# Software for novelists



## Eden.Kaye (Jun 9, 2010)

Has anybody used or uses novel software?
For example the StoryBlue or Snowflake Pro?

Just curious as to if it helps or anything.

-Eden


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## Like a Fox (Jun 9, 2010)

I've never heard of either (super helpful, I know), but I would say stuff like that won't hurt, but it certainly won't make the process easy. I don't think anything can do that.

When they invent a program that takes a scene in my head and puts it on paper perfectly, then I'll be onto it. Haha


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## Eden.Kaye (Jun 9, 2010)

yea i am just trying to figure out if it is worth it.


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## Like a Fox (Jun 9, 2010)

Oh, if you have to pay for it definitely not. There's nothing a program can give you that a simple old Word doco can't. The quality of the novel is up to you.


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## JosephB (Jun 9, 2010)

I visited the the StoryBlue site. There's a free trial, so if it interests you, download it and try it. I just might, for the heck of it. I think it's only 27.00, so if you find it useful, then maybe that's not such a big investment. I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand, without looking into it.

 Fox, a good tool just makes things easier and faster. So who knows? I'm sure you could bang out a novel on typewriter if you had to.


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## Julianne (Jun 9, 2010)

I've tried yWriter which is free. I generally like it except for a couple of things: I don't like the way it formats the output file, and it doesn't allow the files to be password protected. Other than that, it's not a bad program.


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## Baron (Jun 9, 2010)

These programs are particularly useful for organising and planning.  They allow a system for character profiles and various other notes which can be quite helpful.


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## moderan (Jun 9, 2010)

I've used a free program called Quickplot on and off for many years. It's been discontinued, but is available here. Nothing else seems as targeted or flexible. I tried yWriter, and it's decent but not as much for me.


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## Like a Fox (Jun 9, 2010)

JosephB said:


> Fox, a good tool just makes things easier and faster. So who knows? I'm sure you could bang out a novel on typewriter if you had to.


Good point. Mine was an ill-informed reply based on the fact that I'd never (till now) heard any writers I know mention using such programs. Apparently I don't know everything? Shock. Haha.


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## JosephB (Jun 9, 2010)

Heh. Well, that is pretty shocking. I need to go have a good lie-down now just to get over it.


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## Linton Robinson (Jun 9, 2010)

I've never run into anything like that I consider helpful.    But whatever works, is the idea.

I create a table in Word for screenplays of novels, and move scenes around the grid like I used to do with a ruled bulletin board on my wall.  Except instead of note cards, the scenes or chapters are keywords that when clicked pull that chapter up to work on.
Some of them grow into major consoles, with links to research, notes, maps, all sorts of stuff.
I thought this was a totally cool, really original concept until the other day I heard a writer say he organized novels with a spreadsheet.  And realized...hmm, same idea, huh?


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## Christopher Brian Gibbon (Jun 9, 2010)

Novel software? I've tried Story Mill and Melle (sic?) however, though they did what they were supposed to do I personally found them distracting. Either something about the UI was too abnormal or it was something else like compatibility with .doc/.docx documents. Of course no word processor I can think of exports .doc properly some do better than others.
I've been sticking to Apple Pages 4 (iWork '09) for most of my work and the full screen mode along with the simple yet powerful UI makes writing and formatting my finished manuscript a breeze. It exports to Word formats quite well and I'm happy with it. Though with the soon arrival of Office for Macintosh 2011 I might go back to Word because it's what I used in the good old Windows days.
If you'd really like to try out some novelist software I do however recommend you try Story Mill. Be aware though last I used it the application only ran on Apple Macintosh OS X but there was a Windows version on the horizon.


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## Linton Robinson (Jun 9, 2010)

Simon Haynes'    Spacejock Software has some pretty cool writer tools.   It has a complete novel writing program, a very useful app for keeping track of submissions,  and some cool ereaders and stuff as well.

http://www.spacejock.com/

And yeah, that's as in Hal Spacejock,  the outerspace hero of this Australian writer.   If you like Pratchett and Star Trek parodies and Brewster Rockit, take a look at the Hal site.  There's usual some free ebook around.

http://www.spacejock.com.au/


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## Julianne (Jun 10, 2010)

yWriter, which I mentioned above, can be found at the Spacejock site.


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## cussedness (Jun 12, 2010)

I'm probably old fashioned, but I'm content to create my own files with word for everything.  I have tried some of the software, but keep going back to my old methods with word.  New learning curves with software always annoys me.


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## Linton Robinson (Jun 12, 2010)

It's a sure signal of my age that I chuckled over "I'm old-fashioned, I use a word processor".  

Not that I don't agree.


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## cussedness (Jun 12, 2010)

I have a 27 year old daughter who is always telling me about new software for writers and saying "Oh, it's so easy..."  Then I try it and end up banging my head against the desk.


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## garza (Jun 12, 2010)

Lin thinks it's funny that I don't use a word processor to write. I use only text editors; Notepad if I'm on a Windows machine or Vim with Linux. Separate bits that would make up an outline of sorts go into individual folders. It's a very simple system that allows maximum flexibility while I'm writing.

There is no word processor or any other kind of programme beyond the text editors involved until I reach a stage that requires strict formatting. For example, a report prepared for a government ministry must follow certain formatting rules. One by one I put the contents of my text folders into Word, then go through and make everything look the way it ought to look. 

Much of my work still goes off to private publishers as text files. They have secretaries, don't they?

I recently upgraded to Office 2007 after running 2003 for a long time. I like the new version of Word, but I would never use it for original writing. The use of a spreadsheet for organising ideas might be something to think about though. 

But I will never give up doing my original writing with text editors, no matter what other software I might have for final formatting.


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## Linton Robinson (Jun 12, 2010)

Well it's not like notepad isn't a word processor.    I use it a lot for coding and writing.  But get more done with Word or Open Office, especially when preparing screenplays and documents that require a lot of formatting.


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## cussedness (Jun 13, 2010)

I use word 2003 still, but expect to upgrade sometime in the near future.  I'm very comfortable with word.  I have been using it since it first came out back in the days of DOS and just kept upgrading to the next version.  I keep a lexicon folder with categories for everything from people to places and a timeline on a spreadsheet.  After 20 novels, it becomes difficult to keep things straight.  I try to stay on top of it.  I once got an email from a fellow who had purchased one of my novels (back when my work was still being published by Renebooks) pointing out that I had described a lycan (wolfweres not werewolves in my novels) as being grey in full wolf form and then two chapters later described him as being black.  *head desk*  Software to keep track of it all in some manner is essential really.  I'm just not as flexible now as I was ten plus years ago when it comes to learning new ones.


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## Steerpike (Jun 29, 2010)

Liquid Story Binder is good.  There's a free trial for it.

Doesn't help you write or anything like that, but it is a word processor, organizer, planner, etc. where you can plot, keep character dossiers, write scenes and then use the builder function to put together a manuscript from scenes or chapters, changing up the order if you feel like it.  It's pretty useful, imo.


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## darknite_johanne (Jun 30, 2010)

I like the usual paper in front of me and yellow papers in pinned on the cardboard wall. I may consider tissue papers a better software. haha, but if anything else Mword can suffice.


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## Steerpike (Jun 30, 2010)

I still write freehand a good portion of the time.  If I am on a computer, I like a full-screen editor so I'm not distracted to click on other programs (like my web browser or something).  Liquid Story Binders has that feature, or you can use a free program called WriteMonkey (or Pyroom, if you use Linux).  

The guy who wrote Liquid Story Binder also has a free program called momentum writer, which doesn't allow any kind of backspace or correction, just forces you to write and worry about editing later.  Some people have found that useful.


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## Pilgrim (Jun 30, 2010)

Another one very similar to writemonkey is Q10.
You can find it at;
http://www.baara.com/q10/


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## Steerpike (Jul 1, 2010)

Thanks, Pilgrim. I downloaded Q10.  I like it.


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## garza (Jul 2, 2010)

Out of curiosity I downloaded Q-10 expecting to see the usual boxes for a person to fill out pretending they are writing. 

Q-10 is Notepad with a reversed screen and some word-processor features. However it lacks the ability to turn off wordwrap so it's less useful than Notepad for some purposes. At least, I didn't see a toggle for wordwrap. I did see little reason for changing from Notepad for straight writing.

And I just thought of someting else. Q-10 does not permit multiple open files on the screen. I often have three or four Notepad files open at once, one for writing, the others for reference.


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## rachelthorn (Jul 17, 2010)

I use ywriter5 which is from spacejock. I love it. It is so easy to use. You can make outlines, character bios, word target goals, and there are other features like a storyboard, and it creates a syopsis for you. It makes all my planning easier but of course for some writers it might not be what they need.


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## garza (Jul 21, 2010)

ywriter is one of those busy-busy-busy programmes that creates the illusion of progress while no writing gets done. Again, Notepad is far superior. I can set up as many or as few open files as I want and use them as I like. I'm not tied to someone else's structure.


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## rachelthorn (Jul 22, 2010)

Garza,
To you it might be very busy but I have gotten plenty of writing done in ywriter. I am one of those writers that has to make outlines and map out my characters before I can write or my writing is all over the place. Just because the software doesn't work for you that doesn't necessarily mean that it won't work for anyone else. Ywriter is marketed towards fiction writers since you write non-fiction, from what I have read so far in this thread, you would have no use for it. That is why there is so many different programmes for writers so writers have a choice in which one is best for them.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 22, 2010)

Well, not quite "use them as I like".  You can only open one at a time, right?   Christ if you're going to write in crippleware like that, at least try Notepad ++


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## garza (Jul 22, 2010)

rachelthorn - I don't know why you would think non-fiction does not require outlines, background development, and such. Except for rapidly written news flashes, which I seldom do anymore, non-fiction requires careful organisation.

Lin - I remember trying Notepad++ a few years ago and not finding any advantage in it. Notepad allows you to open as many files as you want. My usual configuration is to have one on the right side of the screen where I'm actually writing, another with my outline, usually uppper left though they tend to get shoved around some, and another with background notes. I'll often write in sections and as I finish a draft for a section I'll push it to the back and open a new file for the next session. If it's a long piece I may end with 10 or 12 files open on the desktop, with only the three in current use showing, the others in the back.

Notepad is strictly for composing. When I'm satisfied with all sections, I copy them one by one into Word for formatting. 

The problem with a programme like ywriter is you're stuck with what they give you. There is no flexibility. What if you want to look at two or three outline ideas at once? What if you get to section seven and think of a good edit that section 2 needs? You can't just pop it to the front, edit it, and put it back in the back as you can with Notepad.

But as rachelthorn says, no one system is best for everyone. I want the absolute freedom that Notepad allows. Some people need the built-in rigid structure of a programme like ywriter. To each his own, as the old lady said when she kissed the cow.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 22, 2010)

Damn, first the sheep, now the cows.  Is bestiality the national sport down there in Belize?


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## garza (Jul 22, 2010)

What has really shocked the community is the fact, the undeniable fact, that the old lady kissed the cow and not the bull. 

That sort of thing is simply not accepted here. In public.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 22, 2010)

One of my main laws in life:  when in doubt, grab the one with the biggest tits.


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## garza (Jul 22, 2010)

Yeah, that's a good rule, but let me ask you this. Did you ever try to get a drunk fat woman back into a water bed?


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## rachelthorn (Jul 22, 2010)

garza said:


> rachelthorn - I don't know why you would think non-fiction does not require outlines, background development, and such. Except for rapidly written news flashes, which I seldom do anymore, non-fiction requires careful organisation.
> 
> The problem with a programme like ywriter is you're stuck with what they give you. There is no flexibility. What if you want to look at two or three outline ideas at once? What if you get to section seven and think of a good edit that section 2 needs? You can't just pop it to the front, edit it, and put it back in the back as you can with Notepad.
> 
> But as rachelthorn says, no one system is best for everyone. I want the absolute freedom that Notepad allows. Some people need the built-in rigid structure of a programme like ywriter. To each his own, as the old lady said when she kissed the cow.


 
I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say so I will rephrase. I know that in non-fiction you have to use outlines and such but what I meant was with ywriter its geared towards writing fiction the way that it is set up so that is why I think in my own opinion that it would not be best to write a non-fiction book in because of the way the sections are: characters, scenes, etc. Also you choose what the goal of the scene is with the reaction, dilemma, and outcome per scene. 

It works for me but because of the type of structure you need, ywriter wouldn't be the best software for you to use.


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## garza (Jul 22, 2010)

And please don't think I'm rejecting ywriter on a whim. I have given it a fair trial and found that it felt like I was wrapped in a straight jacket.

I've started writing some fiction, and find that the same system I use for non-fiction works just as well for fiction. For 'Two Weeks' I had four files open. One for Marty and his mother, one for the story outline, one for some dialogue scraps that I'd thought of, and one for the actual writing. I had a fifth file open for a while with background about Marty's school and his friends. None of that was used in either of the final versions but it helped me keep the character in focus. All of those files are archived so that if I ever want to try that story again all the material is there.

But as the old lady said...never mind.


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