I guess since you’re writing already, you have some sort of word processing program, so this post may be completely unnecessary. But I just wanted to share a little about different word processing programs that are available, because if you’re going to be writing a lot, it’s to your advantage to get the best writing tool you can.

Years ago, Mary Pride, a leader in the home schooling movement taught me that you need to invest in tools that make you more productive and I’ve followed her advice in everything I do. As a writer, the two tools that will help you become your most productive (other than getting enough sleep and eating right) are a good word processing program and the best computer you can afford.

So, here are some choices for word processing programs as well as my personal recommendation.

A lot of people, particularly programmers and those who are familiar with computers, use Notepad, which is pretty much a standard feature on most computers. You’ve probably already got Notepad on your computer right now. Because Notepad was originally designed to be used by computer programmers in writing code, the problem with Notepad is that you can’t really set margins or use different fonts and it strips all paragraph breaks when you try to import it into another application. So it doesn’t work well as a word processing program.

If you have a Windows computer, you probably have Microsoft Works, which includes a word processing program that is similar to Microsoft Word, but doesn’t have all the features and bells and whistles. Works is fine for general word processing. It will suit students up to the high school level and home users who simply want to type correspondence or basic documents. The learning curve isn’t as steep as Microsoft Word, and, the program interface is less complex.

I used to use Word Perfect exclusively, and it has some features I’ve never found in Microsoft Word (like being able to check the code to see where you made an error), but Word Perfect has fallen out of favor now and doesn’t integrate well into all the other programs I use.

So, although I’m not a huge fan of Microsoft, my favorite word processing program is Microsoft Word. Why? Because it is compatible with almost all blogging platforms as well as with website development programs such as Adobe Dreamweaver and with desktop publishing programs like Adobe InDesign and Illustrator. It also has many, many features you don’t find in other word processing programs and it allows you to import and manipulate images and save your documents as pdfs. So, unless you want some sort of custom design for your e-books, you can create them and convert them to downloadable pdfs—all in Microsoft Word. Plus, Hotmail has a Word editing feature so if you have a Hotmail account, you can share your Word documents with others and they can make suggestions and editing comments in Hotmail without having to have Word on their computer.

When it comes to writing blogs, the easiest way to do it is to write your rough drafts in a word processing program, make all the corrections and additions, then copy and paste what you’ve written into your blog. And, if you’re going to be writing e-books (or any type of book for that matter), it is to your advantage to get the best possible word processing program for that purpose—one that allows you to write the e-book, manage the layout, insert the graphics and cover, and then convert the finished document to a downloadable pdf. To me, that is Microsoft Word.

I would suggest that you get the Microsoft Office Suite to start with. You can get the 2010 Home and Student Edition for Windows for around $120 and the 2008 Home and Student Edition for Mac for around $115 and each contains Word, Excel (an invaluable spreadsheet program), and Powerpoint (which is a presentation program that you can use in a surprising number of ways—more about that later).

Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing program on the market. But there are free Microsoft Word alternatives. These free word processors can open and save Word documents.

1. OpenOffice. OpenOffice is a full productivity suite with features that rival Microsoft Office. In addition to Writer, the word processing component, you get a spreadsheet, database program, drawing program, and presentation program all for free. Open Office documents will be compatible with Microsoft Office, and you get features that let you accomplish exactly what you want with your documents. OpenOffice is open source software that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

2. AbiWord is a word processing program similar to Microsoft Word. It is suitable for a wide variety of word processing tasks but is not as versatile and full-featured as Word.

3. Google Docs. Google Docs doesn’t have all the features of Microsoft Word, but is a quick, easy, and free word processor. With Google Docs, you don’t need to install or save anything to your computer. The software runs directly from your Web browser. You can upload and download documents to your hard drive. Or, save them in your free online storage space.

So, after looking at all the alternatives, I still recommend Microsoft Word as your word processing program.

To begin with the first post in this series, GO HERE.