Pages book writing

[xtempo]

I have tried to figure out using Apple's website for help but I can't figure out how to make a nonfiction/memoir in Pages. I have used Open Office for normal writing but I want to use pages for the memoir. I have seen a little about writing a book in pages so I thought I would give it a try but the only layouts are like novels and a textbook and if I do the blank portrait layout I can't figure out how to make it work other than like writing a term paper which I don't want to do since I am out of school.

 

[AdrianCobon]

A novel is just a generic term for any long-form literary work and can refer to both fiction and non-fiction. You appear to be at the "write it!" stage of the process. Figure out the important messages you want to give to readers, outline your novel with those in mind, write, and then send it to an editor.

Honestly, if you use Open Office for "normal writing" then you already know how to use a basic word processor to create a lengthy work. Don't get stressed out at this stage. More than a few writers get hung up on the tools and fail to concentrate on the work itself.

Now, if you are truly worried about organizing your work and having a tool that can export it easily in a specific format... look at Scrivener for the writing and Vellum for preparing the work for publication. Neither are free but go well beyond what Pages offer in terms of project organization and ePub development.

You can also join several writing groups on Facebook to see what others are doing.

 

[Slartibart]

if you need to create an index there is no automatic way in Pages to create it. Similar there is no way to create a table of figures automatically (you can hack around that by creating a paragraph style you use only in figures and then page use the toc-function; table of contents (toc) is not a problem).
Having written that you can easily create a custom template layout in Pages matching your margin etc. memoir requirements.

 

[xtempo]

A novel is just a generic term for any long-form literary work and can refer to both fiction and non-fiction. You appear to be at the "write it!" stage of the process. Figure out the important messages you want to give to readers, outline your novel with those in mind, write, and then send it to an editor.

Honestly, if you use Open Office for "normal writing" then you already know how to use a basic word processor to create a lengthy work. Don't get stressed out at this stage. More than a few writers get hung up on the tools and fail to concentrate on the work itself.

Now, if you are truly worried about organizing your work and having a tool that can export it easily in a specific format... look at Scrivener for the writing and Vellum for preparing the work for publication. Neither are free but go well beyond what Pages offer in terms of project organization and ePub development.

You can also join several writing groups on Facebook to see what others are doing.

thanks I will see about getting Scrivener before the end of the year as that is what I need to create.

 

[AdrianCobon]

thanks I will see about getting Scrivener before the end of the year as that is what I need to create.

Try Manuskript (the developers intentionally misspelled the program.) It is an open-source tool with many of the features of Scrivener. This will give you the opportunity to figure out whether or not a program of this caliber will work for you. If you find yourself needing more, take a hard look at the features available in Scrivener to see if it is worth making the jump.

I say this since it will be an easier pill to swallow to try the free tool and then copy everything over if the paid solution is needed then it would be to pay for the premium software and then find out that the free solution could do everything you need.

For the editing, I would use a premium version of ProWritingAid when developing the first draft and then leverage the power of AutoCrit to help get the first draft looking as good as possible. Take the time to actually look over the suggestions and follow them where it makes sense, while also studying a grammar text. Doing so will help your writing improve, making it easier to find a publisher when the time comes.

Additionally, if you go the self-publishing route I strongly suggest you track down Kindle Create. It is similar to Vellum in the same way that WordPad on Windows is similar to Microsoft Word. You will be able to build a decent ePub file suitable for uploading to Kindle Direct Publishing.

Now - you mentioned concerns about avoiding writing term papers. I hate to break it to you, but a decent chunk of the front work for your story will feel remarkably similar to dealing with a college term paper. You will need to develop an outline, research the environments, settle on the characters you want to use, and ensure that you won't be doing anything to annoy others whose stories intersect with yours. That is going to involve a great deal of legwork.

I wish you the best of luck!

 

[xtempo]

Try Manuskript (the developers intentionally misspelled the program.) It is an open-source tool with many of the features of Scrivener. This will give you the opportunity to figure out whether or not a program of this caliber will work for you. If you find yourself needing more, take a hard look at the features available in Scrivener to see if it is worth making the jump.

I say this since it will be an easier pill to swallow to try the free tool and then copy everything over if the paid solution is needed then it would be to pay for the premium software and then find out that the free solution could do everything you need.

For the editing, I would use a premium version of ProWritingAid when developing the first draft and then leverage the power of AutoCrit to help get the first draft looking as good as possible. Take the time to actually look over the suggestions and follow them where it makes sense, while also studying a grammar text. Doing so will help your writing improve, making it easier to find a publisher when the time comes.

Additionally, if you go the self-publishing route I strongly suggest you track down Kindle Create. It is similar to Vellum in the same way that WordPad on Windows is similar to Microsoft Word. You will be able to build a decent ePub file suitable for uploading to Kindle Direct Publishing.

Now - you mentioned concerns about avoiding writing term papers. I hate to break it to you, but a decent chunk of the front work for your story will feel remarkably similar to dealing with a college term paper. You will need to develop an outline, research the environments, settle on the characters you want to use, and ensure that you won't be doing anything to annoy others whose stories intersect with yours. That is going to involve a great deal of legwork.

I wish you the best of luck!

I can't seem to figure out how to download Manuskript because it looks like the installer was having problems in Catalina and now I don't see current one.

Thanks I have been trying to do this for a couple years but now I feel like finally taking the plunge.

 

[AdrianCobon]

I can't seem to figure out how to download Manuskript because it looks like the installer was having problems in Catalina and now I don't see current one.

Thanks I have been trying to do this for a couple years but now I feel like finally taking the plunge.

That's strange. I hope you have fun writing! Just remember two things: a good war plan will see you through and no battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy. lol.

 

[xtempo]

The download page is hard to understand but I did figure out a new download for it for OSX.

Yes, I will remember that for the writing. Thanks again.

 

[dizmonk]

I have tried to figure out using Apple's website for help but I can't figure out how to make a nonfiction/memoir in Pages. I have used Open Office for normal writing but I want to use pages for the memoir. I have seen a little about writing a book in pages so I thought I would give it a try but the only layouts are like novels and a textbook and if I do the blank portrait layout I can't figure out how to make it work other than like writing a term paper which I don't want to do since I am out of school.

To the OP, did you ever find out a solution? Are you still using Pages for this project? I ask because I'm working on a long memoir and right now it's in Pages. I've got to figure out if I can use this for the final versions or if I need to convert it to Word. Thanks.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

If Pages is working fine for you, carry on. If you reach some point where you need a feature it doesn't support or if the number of pages seems to be slowing it down too much, you can always export to Word or RTF and open it in about any other writers tool- just about everything should import RTF and many import Word.

If you have a complex creation that is becoming a very fat file, another option is to break the writing into "chapters" as their own files and then having a collection of Pages documents (one for each chapter or two) instead of one huge document. However, no need to do this until you bump into some problem that might be remedied by it... or switching to some other app to finish the creation.