Besides Libre Office, what other programs/solutions exist in the Linux world for writers?
(Please, don’t suggest VIM. After all the memes and comments I’ve read, I’ve come to dread it).
I like writing but the standard Writer tends to send me in a constant formatting spree.
I want to get back to writing regularly and something that could help me stay focused and somewhat organized would be nice.
It depends on what you want to achieve.
Vi and it’s descendants are brilliant editors for a programmer but not for writing prose. So stay away from them. ;-)
Do you want just to write text without being distracted by an overwhelming gui or are you fine with the hint at options?
Do you want to write in a terminal?
How much do you want to format while typing? By typing the format commands into the text or by clicking on buttons or ctrl-key magic?
Do you need version control?
For each of your combination of answers there are different solutions.
They work just fine for writing prose too. Though you probably do not need to learn them if you only want to write prose.
I wrote almost all of my grad school work in Vim and Emacs/Evil, in a non-compsci field! It was fantastic for editing, and I used pandoc to automate proper formatting, citations, and bibliographies for my papers and thesis. 10/10 would recommend to someone who is tech savvy or has a tangential interest in programming.
If you used pandoc hen you were programming your thesis. ;-)
Version control is an interesting idea.
I used to write fiction as a hobbie and want to return to it again.
The blank sheet of a standard text editor messes with my nerves. I lose myself editing, formating, etc.
If I could find a prompt that I could pre set the font, layout of the final work, and then have the program leave me alone, it would be perfect.
Most writers solutions come with a lot of bells and whistles, like word counter, time elapsed, goals, etc. Unnecessary. Distracting.
You’re describing a workflow using TeX or LaTeX, like typesetters for publisher’s use. I don’t have a specific recommendation, but in your shoes, I’d look for a CLI text editor (to avoid distractions) that supports word wrapping and do your actual formatting and typesetting totally separately from your writing with LaTeX.