Can't get started

[EasternPA]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here. I'm approaching 30 years with UNIX/Linux, but I never learned Emacs (gasp).

I've tried both the temporary install (M-x load-file and select the el) as well as the permanent install, copying the lines into ~/.emacs. No matter what, when I open emacs, M-x org-no (tab complete) reveals nothing. None of the org-novelist-* commands are registered in the system. It looks so easy in the README, but I'm having zero luck adding the commands to my install.

[Removed screenshot showing v27 was installed]

Any help?

[EasternPA]

Update: Getting closer. I've installed emacs28 and it loads. Now whenever I try a command, I get 'no localised string` and I never get any templatized text in the buffer.

Update: I changed en_GB to en_US in the settings file to no avail and also tried en_US.UTF-8 also with no luck.

Update: I installed language-pack-en and generated the locales. Did not fix.

Solved: Changed the language in init.el back to en_GB and it works as expected. Can this be ported to en_US? Does it need to be? Will the language setting have any impact on the content of the book?

[sympodius]

Hey, thanks for checking out Org Novelist! I'm glad you managed to get it working.

The language packs are internal to Org Novelist, I'm afraid, and at the moment I've only made one for British English. It doesn't affect the text you create in any way, just how the templates and interface are presented.

Having said that, it will likely be hard to change a story's language after it has been created. I should be adding an en-US language pack in the development branch very soon though.

[EasternPA]

Hey, thanks for checking out Org Novelist! I'm glad you managed to get it working.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, and thanks for putting together such an awesome tool. About 12 years ago, I wanted to explore writing a fictional novel, so I picked up a book, "First Draft in 30 Days." It turns out the "first draft" was a completed outline, and the book walked you through the outlining process, including sample templates you could use. At first, I felt let down by what I found but was ultimately surprised by how compatible I felt the process was with my way of thinking. I normally design servers and data centers, so this felt like "book writing for geeks," and I liked it. I never imagined you could "write a book" by filling in spreadsheets.

The Guardian posted a multi-part blog highlighting the key parts of the book and shared their version of the worksheets. It is still available today, with the posts here and the worksheets here. I built my outline in Google Sheets using tabs in a single spreadsheet. I've wanted to use that outline as an excuse to learn Org-mode and Emacs ever since. Your tool seems perfect for the job.

I'm sure it won't be well-received, but after checking out your tool, I also spent some time looking at ChatGPT integration into Emacs. Not to use ChatGPT to write a book but to have an assistant right there in the editor, ready to help at a moment's notice. I also recently picked up a Coral Edge TPU with the thought of running an LLM locally with the same API integration directly into Emacs. How cool would it be for something like your tool to play a key role in churning out new fiction for young readers? Maybe even easing them into writing by gradually reducing how much help the LLM offers.

Getting your tool running was the first step, of course. At least I have a way forward. Thanks again. This looks like a great project.

[sympodius]

It's been really cool hearing how people are using Org Novelist. Although I've always tried to keep it reasonably flexible to accommodate my writing's lack of prescription, I've still been amazed at some of the things people have applied it to. I'll look forward to hearing how you get on!