George R. R. Martin wrote in this editor: the legendary WordStar for DOS has been given a second life

Science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer, a recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards, has released a free archive of the WordStar software that was used by George R. R. Martin and other renowned authors.

Many writers have a unique attachment to the tools of their craft. For some, it’s a pen and notebook; for others, an IBM Selectric typewriter. For an entire generation of authors, WordStar became a fetish object.

WordStar is a legendary text editor that entered the market in 1978 and quickly became a favorite among many writers. Developed for the CP/M operating system and later adapted for MS-DOS, WordStar distinguished itself from modern editors with its intuitive interface and powerful features for creative writing.

Among WordStar's enthusiasts are distinguished authors Ralph Ellison, Anne Rice, and George R. R. Martin. Anne Rice even referred to the program as “beautiful and uplifting” in a Facebook comment in 2015.

Sawyer spent weeks preparing the archive. In addition to the software itself, he included detailed usage instructions and PDF versions of the original manuals totaling over 1000 pages. The author also added DOS emulators to run WordStar on modern computers.

Why do seasoned authors opt for this outdated software? Sawyer explains that WordStar mimics the process of writing by hand, unlike most modern text editors that operate like typewriters. According to Sawyer, Microsoft Word is software designed for "writing by dictation." WordStar, on the other hand, offers a different set of tools aimed at assisting with the creation of creative material.

Source: Gizmodo