Nisus really outpaces a lot of other writing software because it is spectacularly extensible and adaptable. This is why Nisus will soldier on and continue to grow. Ultimately we writers will need the ability to do many, as yet unknown things with our words as we type our way into the future. Nisus is perfectly positioned to do that with its easy-to-use features and its reliability. (In my six years of daily use I can count the number of times Nisus has crashed on one hand.)…plus the popularity of plain text, minimalist editors…
My feeling is that the popularity of the plain text writing movement using the clever Markdown syntax is driven by writers who mostly publish online. I also feel that writers who like to tinker have an affinity for using plain text and one of the excellent preview/output tools like the Marked App.
Before I bought Nisus Writer Pro I did all my writing in a plain text editor called BBEdit. I filed my stories via email and, as many plain text advocates point out, my work was compatible across operating systems and the all the content systems of the all the different magazines.
When I switched Nisus I found that its RTF file type was equally as compatible and I had the advantage of carrying over my style choices, comments etc. When a publisher has had a special requirement, or, as was the case with my last book, I had to manage two other authors beside myself, Nisus’ macro feature and robust find/replace engine truly saved my fanny. In another instance I had to fill in at the last minute to write a short scene for two actors. Because Nisus’ style sheets are so easy to work with it only took 15 minutes to put together a screenplay style sheet that worked flawlessly.
At the end of the day don’t get religiously attached to process philosophy otherwise known as “workflow.” Writers write, procrastinators fiddle. Find one software and learn it inside and out. The less time you spend thinking about your software the more time you’ll have to produce excellent content. I’m a huge advocate of Nisus Writer Pro because it does words very well and easily outputs them in a vast myriad of ways. Which means no matter where I am published, Nisus Writer will be able deliver my work.
Nisus is eternally viable.