Writing Software
Say you've got an idea for a book, but feel like you still need a little assistance before you're ready to sit down at your computer and start writing. This stage of writing can be called 'pre-writing.'
Temi
Some authors need to 'speak their book'. What we mean by this is that authors will often use recording tools to turn their voice into text. This process is called transcribing. Of the many transcription services on the market, Temi is arguably one of the cheapest. At just 10 cents per minute of audio, Temi records clear, accurate transcripts and can transcribe your words anywhere at anytime. Perfect for when you are stuck in traffic or don't have access to your computer. Temi users open their app (available on both the App Store and Google Play) to start recording. Once your audio is recorded, Temi will email you a transcript within minutes.
Temi is a writing software that serves as a huge time-saver for people who are on the go or love to vocalize their thoughts prior to writing. Personally speaking, I've had so many instances where story ideas popped into my brain, only to dissipate when I couldn't get to my computer fast enough. With Temi, you can make the most of those 'Ah ha!' moments and get your words down for future use.
Temi currently offers a free trial of their program. Simply go to their website, www.temi.com, and upload an audio or video file to watch Temi work their magic. Whether you use their free trial or choose to pay for their service, you'll be able to edit your transcript at any time, export it as Word, PDF, and other files, and add timestamps. Temi is even able to recognize the change of voice in any speakers on your recordings.
Bottom line – Who is Temi best for? Writers who want the flexibility of writing anywhere.
Freedom
Every time you sit down at the computer to write the next great American novel, your mind floats away. You end up on Facebook, messaging your best friend's sister's neighbor. Or you decide to spend just five minutes checking your work email… Which turns into two hours. As much good as the Internet does, it also enables a whole list of distractions to steal us away from our precious creative time. For many writers, eliminating these distractions can be a game-changer. Freedom is a website blocker available for Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS.
While it is not specifically a writing tool, Freedom is a great fit for writers looking to eliminate online distractions. Freedom allows you to temporarily block any website or app for a chosen period of time.
Freedom has three price points ($6.99 for one month of unlimited access, $2.42 a month for one year of unlimited access, ora one-time $129 payment for access forever).
Bottom line – Who is Freedom best for? Writers who can't afford to waste any time.
Writing Software
After coming up with a book idea and blocking any potential distractions, you're ready to sit down and write!
Scrivener
Arguably one of the more well-known options for writing software, Scrivener is a word processing tool available to Windows, Mac, and iOS users. What makes Scrivener so unique – and popular – is the fact that it assists you with every stage of writing. It gives you the ability to write in various stages, so if you have ideas for a scene that's placed at the end of your book you can write it down, save it, and then move it to the end of your book at a later time. You can even store scenes in 'smart folders' to effectively and clearly save information for later.
Doing research for your writing project? With Scrivener, you can keep notes, important web pages, or even earlier chapters of your project next to your text (essentially seeing two screens at once). Perhaps one of Scrivener's greatest highlights is its ability to gather and hold research. If you're looking for writing software that will gather your research and keep it organized for you, Scrivener can do it.
Not everything about Scrivener will be brand new to you, though. Similar to Microsoft Word, you can edit your document, use creative fonts, access your word count, and more. However, unlike other word processors, the many different ways that Scrivener allows you to view your text (side-by-side with other documents, in a full screen blocking out distractions, and more) sets it apart.
Scrivener has two price points. For Mac and Windows, a standard license costs $45. An educational license is $38.25. Using Scrivener on your iPad or iPhone? It'll cost you $19.99. And finally, you can have the option of using Scrivener on both Mac and Windows for $75.
Bottom line – Who is Scrivener best for? Writers who need a one-stop shop for researching, writing, and publishing.
Ulysses
As we just mentioned, Scrivener offers many specialized functions that go far beyond the act of writing. But what if you're an author interested in a writing-only tool? It's time for you to meet Ulysses, a Mac-only writing tool that has many similarities to Microsoft Word while simultaneously offering authors a completely unique writing platform.
Something that separates Ulysses from other word processors is that it supports Markdown, a shortcut system that makes publishing web content easier. If you're trying to write a book, learning about Markdown and implementing it into Ulysses probably won't be necessary for you. But if you're a coder or someone who finds themselves putting out frequent web content, you can use Markdown to read 48 different programming languages.
While Ulysses focuses on being an easy to use, distraction-free writing tool, there's more to it than just word processing. Just like Microsoft Word, you can access a word counter. Unlike Microsoft Word, though, Ulysses allows you to set a word count goal for each typing session. Having a hard time staying motivated? Let this be one extra way to make sure you get your words down. Beyond these tools, Ulysses also offers a customizable workplace where you can write in Plain Text or Typewriter mode or mix up your workplace color scheme.
As for pricing, Ulysses follows a subscription model like Hulu or Netflix. For $4.99 a month (or $39.99 a year), you'll be able to access the platform on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad. They also offer a 14-day free trial on https://ulysses.app/pricing/.
Bottom line – Who is Ulysses best for? Writers who are interested in experiencing a unique and streamlined writing tool with the tried and true editing tools of Microsoft Word.
StoryShop
I don't know about you, but nothing seems to get my creative brain into gear quite like fun. This is a huge reason that I find StoryShop, a word processing tool, to be such an innovative writing option.
StoryShop says it's different than other writing tools because of its focus on 'world building'. When you sign up for an account with StoryShop, you'll be taken to your dashboard where you'll choose or create a book template and input information like your 'book world' (the site has 36 world building categories to choose from). The greatest focus here is on storytelling and the idea that your story or book goes far beyond text.
Their app enables you to tag scenes as taking place in certain locations, track relationships between characters, and create entire backstories on the people in your story. I tried out the free version of this app and found the interface to be easy to follow. Nutxt 3 17 kjv. It's intuitive and gave me everything I needed to turn my story into its own universe. StoryShop gave me a list of 14 premade genre-based templates. After I decided to try out the Romance genre template, I had access to an outline of what a typical Romance book plot resembles. StoryShop made it easy for me to plot my book right there in the app!
Once you've updated your character and world information and written your story, you can invite collaborators to view your book for editing or proofreading services. And remember, StoryShop can be accessed from anywhere (on your phone, computer, or tablet) as it is stored on the cloud.
Ultimately, StoryShop should be thought of as a story-crafting tool. It is creative, fun, and best suited to writers who are interested in using a word processor that will bring their story to life. They offer three payment plans (free, $79.50 a year, or $9.99 a month).
Bottom line – Who is StoryShop best for? Writers who want to build a book world, oversee it, and be able to add to it as they go – all in one place.
Post-Writing Software
Great! Now that you were able to focus and choose the correct writing software for you, you've written a book. Congratulations! While many writers think that this is the end of their book journey, it has only just begun. Now that you're finished writing, you'll need to get it ready for publication.
Hemingway
While word processors do offer spell-check tools, sometimes they can still overlook commonplace grammatical or spelling errors. Seeking extra help by hiring an editor can be costly. So what's another option for authors who need editorial help? Hemingway, an editing app, offers writers another option for checking their grammar and spelling. Also, since it's offered for both Mac and Windows users, anyone can gain access to this service.
Going beyond basic typos or spelling issues, Hemingway is able to check for wordiness, the passive voice, dull word usage, and more. The app will highlight different types of errors in separate colors, that way you'll be able to easily track what mistakes are being made and where they're occurring. Have a sentence that's a bit too… verbose? Hemingway highlights those instances in yellow, for example.
Beyond editorial suggestions and assistance, Hemingway's writing software is able to provide you with reports on your text's readability and word count. In the image above, check out the right side of Hemingway's homepage. This is exactly what you'll see when you're inside the app. As you can see, by using Hemingway you can limit phrases like adverbs and have a clear image of what needs to be improved upon within your text.
For $19.99, you can purchase Hemingway for Mac or Windows as a desktop application. Visit http://www.hemingwayapp.com for more information.
Bottom line – Who is Hemingway best for? Writers who want help with spelling, grammar, or sentence structure without paying for a human editor.
Vellum
If you're involved in the world of self-publishing, there's a pretty good chance that you've heard of Vellum. Vellum is a Mac-only book formatting writing software that enables you to upload your own text, format it for eBooks or print copies, and then export both eBook and print files. With a user-friendly interface, it's never been so easy to publish your own books. And with Vellum's ability to generate books for Kindle, Apple, Nook, Kobo, Google, ePub formatting, and print, you can get your book to as many readers as possible.
As for pricing, Ulysses follows a subscription model like Hulu or Netflix. For $4.99 a month (or $39.99 a year), you'll be able to access the platform on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad. They also offer a 14-day free trial on https://ulysses.app/pricing/.
Bottom line – Who is Ulysses best for? Writers who are interested in experiencing a unique and streamlined writing tool with the tried and true editing tools of Microsoft Word.
StoryShop
I don't know about you, but nothing seems to get my creative brain into gear quite like fun. This is a huge reason that I find StoryShop, a word processing tool, to be such an innovative writing option.
StoryShop says it's different than other writing tools because of its focus on 'world building'. When you sign up for an account with StoryShop, you'll be taken to your dashboard where you'll choose or create a book template and input information like your 'book world' (the site has 36 world building categories to choose from). The greatest focus here is on storytelling and the idea that your story or book goes far beyond text.
Their app enables you to tag scenes as taking place in certain locations, track relationships between characters, and create entire backstories on the people in your story. I tried out the free version of this app and found the interface to be easy to follow. Nutxt 3 17 kjv. It's intuitive and gave me everything I needed to turn my story into its own universe. StoryShop gave me a list of 14 premade genre-based templates. After I decided to try out the Romance genre template, I had access to an outline of what a typical Romance book plot resembles. StoryShop made it easy for me to plot my book right there in the app!
Once you've updated your character and world information and written your story, you can invite collaborators to view your book for editing or proofreading services. And remember, StoryShop can be accessed from anywhere (on your phone, computer, or tablet) as it is stored on the cloud.
Ultimately, StoryShop should be thought of as a story-crafting tool. It is creative, fun, and best suited to writers who are interested in using a word processor that will bring their story to life. They offer three payment plans (free, $79.50 a year, or $9.99 a month).
Bottom line – Who is StoryShop best for? Writers who want to build a book world, oversee it, and be able to add to it as they go – all in one place.
Post-Writing Software
Great! Now that you were able to focus and choose the correct writing software for you, you've written a book. Congratulations! While many writers think that this is the end of their book journey, it has only just begun. Now that you're finished writing, you'll need to get it ready for publication.
Hemingway
While word processors do offer spell-check tools, sometimes they can still overlook commonplace grammatical or spelling errors. Seeking extra help by hiring an editor can be costly. So what's another option for authors who need editorial help? Hemingway, an editing app, offers writers another option for checking their grammar and spelling. Also, since it's offered for both Mac and Windows users, anyone can gain access to this service.
Going beyond basic typos or spelling issues, Hemingway is able to check for wordiness, the passive voice, dull word usage, and more. The app will highlight different types of errors in separate colors, that way you'll be able to easily track what mistakes are being made and where they're occurring. Have a sentence that's a bit too… verbose? Hemingway highlights those instances in yellow, for example.
Beyond editorial suggestions and assistance, Hemingway's writing software is able to provide you with reports on your text's readability and word count. In the image above, check out the right side of Hemingway's homepage. This is exactly what you'll see when you're inside the app. As you can see, by using Hemingway you can limit phrases like adverbs and have a clear image of what needs to be improved upon within your text.
For $19.99, you can purchase Hemingway for Mac or Windows as a desktop application. Visit http://www.hemingwayapp.com for more information.
Bottom line – Who is Hemingway best for? Writers who want help with spelling, grammar, or sentence structure without paying for a human editor.
Vellum
If you're involved in the world of self-publishing, there's a pretty good chance that you've heard of Vellum. Vellum is a Mac-only book formatting writing software that enables you to upload your own text, format it for eBooks or print copies, and then export both eBook and print files. With a user-friendly interface, it's never been so easy to publish your own books. And with Vellum's ability to generate books for Kindle, Apple, Nook, Kobo, Google, ePub formatting, and print, you can get your book to as many readers as possible.
In order to properly use Vellum, you'll need to make sure that your book is completely ready for publication. Think of this as the final step before your book is sent out into the world! Vellum takes your text, wraps it up in its final packaging, and creates what readers will see. Once you import your text (it must be in a Word file) into Vellum, you'll be able to add 'elements' like an epigraph, epilogue, or acknowledgments page. You can also choose one of eight book styles for your formatting.
Since Vellum enables eBook files, you'll be able to include links within your book. Want to have an about the author page at the end of your book? Great, you can do that. You can even include links to your Amazon author page or website within the text. And with Vellum, your book margins, headers, fonts, and page numbers are all figured out for you. Once you're happy with your styling options, use the preview option within Vellum to see how your book will look in a variety of formats.
For $199.99, you can use Vellum to create unlimited eBooks. For $50 more, at $249.99, have the option of creating unlimited eBooks and paperback copies.
Bottom line – Who is Vellum best for? Anyone who uses a Mac that wants to take the guesswork, or challenges, of doing book formatting on their own out of the book writing process.
Writing can be a jungle!
While we're all familiar with its many challenges, it's time to get familiar with the tools available to us that can make writing easier and more enjoyable! So, writers – have you used any of the tools mentioned in our list? Do you have any writing software tools that you recommend? Let us know in the comments below!
[Mitch Wagner is a technology journalist who lives in San Diego with his wife, dog, and three cats. They don't remember deciding to get quite so many animals. He socializes on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. He's completed writing one science fiction novel and nearly done two more and plans to publish them sometime. He does most of his writing and other work for Light Reading, which serves the telecom industry – the companies formerly known as phone companies.]
The father in Stephen King's Cujo runs a small ad agency. He creates an ad for skin-diving gear featuring the photo of a tough guy and the phrase 'MISTER, I DIVE FOR A LIVING, I DON'T MESS AROUND.'
When I read about Mac writing apps with 'beautifully minimal' designs, or an app that is 'your own private writing room,' I roll my eyes.
Mister, I write for a living. I don't mess around.
Until recently, I've been dissatisfied by every writing app I've tried for the Mac. Some are too complicated (Word, Scrivener, BBEdit). Others are too simple — they don't do enough (Byword, TextWrangler, etc.).
I was intrigued by Ulysses III, by The Soulmen, when it came out in 2013, and I gave it a try right away. But it just seemed too weird to me — too different from other writing apps that I was used to.
However, when I heard in December that Ulysses was coming out with an iPad version, I gave it another try. I do a significant amount of writing on the iPad, and I liked the idea of using the same app and accessing the same document store in both places.
And this time I was hooked. I've been using Ulysses as my primary writing software since then, for all my important writing and much of the extemporanea I toss off on social media too.
The iPad version of Ulysses is now generally available, as is a newly updated Mac version. The iPad version is $19.99, and the Mac version is $44.99, with free upgrades for existing users. You can download a free, fully-functional demo of the Ulysses app on the developer website.
The iPad version is essentially the same as the Mac version, with almost all of the important features retained.
Ulysses Iii 1 1 – Creative Writing Text Editors
That's the great strength of Ulysses: It's a good writing app that's pretty much the same on both the Mac and iPad. They look the same, they work the same, and the iPad version does almost everything the Mac version does. Even the keyboard shortcuts are the same, if you use an external Bluetooth keyboard for the iPad.
Here's the window of the Mac version, showing a draft of this article:
Now here's the same thing on the iPad:
You can see how similar the desktop and iPad versions are1.
I had to use two screenshots on the iPad to get it all in because of course the screen on my iPad mini is much smaller than my desktop computer. On the iPad version, the panes of the app slide back and forth with a swipe to shift between views.
To get information between the Mac and iPad, sheets sync automatically in the background, without your having to worry about it. (Except when they don't—see below.)
A new Mac version, too
Ulysses 2, the new Mac version, is pretty much the same as its predecessor. The chief difference is cosmetic, a flat Yosemite design. Soulmen also says it syncs faster than the previous versions. I haven't noticed much difference — the old version synced plenty fast.
The new Mac version also has a new version numbering scheme. The previous version, Ulysses III, was of course the third major version of Ulysses. It was a drastic rewrite of the software. Then came Ulysses III 1.1 and Ulysses III 1.2. Now Soulmen is dropping the III and just calling the app Ulysses 2.
Got that? Ulysses 2 comes after Ulysses III. Soulmen's numbering scheme makes Windows versions look clear-cut.
A main difference between Ulysses and other writing apps is that Ulysses doesn't store its documents as files in the Mac finder. Well, actually, that's not true — it does — but you have to dig deep into the ~Library directory to find the files.
Ulysses calls its documents 'sheets,' as in sheets of paper, and organizes them using its own self-contained library. It's very much like Evernote in that regard (although not bloated and slow as Evernote has become).
The app itself has a three-pane interface, similar to Mail. On the left, you have the 'sidebar,' your directory of sources where sheets can be stored. (The app screenshots above will show you what I'm talking about.)
Sheets can be stored either in Ulysses' library, which resides in iCloud and syncs across multiple Macs and your iPad, or externally from Ulysses on your drive or in Dropbox or Box folders. However, sheets stored outside of Ulysses are stored as regular Mac documents, and lose some of Ulysses' special features, such as embedded images and attachments.
Sheets can be organized in Groups, which are like folders in the Finder. And they can also be organized via Filters, which work like smart mailboxes in Mail or smart playlists in iTunes — they're saved searches.
The second, center pane is your list of sheets, shown vertically, displaying the first 1-6 lines of text (the number of lines of text displayed is user-configurable). Ulysses lets you attach keywords to sheets, like tags in Finder, and you can display those in the second pane of your app window. You can also display document goals, showing the number of words you want to write for each document,2 as well as the date last modified.
Notice anything missing? Document names. Ulysses doesn't use them. Or, rather, it does use them, but the document names are a string of gobbledygook letters and numbers hidden deep in the Finder, where the typical user will never see them.
Instead, when you open a new sheet, you just type, and you find the sheet again by its location in the stack of sheets in the sheets pane of the app, or by searching for text contained in the sheet.
This is a small matter but I find it a big part of the appeal of Ulysses for me. For some irrational reason, not having to mess with filenames just makes the whole writing process seem more fluid and faster.
Sheets can be listed alphabetically by the first characters of each sheet, by date, or sorted manually. Mostly I just sort them by date, with one big exception: I'm working on a novel in Ulysses, and I sort the sheets in that group manually, scene by scene.
On Ulysses for iPad, your sheets are sorted either manually or in the positions they appear on the Mac. You can't switch to sorting alphabetically or by date. Soulmen is working to address that drawback in a future version.
The third column in your Ulysses app is the editor, where all the writing happens. You'll spend most of your time in the editor.
Ulysses is a nice-looking app. Earlier, I ridiculed people who weep tears of joy at the beauty of writing apps, but I appreciate design. I'm not a barbarian. Ulysses makes nice use of color, and fonts, and other designy doodads. You can configure your own themes or download themes from the Ulysses website.
Another great strength for Ulysses: All your writing is in plain text. Or rather, as the folks at Soulmen say, 'plain text enhanced.' Soulmen has authored its own version of Markdown, called Markdown XL. This markup syntax is standard Markdown with a few of Soulmen's own extensions.
In addition to the standard family of Markdown formatting, you can use Markdown XL tags to add comments to a document, surrounding each comment in ++double plus signs.++ Comments show up in a highlighted color, and they're not exported to your final document. You can also add annotations, which appear at a point in the text when you hover your mouse over that point, and add notes to whole documents. I don't mess with annotations and notes — I like for my comments to jump out at me.
While writing in the editor, Ulysses lets you embed images, PDF documents, and videos in your Ulysses sheets, as you can do with other writing software. You can drag-and-drop the image in place, or just type (img) in your document and Ulysses prompts you to locate the file you want to add. Almost everything in Ulysses is done by typing in the editor (along with swiping on the iPad) — it's one of the app's great charms.
Ulysses has another trick in the way it handles media embeds: You don't see the image or other media in your document. Instead you just see an IMG tag. Double-click on the tag and you see a popover that gives you a thumbnail. Click on the thumbnail and you open the attachment in Preview on Mac (or another viewer, if you've set another app as your default), or in the native viewer on your iPad.
I find this to be a great approach. I often embed images in my articles, but don't like to have to look at them while I'm writing. The IMG tag keeps them out of the way, but available with a click for me to work with them.
I'd like Ulysses more if it also supported Microsoft Word and PowerPoint attachments, which I often use as research materials in my work.
Similarly, Ulysses supports footnotes.3
You can customize Markdown XL to your own liking, and create your own Markdown syntaxes for special purposes. World of where 4 0 0.
One really nice feature that I use quite a bit in Ulysses: Smart Paste, which lets you paste in text from an external program. Alas, Smart Paste only works on the Mac version. It works like this: You copy text from a Word document, email, or a Web page, then switch to Ulysses, select 'Paste From' on the Edit menu, and get a choice of HTML, Markdown, or Rich Text. Select the format of the source, and everything is pasted in place, nicely formatted in Markdown XL.
If you want to reopen a sheet you've previously been working on, you can do it in a couple of ways on the Mac: One method is to navigate to the sheet in the sheets list. Another method, often better, is to type the keyboard shortcut Cmd-O. A popup will appear containing a text box — it looks like the Spotlight window. Type some text from the sheet you're looking for into the window, and sheets containing matching text appear below the window. Select the sheet you want.
You can also search for Ulysses documents on your Mac using Spotlight, or a third-party search tool like Alfred.
This feature isn't available on the iPad.
Share with the world
Once you're done writing, you'll want to share your work with the rest of the world. Ulysses gives you several options.
I write for the Web, so here's how I do it: I select the text of an article and then select 'Copy as HTML' from the Ulysses menu. Ulysses automatically converts Markdown XL into HTML and copies it into the clipboard. You can do the same with Markdown, plain text, and RTF.
Another way to get your writing out of Ulysses is to save it as a document file or files. Ulysses lets you export sheets in plain text, HTML, ePub, PDF, or RTF.
Ulysses lets you customize styles for document exports, changing fonts, colors, spacing and other design elements. Ulysses has a gallery of free styles already available on its website.
Ulysses Iii 1 1 – Creative Writing Text Editor Software
Other features of Ulysses:
Merge and join sheets You can merge two sheets together into a single sheet, or split a single sheet into multiple sheets. Or you can join sheets that are adjacent to each other in the sheets list. Joined sheets remain separate, but they share some properties, such as word count.
I really liked merging, joining, and splitting sheets when I read about Ulysses, before trying it. It sounded beautifully fluid and chaotic. In practice, I only sometimes use splitting, and almost never merge and join sheets. It turns out that's not how I write.
Full-screen mode with dark background and light text I don't use that. Mister, I write for a living. I don't mess around.
Typewriter scrolling On the Mac, the line you're working on stays in the same spot onscreen, while the document moves up and down. You can set typewriter scrolling for the top, middle, or bottom of the screen. I like Variable scrolling, which seems to just put the current line in the best possible place onscreen.
Daedalus is a simplified version of Ulysses4 for the iPhone and iPad. It syncs with Ulysses. It's superseded now on the iPad by the new Ulysses for iPad. Soulmen is working on an iPhone version of Ulysses, but until then, Daedalus is relevant for the iPhone.
Daedalus syncs to Ulysses, but not the other way around; but it's a good way to write documents on your iPhone and get them to Ulysses easily. I keep thinking I should use it, but I never do.
Text statistics give you character count, word count, number of sentences, number of paragraphs, and so on.
Keyboard toolbar on iPad The iPad version provides a toolbar above the keyboard for special characters and functions. It looks like this.
Now the bad news…
Ulysses does have problems.
Syncing bugs. On two separate occasions, my documents didn't sync for several hours. I don't know why syncing stopped, or why it resumed. Killing the app on the iPad and restarting it seemed to force a re-sync.
So far, this has merely been an inconvenience, but it could turn into something that makes me want to dump Ulysses in the future.
The one time I lost a sheet. A couple of weeks ago my only desktop computer, an ancient 2010 MacBook Pro5, had a software meltdown, and Yosemite had to be re-installed from scratch. My most recent backup was at the beginning of that day, so I lost several hours of work, which included one important Ulysses sheet.
This is probably not Ulysses' fault. Still, it would've been nice if Ulysses had synced the sheet to iCloud and then it appeared in my newly-rebuilt MacBook Pro.
The one time I thought I lost a sheet, but saved it. I tried to open a sheet, but got an 'unable to open sheet' error message. Ulysses helpfully told me which line it barfed on.
I found the sheet using Spotlight on my Finder, opened it in TextWrangler, deleted the offending line, and Ulysses opened the sheet fine. I re-pasted the offending line back in Ulysses, and we were back in business.
I should note here that Ulysses support was very helpful and responsive in both these instances, along with several other occasions when I nagged them with questions and support. They're in Germany and I'm in California so there's a timezone difference, but I hear back from them in about 16 hours.
That one time I thought I lost a sheet, but didn't. I'm typing along at Warp Factor 66 and suddenly POW I'm looking at a blank window and the message 'No Sheet Selected.'
After panicking over all that lost work, I opened the sheets list, easily found the sheet I'd been working on, and got back to work with not a single character lost .
This has happened several times, and it's merely annoying — now that I know what's happening. The first time it happened, I almost had a messy and embarrassing accident.
Maybe I mashed the wrong keys? I can't figure out which keystrokes are the problem. Soulmen say they're looking into it.
Missing features in the iPad version
The iPad version stores your library in iCloud by default. It also supports Box and OneDrive for external sources. However, it doesn't support Dropbox.
You can import documents from Dropbox and export to the service. That's not as fluid as sync, but it should be good enough for many purposes.
The iPad doesn't currently support searching through all sheets (though it supports searching in an individual sheet). However, you can still find sheets in the sheets list. And there's a workaround for search on the iPad: You can create a Filter, which is a kind of saved search. The Filter will locate your sheet for you. Once you've got it, optionally delete the filter to reduce clutter.
Ulysses Iii 1 1 – Creative Writing Text Editor Pdf
Also missing from the iPad: Attaching goals; splitting, merging, and gluing of sheets; creating styles and themes; typewriter scrolling; smart paste; and importing RTF and HTML files. None of these missing features matter to me; they might to you.
Futureproofing
'Futureproofing' is a fancy computer-industry way of saying, 'Can I get at my sheets if I stop using Ulysses?'
The answer is, 'Yes, but.'
As I said, Ulysses supports exporting to various standardized document formats.
Also, Ulysses sheets are stored as plain text documents. Each sheet appears to be a folder stored in the Library with two documents, one a plain text file containing just the text of the sheet, another an XML document — plain text with a lot of embedded tags that look very similar to HTML — containing the text, with formatting and other metadata. The folders don't have human-readable names — just random-looking letters and numbers like this: '30c055adc8914da38d27ac33b4048860.ulysses' (that's a real example).
You can find any sheet you're looking for by searching using Spotlight for text appearing in that sheet. Then you can open the sheet with any text editor, such as TextEdit. So your information is readable to other applications. It just might not be conveniently readable.
Futureproofing is a big worry for me. And that's why it might be dumb for me to do all my writing in Ulysses — sure, it's possible for me to get my writing out if I stop using Ulysses. But is it practical?
However, that's a problem for another day. Overall, while Ulysses has rough edges, I'm happy with it. It's fast, streamlined, and easy-to-use. It's a good choice for people looking for a simple writing app with versions for both the Mac and iPad.
- You can also see that the editor of this story shortened the lede and took out the Stephen King blockquote. Editors, whatcha gonna do.—j.s. ↩
- I don't use goals much. Mister, I write for a living, I don't mess around. My goal is to finish writing for the day so I can have dinner with my wife and watch Justified. ↩
- I like footnotes. ↩
- Or, rather, Daedalus came first — Ulysses is based on Daedalus. ↩
- Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address on it. ↩
- Any faster than that and the engines canna stan it. ↩
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