Writing/Plotting Software - Do you? Which?

[Bereheath]

So I am at that point where I want to kiss my cards and print-outs goodbye and would like to use some software solution.

So far I tested StoryBook, yWriter5 and WriteItNow4, with the last being definitely a candidate.

Do you use writer's software (other than some sort of word processor)? If yes, which do you prefer and why?

[Tirjasdyn]

I use yWriter5. Tracking characters, locations and such is vital to the way I do things. I like having my summary available right in the scene I'm working on. During revisions I make notes for each scene as well as the project. While I do minor formatting such as bold or italics and indents in yWriter, I save most of that until I bring it into Word. yWriter allows you to designate an external editor if you'd rather write in something else and still organize in yWriter.

[Little Ming]

Roughdraft. I like to keep things simple. Too many bells and whistles make my eyes cross.

[fivetoesten]

Freeplane (http://freeplane.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) is pretty simple. I searched around the forums for mention of mindmaps/mindmapping, but didn't find much. I think they are great for organizing thoughts, but apparently many writers don't share my opinion (or they haven't discovered mindmaps).

[alleycat]

Freeplane (http://freeplane.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) is pretty simple. I searched around the forums for mention of mindmaps/mindmapping, but didn't find much. I think they are great for organizing thoughts, but apparently many writers don't share my opinion (or they haven't discovered mindmaps).

I've suggested mindmaps to a few people.

There is software for doing mindmaps, but I think they're better done on a large sheet of paper.

[bektamun]

I use Storyweaver to help flesh things out then revert to a rough draft to get the flow going.

[Bereheath]

Hmmm.

I looked at the suggestions and so far none fit my bill really. I do not need any step-by-step aids, and mind-mapping would make me scale the wall in a shitfit very quickly (and make me even more disordered than I already am). Word processors I don't really need either, MS Word is quite okay in that department.

I still sort of favour WriteItNow, as it has some of the features I find helpful (thesaurus, namesearch, extensive search, like words etc.) and offers brackets for all the little snippets of info. It's better in that respect than yWriter (I think so far). Is there anything like it which might top it yet in the quality of its functions?

[flyingtart]

I've tried most of them including WriteItNow which is pretty good, but I'd recommend Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php) for ease of use and reliability. I use it all the time and can't praise it highly enough. If you're on a PC they have a Windows version (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivenerforwindows/) in beta.

[Dani]

I've tried most of them including WriteItNow which is pretty good, but I'd recommend Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php) for ease of use and reliability. I use it all the time and can't praise it highly enough. If you're on a PC they have a Windows version (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivenerforwindows/) in beta.

I second scrivener and have been using the windows beta. It's awesome. No, it's beyond awesome. I adore it.

I've used just about every program listed here plus dramatica, writeway, storybase and a few others. I find most to be time wasters tbh. Esp dramatica.

I do have a version of contour that I'm going to try for my next novel. So I can relay to you when I use that. But scrivener has been the best software hands down for me, so far

[mshaw2268]

i just recently started tinkering around with StoryBox and am impressed with it so far. I checked out some of the others that have been mentioned but this one appealed to me more.

You can check it out at http://storyboxsoftware.com/. It's free to try and the price isn't bad. The guy who did also created something called TrackerBox, which lets you keep track of submissions. Haven't tried that one yet, but planning on it.

[thorjansen]

I second scrivener and have been using the windows beta. It's awesome. No, it's beyond awesome. I adore it.


I'll third Scrivener. It's been a real blessing for my own novel writing. The ability to use the corkboard and rearrange items as needed is a great feature for me. And its output formatting is pretty spot-on. I keep discovering new, useful features all the time.


I've used just about every program listed here plus dramatica, writeway, storybase and a few others. I find most to be time wasters tbh. Esp dramatica.


Agreed on Dramatica. It strikes me as being too unnecessarily complicated. I used it for one novel, ended up abandoning it because it demanded too much effort, and actually detracted from my actual writing.

[strictlytopsecret]

You may want to give MS OneNote a try. If you have a recent version of MS Office, you may already have this little gem on your machine and not even realize it (as was the case for me).

~STS~

[FOTSGreg]

iCard Sort on the iPad, OneNote on the PC, haven't decided yet what on the Acer A100 for outlining and plotting.

I've gone almost exclusively to Pages on the iPad, OpenOffice on the PC, and EverNote on the Android fir actual writing.

[FranOnTheEdge]

I've tried 'Write Your Own Novel Professional V2' and I'm not sure about it.
There are bits of it I like but I don't feel comfortable with it... yet.
I do think it's a major distraction, nice to play with but hasn't increased my word count much...
in any case I prefer to write in Word 2003, I've added the chapters to WYONPro, created character tabs, events, notes, locations etc, the best bit is I think the "Charts" section - there if you add 'events' correctly then "Charts" will display those events in a timeline sort of layout.

Which I feel I need, because my current story was about an event 22 years ago, as well as what's thus happening right now.... then I decided that 16 years ago would be better.... and I think that chart is helping me to change it all....
It's certainly keeping me focused while I battle with the need to change all the necessary dates.

I'm finding MSWord makes me feel a bit blinded to the story as a whole, I had hoped that WYONPro would change that feeling...

I'm not sure though.

[Silver-Midnight]

I'm using Scrivener, and I'm going to suggest it too. It's really good. It takes a little bit to learn how to use, because opening a document, transferring a document into Scrivener, and things like are different. However, it is worth it, especially if you write your scenes out of order and you just want to drag and drop them in place.

[Old Hack]

Best-selling author David Hewson uses Scrivenor, and has written an excellent e-book about how to get the best out of it. It's worth a look.

[rialrees]

I adore OneNote for my plotting needs, Especially when it comes to character bios, timelines and any other little tidbits. My favourite feature is that you can link between pages, just like a webpage or wiki, so that I can easily cross reference characters, information, history explanations (like important life moments etc) and ... well the possibilities are endless.

I have a copy running the whole time I am writing too, to keep updating any relevant information and keep myself on track :)

If you don't already have office and have a couple of quid, I'd recommend it, though I might try scrivener out too (though probably not until I've finished this project lol - too many distractions!