The Nisus Files: Converting to the Nisus Writer word processor

By Kirk Hiner

April 13, 2001

You may not know it by reading my writing, but I'm a writer. Well, I mean I'm a writer in that I write fiction, not that I've been published or have made enough money to justify the amount of time I spend each week staring at this confounded Apple Studio Display that has been steadily degrading in image quality from the day the warranty expired. I don't blame my lack of commercial success thus far on a lack of talent, but rather that my childhood was too happy. I have no dark, disturbed side that most the great writers seem to have had. I'm just not angry enough to get published. Of course, if this Studio Display gets any worse...

I wrote my first story, I guess, in third grade. It was the tender tale of a Jewish pirate who was afraid to love. I think. It may have been about dinosaurs. I can't remember. Anyway, I've since written over a couple hundred short stories and comedy sketches, one full length-play and a couple one act plays, and I've recently completed my third full-length novel. The first stands no chance of making it further than the floppy that contains it. The second could possibly be published, but most likely only posthumously, I'm afraid to say. And the third, well, the third is pretty damn good. We'll see what happens there.

But the point is, I write. A lot. And from my first experience with Bank Street Writer on the Commodore 64, I've gone through countless variations of dozens of word processors. Indeed, it was the WYSIWYG wonder Word vNot6 that first got me into the Macintosh. And honestly, Word has always been my standby as I scouted new programs. Currently, I have registered versions of Word, WordPerfect and Mariner Write on my system, and I've now thrown one more program to the fray; Nisus Writer.

There was a time before this that I tried out Nisus Writer. Probably around v4, I believe, but I can't even recall if it was the full or lite version. I ended up scrapping it because it was too different from that to which I was accustomed. But now I'm trying it again. Call it survival, if you will; WordPerfect is done (I never really like it too much anyway, Mariner Write is lacking some higher end editing tools, and Microsoft Word has pretty much become a cesspool of useless "features" that clog up my system. That, and I'm at the point where what really matters is OS X compatibility. Nisus is working on their OS X version now, so here I am.

To ensure that I give Nisus Writer a fair shake this time, I've decided my next novel, my first serious attempt at sci-fi/fantasy, will be written entirely in Nisus. No cheating back to the ease of Mariner Write, no relying on the power of Word. From character sketches to the denouement, I'm going to spend the next year (or six) hacking away the Nisus way. (Can I use that phrase without being sued?)

Throughout the project, I'll be posting notes and observations about Nisus Writer here at Applelinks. This will not be a review, mind you. For that, check out this one from Charles Moore. Consider this, instead, a work in progress; a Nisus diary. As I find new features to praise and problems to censure, they'll all be documented here. Of course, my job would be much easier if there was some sort of printed manual available! And no, I don't mean an Apple Guide file or some online database. I want a printed, bound, paper-and-ink book at my disposal at all times. If it has to be a PDF, so be it. I'll take it. I'll print it. But give me something that doesn't require searching for text strings that may or may not even accurately reflect that for which I'm even looking.

The decision to include no manual particularly perplexes me in this case. Why would Nisus, having made a reportedly powerful Word processor that's so different from the standard not include any sort of documentation to help potential users switch over to The Nisus Way (the name of the out of print manual which hasn't been updated for v6)? All these tools, all these unique abilities, and most of us can't figure out how, when, or why to use them! Even the interface itself doesn't want to help. I can pull up countless floating windows with all sorts of nifty icon buttons, but there aren't even pop-up messages to indicate what they do. Is there a way to just turn these on? Don't know. No manual.

Here's an example; because my monitor is set to 1024x768, the first thing I do in all Word Processors is magnify the page to at least 125%. Working my way through the Nisus Writer window options, I quickly found the zoom option (unlike Word, the Nisus menus aren't cluttered with useless commands in a haphazard layout). Rather than magnify the working area, however, Zoom opened another window that mirrored and magnified a small portion of my document. I couldn't click directly in that window or even control how the contents were presented (the insertion cursor is always centered and text flows around it; handy for proofing, horrible for typing).

There had to be something better than this, right? If so, I certainly couldn't find it in the menus. A manual sure would have helped here. The next day I sought help online, and was quickly provided with answer (perhaps the fastest tech support turnaround I've ever seen). It wasn't the answer I wanted, however, as it ends up that the previously described "windoid" method of magnification--as the Nisus tech support guy called it--is the only way to magnify text on screen. I've so far forgone the windoid in favor of simply boosting the type size to 18 points when writing and editing, then dropping it back to 12 when printing.

This will prove an inconvenience, I'm sure, but it raises a point. Getting back to the quick tech support turnaround, Nisus is quite proud of the following their word processor has garnered, so help comes not only from tech support but from users of the product who are all too happy to post tips and advice online. It's not entirely unlike a cult movie following or the Macintosh itself; Nisus has a community of users who are always glad to welcome new users and thrilled to help them out. The Nisus website is chock full of homemade macros from those willing and able to take advantage of Nisus's robust scripting capabilities. Me? I'd rather just write, but their work is my reward. And as I delve deeper into this world, I'll be sure to point out that which I find most useful.

As I mentioned, I'm in this for the long haul. I guess it's like switching over to OS X, there's a lot that's confusing and unfamiliar, but I'm certain that hidden inside are countless features and tricks that will hopefully make it all worthwhile.

And who knows? Maybe along the way my novel will become a Nisus Writer manual. It'll be the tender tale of a Jewish pirate who was afraid to type. Can someone check Writer's Digest to see if there's a market for that?

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