I’ve been playing around with a lot of different types of novelists’ software lately, trying to come up with a good process for myself because it seems my way currently is chaotic and most of the time, Iget lost in my own thoughts. It’s weird, huh?
So the first software program I tried was Liquid Story Binder from Black Obelisk Software. I used this one for about six months or so. I wrote a full novel with it as an experiment. What I really liked about this program is that I could install on my USB drive and run it on any computer I wanted. That is a handy thing to have when you’re a student and hardly ever home or on your own computer. I also loved that you could make Dossiers for every character and it had built in templates to use. The program also saves the chapters in RTF format so you can use an outside editor like Word, which is what I did most of the time. The only drawback I saw is that it does do so much that it might overwhelm those trying it out for the first time. A couple of writer friends of mine actually shot this program down simply because they said it was too complex. They needed something simpler. In my opinion, LSB isn’t hard to use and the website has a ton of tutorials you can use if you’re having issues with it. On the whole, it’s a great program but it was more than what I needed.
Oh, and I almost forgot. Liquid Story Binder is available from Black Obelisk Software for a free trial. Below is directly from their website:
“Liquid Story Binder is a shareware product. You can download it absolutely free, with no restrictions or limitations. It is completely functional with all available features included within the download. Yet, after a period of 30 non-consecutive days of use, Liquid Story Binder will cease to work.
When this occurs, you may decide to uninstall Liquid Story Binder, or purchase a special registration code that will allow you to keep using Liquid Story Binder indefinitely. There is no obligation for you to buy, just test out the software to see if it fits your specific needs.
If you like what you see, return to our website and purchase your $45.95 registration key. The code will be sent to you by email.”
I recommend this program if you like adding pictures, playlists, and want to keep all your notes for each novel in one spot. For me, I simply didn’t need all the features it offered.
Which brings me to the next program I tried. yWriter from Spacejock Software. This program is an OCD’s dream. It concentrates on scenes rather than chapters, which is cool because if any of you writers out there are like me, you tend to move the scenes around a lot. It also keeps a word count total. It was exceptional in that you can add characters to a list and then you can specify the viewpoint character as well as the characters that are in the scene. That was handy for me as I have issues with forgetting where everyone is. It also lets you import a TXT file and separates out the chapters for you. When I did this, I just went into Word, saved the file as a TXT file and then imported it via the yWriter program. It separated very well, which some programs have a tendency to butcher imported files. There isn’t a lot of formatting options, but I believe that was what the programmer was trying to accomplish. In his eyes, formatting in programs like Word distracts from the writing. I don’t necessarily agree with that as I love Microsoft Word but to each their own. I ended up uninstalling this one from my computer. I just didn’t click with it. It’s a good program and a lot of my writer friends adore it. It just wasn’t for me.
yWriter is a free novelists’ software developed by Spacejock Software, however, the programmer does take donations so he con continue to feed his family.
The third program, I’m still experimenting with. It’s SuperNoteCard from Mindola Software. I have to say so far, I’m happy with this program. It emulates the Index Plotting Method™ I already use but has a whole lot of other options. SNC starts with the Project page, where you can name your project and provide a description of it. Then you can create a Deck, which is what I use for chapters, and then add a new Card, which ends up being each scene that I want to write.
When you’re done putting in all the scenes, you can export the whole thing to an RTF file, all broken down into a nice outline form you can print out and keep beside you while you write. Now i’m not so much a planner, as I’ve written in a previous blog post, but it’s a handy program to have when you have to go back through and reverse outline because you’ve screwed up the story somewhere.
SNC also has the feature of colorcoding the cards according to different Factors, which can be person, place, thing, idea, whatever. I use it for characters so I can see whose viewpoint is where or what characters are in what scene.
Mindola Software also has an SuperNoteCard for Scriptwriting which I have downloaded but haven’t really played with since I’m on my novel writing kick and have left the scriptwriting on hold for a while. Mindola also offers a free trial version but I don’t know how long it is since I haven’t been able to find it on the website. I believe the full version is $29, which isn’t actually that bad.
I think I’ll stick with SNC for a while because it really does emulate what I already use to write. I may change it up in the future, depending if I find something better out there. Nothing’s ever stuck in stone, especially in the Age of the Internetz.
Wow, this was a really long blog. Maybe if I remembered to post regularly, I wouldn’t have to type so much.