Paul Whybrow
Full Member
We’ve discussed Scrivener several times on the Colony and I know some of you love it.
https://colony.litopia.com/threads/how-do-you-keep-track-of-your-novels-inner-world.6318/#post-75825
I’ve avoided writing apps since I returned to creative writing in 2013 but realised that I could do with assistance when I started writing my sixth Cornish Detective novel last autumn. In a foul mood after six months of technical gremlins, I wrote scenes in separate chunks, intending to connect them later. This proved trickier than I’d anticipated in a who-knew-what-when? way. It’s coming together at 50,000 words out of 80,000, but an organisational app would have made things easier.
I went over to using Linux three years ago, which I love, but some software, such as Scrivener, is Windows or Mac only. It is possible to use Windows apps with a compatibility layer called Wine, but it can be a bit unreliable.
I searched around for a Linux writing app equivalent to Scrivener, finding that yWriter was the best-reviewed.
Despite it looking easy to install, I had a horrible time getting it to work. After many hours of frustration and constructive swearing
, I stumbled upon a solution, which was to move the downloaded zip file from my Downloads folder to Documents. Don’t ask me why this worked, but it did.
I’m currently learning how to use yWriter by watching YouTube instructional videos. One thing that I like about it is it’s free, whereas although Scrivener has a free trial period, it costs £43.
I know we have a few Linux users on the Colony.
Have you tried yWriter?
Any tips?
https://colony.litopia.com/threads/how-do-you-keep-track-of-your-novels-inner-world.6318/#post-75825
I’ve avoided writing apps since I returned to creative writing in 2013 but realised that I could do with assistance when I started writing my sixth Cornish Detective novel last autumn. In a foul mood after six months of technical gremlins, I wrote scenes in separate chunks, intending to connect them later. This proved trickier than I’d anticipated in a who-knew-what-when? way. It’s coming together at 50,000 words out of 80,000, but an organisational app would have made things easier.
I went over to using Linux three years ago, which I love, but some software, such as Scrivener, is Windows or Mac only. It is possible to use Windows apps with a compatibility layer called Wine, but it can be a bit unreliable.
I searched around for a Linux writing app equivalent to Scrivener, finding that yWriter was the best-reviewed.
Despite it looking easy to install, I had a horrible time getting it to work. After many hours of frustration and constructive swearing

I’m currently learning how to use yWriter by watching YouTube instructional videos. One thing that I like about it is it’s free, whereas although Scrivener has a free trial period, it costs £43.
I know we have a few Linux users on the Colony.
Have you tried yWriter?
Any tips?
