I'm very new to LyX and LaTeX, but keep seeing it mentioned while Googling for composing a novel. I'm understanding that it might offer the simplicity of being able to focus on writing the story, without worrying about the format, while at the same time handling the format so everything is arranged precisely, and with perfect type-setting, and ready to go. And, that with the Outline/Table-of-Contents tab, on LyX, I'll be able to see the arrangement of chapters and scenes to move them around, cut-and-pasting them as necessary.
I'm thinking that if I learn LyX, I can just enter the text, then draft and re-draft it to perfection and see the whole content. Unlike some of the special novel writing software that's out there already, at the end of my project, with LyX, I should have a novel that I can print, and it should actually be ALREADY formatted like a book, ready to go (without having to send off to a professional publishing house for conversion using their secrete software ;-) And, unlike Word, Libre-Office, or Abiword, I won't have to spend the majority of my time worrying about arranging the format, fonts, layout, etc... In short, I should be able to focus on creating the story rather than creating the book, at the end everything will be in its proper spot.
And so, I'm wondering if I'm understanding the potential power of LyX and LaTeX correctly, that its main use is for any document that uses a strict pre-defined format, such as creating Text Books with very complex formats and/or formula, or a novel with simple, but strict, format requirements.
I keep reading about "templates", "classes" and "modules", to which I really don't understand the difference just yet. But I'm looking for one designed for novels.
Should I try to learn LyX and LaTeX, and try to find a template to compose a novel, or am I trying to figure out how to operate a bulldozer to move a small bucket of dirt? :-) If not, please recommend a novel template or module?
novel
document class is now on CTAN. At the time I write this, it is there, but not all mirrors have it yet. Be sure to get version 1.0.6 or later. Back on GitHub, you can see an actual novel in source code and PDF, typeset with this class.