The perfect tool for the job!

In the last few months, Ive moved on from my usual writing work of proposal writing, documentation, meeting debriefs and business e-mails to more complex projects. Now Im writing long-form articles, book-length manuscripts, content for interactive fiction, and copy for entire Web sites.

Much like how different graphic design programs have their strengths, writing tools have their nuances beyond broad definitions like "page layout" and "word processing" applications. For quick capture, I rely on Notational Velocity. For complex, large-scale projects, I reach for Scrivener. Ulysses III fills the space between these extremes in the most comfortable way possible. In the last few weeks Ive used it extensively for writing articles, proposals, course outlines and game design documents.

And like a comfortable writing implement, favourite journal or warmly illuminating lamp, Ulysses III gently inspires by doing its job effortlessly and transparently. I particularly like the Markdown implementation and the ease in which you can export/copy text in various Web-ready formats. With a lot of other applications, these features require a lot of menu navigation and fussing around—Ulysses III just works beautifully.

Two things to keep in mind when you purchase (and you really should purchase if you write more than an e-mail or two a day):

1. Ulysses manages your documents within the application. There is a lot of flexibility here, but the onus is on you to create a system that works. It will take a few attempts to organize both generally and in terms of structure for larger works. It works well, but you will fuss with it at first.

2. The excellent iOS companion to Ulysses III, Daedalus, currently syncs as a specific data source for your work; a directory exclusive to the rest of the files stored within the application. This can be a useful part of your workflow or something that will slow down your adoption of Ulysses III as a one-stop shop for all of your planned/on-the-go writing needs.

Fantastic work, Soulmen!

hfabulous about Ulysses – The Ultimate Writing App, v1.0.1