Seeking software recommendations

jst5150 said:

Greets from the heart of peach country:

I'd like to use a piece of software to collect information about characters, write notes and diagram my story/plot. I've tried "Writer's Cafe," and a few others. However, I'm not satisfied with the output on these. I'm looking at another suite called "NewNovelist."

I'd appreciate suggestions.

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Thanks.

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Generally speaking, I hate software that does this, but when I'm forced to make notes, what works for me isn't writing software, it's Notesbrowser. It has multiple pages, both large and small, in each section, and about as many sections as you could ever want. Each header in any section can be relabelled to meet your needs (You can, for example, change "To Do List" to "Character names, etc.) There are also planning features, nad a number of other things.

There's a freeware version that's far more than good enough, and I think I have enough notes to fill an encyclopedia in mine.

Jason,

I used Write Way Pro for quite a while and liked it. Here's the link if you're interested: http://www.writewaypro.com/ They were also very friendly and helpful with any questions I had.

Good luck,
Lisa

I use Writer's Cafe too, I've found it pretty useful, because I tend to make about 10000 documents full of ideas, notes about characters and other random info I think up every now and then, and it' a good software to round it all up. I've tried NewNovelist but found that it restricted me too much, especially on the chapter department, gave it up after a few tries. If you don't know what to write about, though, NewNovelist can give you some ideas. It all depends on how you work and what you want.

There's a program called Literary Machine

I've never used it or downloaded it, but it might be what you had in mind.

It's freeware. I was just looking at it today. What an odd coincidence.

jason, just my opinion, but I hate all that stuff and think it is just a huge waste of money. I bought a couple of them. Fiction Pro, I think, was one. For me, anyway, they ended up garbling my work more than anything. Nothing wrong with a blank screen, or better yet, a blank sheet of paper ... and you.

However, I'm not satisfied with the output on these. I'm looking at another suite called "NewNovelist."

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I have tried New Novelist and whilst I did learn a bit from it, I found that the report export very limited. In the version I have it just prints out the chapter outlines. I visisted their support site and fount the following "solution".

"We apologise for any confusion caused, the only way that you can print out your notes is to copy and paste them in to word and then print them out. There is no function that does this, you have to manually do this.
The reason for this, is that we did not want our writers to worry about printing there notes and having to sift through endless sheets of paper. Having it all in the application allows writers to easily select a character and view the notes easily and revert back to the writing with ease.
We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused."

Like Emeraldcite I am giving Literary Machine a try.

MS Word! Use the built in headings and Outline View for structure, and write backstory in story form. (PM me for how I do it)

Otherwise, use any diagramming software which lets you mindmap, or perhaps a piece of paper.

I've found Wikis quite helpful for all kinds of planning activities, writing included. There are quite a few free ones available for download, e.g. FlexWiki: http://www.flexwiki.com/. It's freeform, and very easy to add new pages, which means it will work with just about whatever way you want to use it.

Leaving myself open to litigation, here...

I'm not surprised that some here hate writing software. Everyone has a different method, and writing software caters to a certain type of writer. I do a lot of character analysis before beginning the manuscript. I use timelines and matrices to do this, to which software lends itself. I'm a bit of a computer geek and run a largely paperless desk, so I love my software. Having said that, breaking out some nice paper and my treasured fountain pen has broken many a block.

I use several pieces of software:

• Trusty MS-Word is a great workhorse, especially with the newer versions that automatically recover data from a crash. I use this the most.
• MS-PowerPoint and MS-Excel for all my character analysis. I appreciate that the MS-Office package costs a bundle and is probably not within the reach of the average writer. Remember this when travelling in Southeast Asia.
• TimeMap for my timelines. This is actually software developed for lawyers, but it works a treat for me. You can download a shareware version that lasts for 30 days, which might be enough time to suit your needs. (I'll come clean: I uninstall and reinstall when I need to use it, and I get another 30 days out of it.)
• PowerWriter for my plotting. This is actually pretty good software. It's quite configurable, but I have some gripes about the stability when really customising it like a hardcore computer geek will. A good idea to save often. Nevertheless, after downloading the trial demo I actually purchased this software.

Closing comment: don't get caught up in the software. Paper and pen have achieved wonders for hundreds of years.

Meaney said:

I'm not surprised that some here hate writing software. Everyone has a different method, and writing software caters to a certain type of writer.

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I'm not sure it's method that makes the difference. I know writers who use any method you can possibly name, but who still hate writing software. Experience, not method, seems to be the main factor.

I'd say at least 99.% of such software is used by new, inexperienced writers. Experienced, selling writers generally find such software both unnecessary and/or harmful.

I think I've tried the demo, or the full program, of every bit of writing software out there, and while some of it does no harm, I can see severe problems with most of it. Many of the programs pretty much force a new writer to work in a certain way, and this can be very bad.

And the best of it does absolutely nothing than can't be done with any good word processor and a couple of folders. In fact, the best of it does nothing that can't be done easier and faster with a notebook and a pencil.

I have PowerWriter on my computer because I was chosen to test it for a writing group. If you're a heavy plotter, this is the program I'd use, but again, it does absolutely nothing I can't do with Word, and I think it, too, can force, or at least urge, a new writer into directions that may not be the best.

To me, nearly all the writing software out there is aimed at new writers who don't yet know how to write well, and who are looking for El Dorado. But such software is really transfer software, and what it transfers is money from the pocket of the new writer to the pocket of the software seller.

TimeMap is something I've looked at, but haven't yet tried, except briefly with the trial version. It looks like an interesting program, but I'm not sure what it does that I can't do with pencil and paper, or with my memory. It looks like a wonderful tool for courtrooms, but in looking at the trial version, I'm not sure it does anything I need as a writer. But it does look interesting, and I want to give it a full test.

In all honesty, I think new writers are just looking for anything that will make writing easier, and nothing does. I think the rest of use are software happy, just as we're gadget happy. This is why I have fifteen little known word processors on my computer, even though I also have Word 2003 and WordPerfect 12. These are, without doubt, the two best word processors out there. Better by a factor of ten. Anything that can be done on a word processor can be done easily and well with one of these two programs. But I still try every new word processor I find.

I'm still looking for El Dorado, which is why I think most writing software sells.

A stack of notecards and a pen.

I agree, I've also tried quite a few writing programs out of curiosity, and I've come to realize that (in my case) they just make writing more difficult. Especially those 'plot planners', they just get me confused and I lose track of what I wanted in the first place.

However, I'm a mess in word processors, cause I leave a million documents lying all around my hard disk and I always lose everything. Plus, my computer gets stuck when I open all the files I've done for the novel I write.

Currently, I'm using Writer's Cafe, because it's like a looseleaf notebook, you can add or take away pages at your convenience, and apart from organizing all your files in a single window, it does nothing more. Plus, it comes with a cool little game , and a thesaurus. I've found it quite useful, more than any other I've tried.

Software

I'm sure there are writers out there who successsfully use all this writing software, but in all honesty, no one I've found who uses it writes anyting I want to read.

There really is nothing useful that any of it does that can't be done with a word processor, or even easier with pencil and paper, and what much of it does is guaranteed to produce cookie cutter fiction.

The best of it does nothing but organize. If I had to use any of it, I believe Liquid Story Binder would be the one. http://www.blackobelisksoftware.com/

The worst of it tries to help with the by offering character charts, plot gimmicks, etc. Anyone who uses any of this deserves what they get. And any of it that asks questions is probably going to be an absolute disaster for new writers.

And the simple truth is that if you can't write publishable fiction without such software, you doubly can't write publishable fiction with it.

DamaNegra said:

However, I'm a mess in word processors, cause I leave a million documents lying all around my hard disk and I always lose everything.

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I just dump everything into a few massive word documents.

To find things is no problem - I just have Google Desktop. I type in something (eg: "alone") and in instantly brings up every reference in (almost) all the documents on my drive. I don't need to be organised any more!

Easy.

Jason - I suggest pen and paper...I know some people have chimed in and expressed their dislike for feature-laden writers' software, and I'm with them. I'm super Type-A and find that pen and paper suits my needs perfectly. Of course I tend to index things a little and have ten different spiral-bound notebooks to work in, but flipping through my notes is like reading a book, which is very comforting to me.
Btw, I'm not trying to be sarcastic...I'm completely serious.

Off-topic...I noticed your handle...are you a Van Halen fan?