I'm not sure what features you're looking for, but I've used Open Office and/or Libre Office for a long while now

they're basically the same as microsoft office, just with some different quirks, but the basic functionality is pretty much the same as far as I recall

aha, a coworker recommended Libre

does it have a spell check? I tried to use Apache OpenOffice, but spell check on there was busted and it would crash infrequently

I have my book done, i just want to go read over it a bit more carefully before i submit it for ebook publishing

...hm. As far as I know it does, but I haven't used the spellcheck in a long while, so I can't make promises, and I don't remember having problems with OO...

it does

I dl it to edit my book, it's got the red squiggly lines

What's the thing called, where someone or a body gives you an award for doing something, like returning a lost wallet

I assume just... 'reward.'

hm my open office is 4.1.3 and the spellcheck seems to work from a cursory inspection... could reinstall if there's a broken file or something?

reward? bounty? ...I feel like there's a fancier word as well but it's not coming out of my brain right now

"recompense" and "remuneration" are more like compensation for difficulties/expenses, rather than an unsought-for gift expressing appreciation for good deeds

(I'm also not sure exactly what connotations you're after)

Jim is a retired vet who immediately goes to buy a surplus building. I'm trying to explain why he has so much money, but slightly mysteriously

it's the first chapter, so i'm trying to balance detail with brevity of info

in reality he's a hotshot who's done a lot, in a later chapter saying:

"I have been a mercenary for nearly two decades of m...

but in the first chapter he just says ""Noncom salary for the last two decades, bounty cuts, exceptionality bonuses, and severance pay,”

i thought something else could hint at saving an alien heir and interdicting in an age-old war better

maybe just "exceptionality rewards" is fine

"service bonuses" or something? idk I feel like there's probably a technical term in the military

"bonus" makes sense when it's payment from your employer for doing something beyond the basic requirements of your job

yes

ever since i started writing, i get this ghostly feeling there is a better word for what I need

yeah I know that feeling all too well

the spell check doesn't like a lot of words, still

resume is without the ' ' things, entendre and ceviche are both no-nos

ahh the dictionaries may be limited

i think you can update them manually but idk what that involves

except for "right clicking and adding to dictionary

it's not a big D

apparently it doesn't like "gangly" either

chittering, skirring

no fun allowed

Damnit. Each time I reread this, I keep finding male pronouns for the genderless character I have

oops

I blame myself naming them "Earl" and my hampster brain

Ah hah! A TYPO. This has all been worth it

??? it wants to change 'omelette' to

'omelet'

also why is it that every time i reread my work I think it gets worse and worse

or i see things now i didn't see then, or i don't like things now that i liked then

Hm

Hm?

why do i struggle with commas?

"No! American breakfast, the whole shebang!" She demanded. "Eggs scrambled, whole wheat toast, bacon, extra crispy, sausage links, not patties, hash browns, not home fries, waffles, pancakes AND french toast, and drown them in butter!"

Its supposed to be a rambling sentence, but i feel like some of these commas but a few don't

I don't think it's wrong, but it's definitely getting into Complex Comma Stuff

like when you have an aside ("not patties") within a list, it gets thorny

if you're worried about clarity, you can delineate the list with semicolons instead of commas (although that's usually when each item in the list is long and/or complicated, so it feels weird here) or use a different punctuation method for the aside (e.g. "sausage - links, not patties -")

Like "bacon; extra crispy, "

A Guide to Using SemicolonsKyle, 34, learns of the why of the semicolon

it would be bacon, extra crispy; etc"

"No! American breakfast, the whole shebang!" She demanded. "Eggs, scrambled; toast, whole wheat; bacon, extra crispy; sausage, links, not patties; hash browns, not home fries; waffles, pancakes, AND french toast. Topping it all off, drown them in butter!"

this is probably still wrong, but

I think it's correct, semicolon-delineated lists just feel weird when the items aren't very long

I dunno

i figured no one will be actually reading this when i try to put it on ebook, so whatever

Yoy might be surprised

some of this is fire, ngl

but i don't like other parts, despite only having written it two years ago. three?

AGH SOME PARTS ARE SO GOOD

god I hope I make it. I want to make it

let's fucking gooooo

"Marigold simply stared at the floor. None of this surprised her. She knew it, saw it. He never hid his disdain for her. To this moment she remembered the day they found out Morning Glory was dead, the day that he looked at her like he’d make the trade in a heartbeat. And yet, this made the certainty no easier to digest."

*chef's kiss

She stared angrily into Jim's eyes as he watched her...

I have restored my own hope

"Dois had been a lush world, a place where a delicate ecosystem of pale green flora flourished across the globe. It made seeing the planet from a carrier in high orbit seem like it was shrouded in creamy, minty cloud, yet it was the true color of its life, or at least the life it had once been."

does this make sense or is that a dumb imagry?

Nah it's good

Don't touch it

Thanks bae

I dig it

a good metaphor-infused concrete description is always nice

Nice. Smart people approved.