Features Request -- Coming from a Fiction writer and a Java Software Engineer

[infinity2heaven]

I'm a Fiction student (Master of Fine Arts) and a Java Software
engineer. For a full fledged, project management tool, I use
Scrivener, but I see myself coming back to JDarkRoom because of its
simplicity. As a professional writer, there are a few features that
I'd like to see in JDarkroom which will not add any complexity and
will retain the minimalist design of JDarkRoom.

-- Ability to add 1.5 - 2 line spacing in the text (For submissions to
editors, this is the preferred format)
-- Ability to print page count on a standard Word processor with
double line spacing. For short story submissions, editors ask for 20
pages (or 5000-6000 words) and I don't know how much I've written --
even if I have the word count -- unless I have copy/pasted on word.
-- Ability to sync with google docs. There is an api available and
it's not difficult to implement it. Most often I write on my mac (on
scrivner and JDarkroom), then save it in googledocs, and maybe use my
wife's mac and edit it. And the process flows all the way back.
Instead of copy/pasting each time, it would be nice to see a simple
import from google docs and sync-both-ways feature. Perhaps pressing a
cmd line function can accept user credentials and sync the docs that
we want.
-- Ability to save and open simple MS word documents would be great. I
understand that providing full support for word docs will be a
nightmare but providing the minimal support should not be that hard
considering Apache POI does it trivially

I think I would be fine with these additions and not want more because
then it starts to get bloated. For everything else, I find Scrivener
to be a good (not great).

If this was an opensource project, I'd be happy to be a committer to
the project.

Thanks for your time.
P

[Nathan Weaver]

Hey Infinity, I started using JDarkRoom in October of this year for writing (as an author). I wasn't sure of it at first, but I was looking for something to remove the distractions and keep me focused while writing. I'm glad to see someone else who also uses it this way.

What I usually do is type out in JDR, and when I complete the first draft of a chapter or short story, I then upload the .txt file or copy/paste directly into Google Drive. I like that I'm writing it originally offline anyway into a .txt file, and so can keep that as a backup. I personally choose not to do any editing or formatting until it lands in Google Drive. I do add underscores around text that needs to be italicized later (which is the same way you italicize something in Google+, so I was trying to use something familiar). So, when I'm looking at the document in Google Drive that's when I correct errors, add spacing formatting, remove the underscores and italicize the text, etc. I also just double-space between paragraphs within JDR and deal with indents and such later from GD.

This message from you is rather old, and it's possible all these features are already there, but I don't think they all are. I've found myself needing something that I can write in and not be distracted by things that prompt me to edit, or look back, or check my Facebook messages or some nonsense. I certainly don't see it as an editor, but as a way to get the first draft out, it's perfect.

In the version that's out now, you can press CTL+L and see your wordcount. You can also set a goal wordcount in the settings menu, under Advanced, and check in on it through the CTL+L shortcut as well.

Happy writing!