[lightcatcher]

I used writelatex to learn LaTex and would recommend it. My first experience using LaTex was to write a research report that ended up being about 15-20 pages and included figures, references, etc. I originally just wrote the report in emacs (without typesetting the math, figures, or references), and then it only took me maybe an extra 90 minutes to typeset the whole thing in LaTeX (previously not knowing any LaTeX). Also, using bibtex for my references saved me a huge amount of time, so the net time difference between writing with LaTeX or familiar tools for me was less than 90 minutes.

Overall, I would recommend using LaTeX because its really not too difficult to pick up.