The Nisus Files: Converting to the Nisus Writer word processor

By Kirk Hiner

June 6, 2001

The thing about being a writer is that to do it with any degree of efficiency, you have to do it for a living. This ends up being a Catch-22, of course, as in order to do it for a living, you have to do it with efficiency. I don't write for a living; I design and build websites. When I'm not doing this, I review Macintosh hardware and software for Applelinks. It's only when I'm not doing either...and not watching old tapes of Spectremean...that I have time to indulge my greater passion, writing fiction.

And so, this partially explains my delay in entry two of the Nisus Files, in which I intend to report the trials and tribulations of writing a complete novel in Nisus Soft's Nisus Writer. The other explanation is that Jules Verne found it necessary to describe in detail the fish Monsieur Arronax encountered during that 20,000 league trip under the sea, making for quite a long read. Of course, I can see from where Mr. Verne was coming. If one is writing a book about an undersea adventure, and if one happens to know a lot about marine life, one may as well show off that knowledge.

My readers will note that, in contrast to Mr. Verne's approach, this commentary on Nisus Writer will not contain a lot of detail on the program, nor on fish, for that matter. This is not because I haven't used the program or that my knowledge of it has not increased. Rather, it's because the transition to it from Microsoft Word has been smoother than anticipated, leaving less upon which to comment than I'd anticipated.

As I mentioned in the first edition of The Nisus Files, Nisus Writer is billed as "The Powerful Word Processor." I'd read numerous accounts of all the amazing tools it possesses, but because version 6.0.1 ships without a printed manual (or even a printable PDF), I found myself alienated from these tools. Many enthusiastic readers sent suggestions on how to best receive instruction (see the forum below), most of which centered on a couple of books: The Nisus Way (written for version 4.1, and now available in HTML format only) and the official manual for v5 (which seems to have been removed from their store page...what's going on there, guys?). Because the v5 manual is more current, I felt this was the better route to go. And hey, bonus! The v6.0.1 install contains a document that lists all the improvements and feature additions between v5.1.3 and v6.0.1, so you can immediately learn what's not covered in the older manual.

As I was waiting for the manual to arrive, I continued to forge my way through Nisus Writer taking a Word 98 approach. My first article illustrates the immediate frustration to which this led, but with the help of my tour guides (other Nisus readers), most of these frustrations have already been allayed.

One reader quickly solved my icon confusion in a manner that still has me shaking my head. Nisus writer features complete customization of its floating tool bars; nearly every function can be achieved by the press of a button, and those that aren't already set up can be scripted to do so. The trouble is that, unlike with programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Nisus Writer does not support pop up tags to tell the user what the buttons do. The answer? Show balloons.

Apple has had that Show Balloons command under the help menu since as long as I can remember, and I've never once found it useful...until now. There's nary a centimeter of the Nisus GUI that doesn't offer something unique, and Show Balloons explains it all. The problem with this, of course, is that if Balloons are on for one app, they're on for everything.

My other beef with Nisus Writer has no solution, but I've learned to live with it. Unlike with Word, MarinerWrite and other word processing apps, Nisus does not allow the user to zoom the working window to a larger percentage, instead offering a "windoid" that mirrors it in a separate window. My solution last time was to increase the font size to 18 point as I wrote and edited the document, lowering it back to 12 point when printing. A better idea, I've found, is to quit using Garamond. It looks fantastic in print, sure, but it kills the eyes on the screen. And so, I now use typefaces with a larger x-height, and sometimes even go with sans serif typefaces (for screen purposes only, of course). I'm sure my editors, should I ever haveany, will greatly appreciate this change.

And now, the first two discoveries I love about Nisus Writer. First, it remembers me. Word remembers things about me, but it doesn't remember who I am. No matter where I've set my screen resolution, for instance, the Word always opens a new document as if I were stuck at 640x480. I suppose Word would also buy me the same birthday gift two years in a row. In Nisus Writer, document preferences are set by saving a template as "Nisus New File" in the stationery folder. This file remembers everything: the size of the window, the default typeface, the page width...even the open tool bars and their placement on the screen. Other stationery files can also be created. When they're opened, they automatically switch to "unsaved" documents so you won't accidentally save over them. Beautiful, and simple.

My second favorite feature is actually a lack of one. Administrative assistants everywhere will probably firebomb my house now, but I'm thrilled Nisus Writer doesn't automatically tag misspelled text. Yes, I know this option can be shut off in Word, but by not offering it, Nisus has shown me what a nuisance it is. I can once again complete my thoughts without having to go back to correct my mistakes, and I don't have to force the program to recognize words outside of its dictionary just to get rid of all those annoying, red, squiggly lines. Instead, I can do my proofing just as God intended...after I'm done writing, not during. Also, I've found myself once again relying on my college education to find mistakes; instead of on that confounded Office Assistant.

Even at this early stage, I'm beginning to understand why Nisus Writer users are so intense in their support for the program...it makes one feel like a writer. Not since high school when I'd spend my evenings churning out bad episodes of The Twilight Zone on my Smith Corona have I felt so close to the Pulitzer.

Nisus Writer is making writing fun again.

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