Creating content in InDesign or an external text editor

Question

Hi,
I'm starting another technical manual project in InDesign. The manual will be about 500-600 A5 pages, mixing text, technical illustrations and screenshots. I'm the only author, and will have proofreader working on PDF copies.
I'm not sure if I should create my content right in InDesign, or using an external text editor. The point with both solutions are:
- InDesign
Pro: What you write is what you see. You always know how long is a section, and can immediately balance the mix between text and illustrations (both having the same relevance in this manual).
Con: There is no way to keep the overall structure under control; you can have an overview on chapter sequence with the Book, but that'a all - no finer level is allowed. And you cannot work on the iPad or another computer, without having InDesign installed.
- External text editor
Pro: Scrivener and Nisus Writer - to name two of the options - can always show a fine-detailed outline, where you can easily rearrange small sections and check the balance between parts. You can continue editing when at your clients. With Scrivener, you can synch text-only markdown files via Dropbox, and continue editing on an iPad when at the client.
Con: The final layout has to be done in InDesign, so you have to be careful when to import the finished first draft. Balance between small sections cannot be checked until you work on the final layout. Illustrations have to be added only when working at the layout. Tables will be a rough approximation.
What would you do? I would like to work on the external text editor, since my previous experience with a long manual in InDesign was a bit like working blind. But I hate the idea of not being immediately in control of all the elements of my work.
Cheers,
Paolo

Answer 1

Halfway in the making of the manual, I can say that creating content in InDesign (CS6) is not feasible. The program is extremely slow and unrealiable. The spinning beachball takes most of the working time, and crashes are extremely frequent.
My book is not very complex. A single flow of text, with the simplest layout, and a few inline illustrations. A spare amount of cross-references, a few conditions. The book is made of less of ten chapters, with the longest no longer than 150 A5 pages.
As it is, I would consider InDesign a final layout app only. Writing and proofreading has to be done on a rough copy (assuming the proofreading do agree to work on a preliminary copy, and not the final work). InDesign should come into play when it is time to prepare the layout for printing.
I hope to read of someone more successful than me. Going back to FrameMaker and Windows is not my dream (plus, producing PDF files with FrameMaker on Windows has been a nightmare for me). Unfortunately, lucky technical writers using InDesign are very jealous, and don't seem to want to release their experience on the web.
Paolo