Science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer, winner of the «Hugo» and «Nebula» awards, has published a free archive of the WordStar program used by George R.R. Martin and other famous authors.
Many writers have a special relationship with the tools of their trade. For some, it’s a pen and a notebook, for others it’s an IBM Selectric typewriter. WordStar has become a fetish object for a whole generation of authors.
WordStar — is a legendary word processor that was launched in 1978 and quickly became a favorite of many writers. Created for the CP/M operating system and later adapted for MS-DOS, WordStar stood out from modern editors with its intuitive interface and powerful features for creative writing.
WordStar’s admirers include such notable writers as Ralph Ellison, Anne Rice and George R. R. Martin. Anne Rice even called the program «beautiful and sublime» in a Facebook comment in 2015.
Sawyer spent weeks preparing archive. In addition to the program itself, he has included detailed instructions for use and PDF versions of the original manuals, which are more than 1000 pages long. The author has also added MS-DOS emulators to run WordStar on modern computers.
According to Sawyer, Microsoft Word — this software is designed for «writing from dictation». WordStar, on the other hand, has a different set of tools that are aimed at helping you create creative material.
Source: Gizmodo