Ulysses 1.5 combines the simplicity of a text editor with powerful project management functions to be a writing tool for creative writers. Ulysses creates projects, which are bundles containing. The Soulmen Ulysses III 1.2.1 I didn’t use to be a fan of Markdown, a plain-text syntax that’s designed to be easy to write and read while letting you easily publish to HTML. For all intents and purposes, this is a whole new ball game for this text editor - another version 1.0, if you will. Unsightly Codes Like HTML, Ulysses III marks up content. A few days ago, The Soulmen released version 1.2 of Ulysses III — their incredible plain text writing app for Mac. This release is touted as a “User Requests Update” that brings in some of the most requested features by users.

1. Ulysses Iii 1 0 2 – Creative Writing Text Editors
2. Ulysses Iii 1 0 2 – Creative Writing Text Editor

After I got more than 50 pages written, I would have issues finding sections if I wanted to add new scenes. So, I started trying to create things: like writing notes to myself in the document. But when I wanted to send documents to CPs or beta readers, I had to create brand new documents, free of my little notes-to-self. So, when I was told that there exists software out there that solves these writer problems, I was like hellz yea! (caveat: although there are trial versions, the version with all the cool options costs some mool-ah).

So, here are the main two that I’ve heard about:

Ulysses III
Platform: Mac & Windows
Price: $39.99
Free Trial Version?: Yes

Ulysses III is called a text editor. The idea is that when you’re writing (especially if it’s creative writing and not just to create a report document) then you shouldn’t be fiddling with format issues. Of course, that’s not to say that Microsoft Word doesn’t provide you with a good platform to just write on. But when your document is so long (i.e. has chapters and hundreds of pages) it can get kind of hard to navigate your work.
So Ulysses does all the work for you so that all you have to do is write. Of course you can change the fonts and displays and formats to your liking as you work on it. It’s not like Ulysses takes away any of the controls that are available with Word. It’s just supposed to make your life as a writer slightly easier.

So here’s the basic rundown of Ulysses according to it’s creators:

Ulysses is a unique Mac OS X text editing environment aimed directly at creative writers. With its innovative “tabbed” single-window interface, featuring integrated notepads, a documents browser, advanced search/filter capabilities and multi-document previews, Ulysses aims to give creative writers, novelists and storytellers the best writing experience available on any platform today.
Ulysses lets the writer focus entirely on content while aiding him in organizing the multiple parts of his work without forcing him into any pre-defined structure whatsoever. Developed exclusively for creative writers, Ulysses lacks both the functional overload of traditional word processors and the developers-oriented approach of classic text editors.
Additionally, Ulysses sports a fully extensible, plug-ins based export feature which enables the user to export their project into various different file formats, including the likes of “Plaintext”, “RTF” and “LaTeX”.

Here are some great tools for writers of long manuscripts:

• One of the best features for writers is a toolbar that allows you to separate your document into seperate sections called “sheets.” This would be convenient for your multiple chapters. To find and edit them separately.
• It automatically opens in three panes: one that shows your folders, one that shows individual documents or sheets, and one that allows for editing.
• You can add tags to each document that allows you to filter your searches. For example, tag all of your WiPs as such, or tag all of your story notes as such.
• Ulysses also saves directly to iCloud for all of you Mac users.
• Another good thing about Ulysses is you can use it with Daedalus on your mobile devices and edit your documents on the go!

Ulysses is a tool originally created for technical writers, however it is a convenient tool for the tech-savvy writer.

Scrivener
Platform: Mac & Windows
Price: $45
Free Trial Version?: Yes

Scrivener is also a great writing software.

It has a lot of the same features as Daedalus, like letting you order your chapters in the left column for easy navigation of your book, creating titles for your sections, creating descriptions of each section, inputting research/links/pics. I personally think that the format and design of Scrivener is more appealing to the eye than Ulysses. Especially because it has fun options like the cork board.

Here’s what the creators have to say about it:

Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents. While it gives you complete control of the formatting, its focus is on helping you get to the end of that awkward first draft. Scrivener puts everything you need for structuring, writing and editing long documents at your fingertips. On the left of the window, the “binder” allows you to navigate between the different parts of your manuscript, your notes, and research materials, with ease. Break your text into pieces as small or large as you want – so you can forget wrestling with one long document. Restructuring your draft is as simple as drag and drop. Select a single document to edit a section of your manuscript in isolation, or use “Scrivenings” mode to work on multiple sections as though they were one: Scrivener makes it easy to switch between focussing on the details and stepping back to get a wider view of your composition.
With access to the full power of the OS X text system, you can add tables, bullet points, images and mark up your text with comments and footnotes. Format as you go using the format bar at the top of the page, or use any font you want for the writing and let Scrivener reformat your manuscript after you’re done – allowing you to concentrate on the words rather than their presentation.

There’s also a pretty nice tutorial about Scrivener on Youtube created by one of the programmers.

Here are some great features for writers of long manuscripts:

• You can export to a standard word format.
• You can organize all of your documents (.doc, .pdf,.jpg)
• Rearranging files (aka chapters) on the cork board. This is great for a pantser like me who writes first and asks plot questions later.
• You can save “snapshots” so that you can have a draft of your manuscript before you make any drastic changes.
• You can also edit multiple documents at once.

(This is an update of a post that was originally written for Books Are Bread).

(Thanks @downtonallie for your great tip on Ulysses and Scrivener!)

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Ulysses III by The Soulmen GBR is available in the Mac App Store for US$39.99.

During the fledgling era of word processing, developers divided into two camps over formatting documents.

Software makers like Xywrite believed formatting and composition should be distinct. They designed their word crunchers to have two modes -- one for writing, another for formatting a document.

Other programming outfits, like Microsoft, favored the 'what you see is what you get' approach. It allowed someone to see on their computer screen exactly what their document would look like on paper.

Xywrite was especially loved by keyboard jocks, because it gave them very fine control over the typography of a document through the use of embedded codes and scripts. Those kinds of programs, though, had less appeal to document writers, who preferred to not to deal with the nitty gritty of document production.

Eventually, the WYSIWYG wing of word processors won out because they were just plain easier to use. However, as more and more writing moves to the Web, WYSIWYG word processors have begun to show their age.

Ulysses Iii 1 0 2 – Creative Writing Text Editors

Flexibility, Not Bloat

For many writers, the proprietary word crunchers have become lumbering behemoths waiting for an asteroid strike. Their bloated feature sets have been augmented over the years more to distinguish one version of a program from the next than for any concern about need or value.

Ulysses III isn't that asteroid, but it offers a vision of word-processing beyond programs like Microsoft Word and Apple's Pages -- or maybe a vision harking back to the days of Xywrite.

Like that hoary word processor, Ulysses III, which sells for US$39.99 at the Mac App store, uses codes to mark up text. A convenient cheat sheet can be displayed in the program until you remember the two dozen or so codes to mark up your text.

Ulysses III, though, is designed to give you a broad degree of flexibility when exporting the documents you create. That's because the software acts more like an HTML editor than your typical word processor.

By the way, don't let the Roman Numeral in Ulysses III fool you. For all intents and purposes, this is a whole new ball game for this text editor -- another version 1.0, if you will.

Unsightly Codes

Like HTML, Ulysses III marks up content. That means it describes what text should look like, rather than carving those looks in stone, as a word processor does.

For example, if you select a word in Pages and italicize it (cmd-I), the italics will appear properly when the file is printed from Pages. If you export the file so its digestible by another program, those italics may or may not be preserved.

That problem won't occur with Ulysses because it describes formatting italics in a way that can be interpreted accurately for popular content applications -- even if within Ulysses III the formatting looks disconcerting.

Ulysses Iii 1 0 2 – Creative Writing Text Editor

Italicized content, for instance, appears as italics but is delimited by underscore marks (_/_). You can use keyboard shortcuts, like cmd-I and cmd-B, to style text in Ulysses III, and it will automatically add the codes it needs to recognize the formatting when it exports it to HTML, PDF, RTF and such.

3-Panel Interface

Ulysses III has a nice clean interface, but if you're comfortable with a traditional word processor like Microsoft Word, it may take some getting used to for you.

The interface is based on three panels. One panel -- the sidebar -- contains the tree structure for your documents and places where your documents may be residing -- on your Mac, for example, or in iCloud.

The middle panel -- the sheet list -- contains 'sheets' connected to items in the first panel. A 'sheet' is like an item or page in your document.

The third and largest panel -- the editor -- is where you do your writing.

In full screen mode, Ulysses III displays a barebones document with light gray text on a black background. You can still use shortcut keys in that mode and have access a menu for attaching notes, images and keywords to your sheets.

Creating Without Clutter

You can write entire documents in a sheet or treat the sheets as building blocks for whatever you're writing. Sheets can be easily combined or moved among topics in the sidebar with drag and drop.

Ulysses III can be customized in a number of ways through its preferences menu. Among its general preferences are the font to be used in the program, paragraph spacing, first line indent and page width. You can also choose between an OS X or iOS insertion point.

In addition, you can choose how marked-up text will appear in your documents. You can choose color themes put together by the software's designers or create your own.

Another preference lets you show content from iCloud, your Mac and Daedalus Touch in the sidebar.

There are some features writers may yearn for in Ulysses III. There's no dynamic word count -- you have to pull up statistics on an item or sheet by right-clicking on them -- and there's also no spell check.

Despite some deficiencies, Ulysses III offers a streamlined way to write. If you need complexly formatted documents, Word is still your best bet. If much of what you write appears on the Web or in PDFs, Ulysses III can help you create without the clutter of a typical word cruncher.

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John Mello is a freelance technology writer and former special correspondent for Government Security News.