IGX

Here's what I want:

On the left side of the screen:
An organizer that I can use to outline topics or ideas. Must be able to move topics up and down, indent topics at least two places. Easily.

On the right side of the screen:
A simple word processing program (with spell check) that allows a lot of writing which can then be saved as a RTF file or saved in Word or Pages format.

Just that. No other features. Everything I've found so far has way too many features. I'm working with Scrivener --- and I think it will be great when I am comfortable with it, but right now I keep getting tangled up in it's myriad capabilities. I don't want to have to think about software when I'm writing. I want something simple. And it would be nice if it had a clipper that I could use to save research from the 'net. Something like what Evernote does.

Apple allows you to swipe between applications very easily. I didn't realize this until recently. Might that work as a substitute?

My job has required the same thing. Over the years I've tried them all.

Tiddlwiki
Wikidpad
Evernote
Scrivener
Workflowy

Two things I learned. A) simplicity rules - Workflowy and tiddlywiki. And 2) don't ever expect the same solution to work for different projects

seeahill wrote:Here's what I want:

On the left side of the screen:
An organizer that I can use to outline topics or ideas. Must be able to move topics up and down, indent topics at least two places. Easily.

Thanks for the suggestions.

For my purposes, Scrivener was the best. Just that damn steep learning curve. So I lost three days of real work dicking around with it. I don't want everything it can do --- just like I don't need mail merge on Word --- but I learned what I needed and think this will work fine with no compromises.

Give this a try: http://www.circusponies.com

You guys sent me searching, and I've tried out and paid for Tree. I really like how the outlines push to the right. $15 from the App Store.

http://www.topoftree.jp/en/tree/

seeahill wrote:Here's what I want:

On the left side of the screen:
An organizer that I can use to outline topics or ideas. Must be able to move topics up and down, indent topics at least two places. Easily.

On the right side of the screen:
A simple word processing program (with spell check) that allows a lot of writing which can then be saved as a RTF file or saved in Word or Pages format.

Just that. No other features. Everything I've found so far has way too many features. I'm working with Scrivener --- and I think it will be great when I am comfortable with it, but right now I keep getting tangled up in it's myriad capabilities. I don't want to have to think about software when I'm writing. I want something simple. And it would be nice if it had a clipper that I could use to save research from the 'net. Something like what Evernote does.

What about a hardware solution? I do a similar thing but simply use an external monitor that lets me have Pages or some 'distraction free' writing app on one side and text files on the other. When I unplug and need to work from simply my laptop, I find the entire process more difficult.