The idea that a computer program can make me a better novelist – or perhaps a more productive one – has lots of appeal for me. If you are reading this blog and are new to novel writing software then perhaps it has appeal for you too. After all, who doesn’t dream of writing a bestseller, or that elusive “great American novel” one hears a lot about? Writing a novel is a big undertaking and the outcomes always uncertain, even for the celebrated professionals. Any tool that promises to make novel writers work the tiniest bit easier is for that reason certainly worth investigating. This, after all, is the information age!
This year we are celebrating the 200th birthday
of Charles Dickens whose novels are still popular even today. If Dickens was
alive in 2012 I imagine he would be writing his next novel on a laptop. As for
using novel writing software to craft his next bestseller though, I do not
imagine that he would. Or would he? Although we live longer these days the pace
at which we have to work in the 21st century is different, very few
novelists can succeed at doing nothing else but write novels and most of us have got
to moonlight and look for supplementary sources of income. This means less and
less time available to devote to writing – hence the appeal of novel
software.
In other fields professionals are using computer software to
make their work a lot easier and to be more productive; engineers and
architects for example use programs like AutoCAD to draw blueprints in a week
that would have taken no less than six months only two decades ago; some forms
of surgery done these days using computers was not possible a few years back,
etc. Writing, though, is an art and you have to be careful what to expect from
using writing software.
What can you
realistically expect from novel writing software?
Several years ago, with my muse playing hide-and-seek, I
decided it was time to move with the times and kick start my writing career. At
the time I could ill-afford it but I went ahead and bought several writer’s software
programs, among them Dramatica Pro, StoryCraft Pro novel writing software, Power Structure and
Newnovelist. A formidable arsenal you have to agree! I expected a lot, you see.
I will go in depth about these novel writing programs individually
as we go, their merits and what they can do for you, plus I intend to try out some
of the new ones, but first you need to know that whether book writing software
works for you or not is a subjective thing. This is one of those situations
where you really have to suck it and see for yourself! In this blog my
intention is to put some facts before you so you can make the right decisions,
make the right choices for yourself and hopefully, when you have tried the novel writing software, maybe then we can compare notes.
First, though, this is what novel writing software will not do for you:
- Novel writing software will not teach you how to write good sentences, how to use good grammar, or even how to come up with compelling story ideas. The people who design these programs start off by assuming a certain level of competence that you need to have attained first.
- This probably should go without saying, but the novel program does not put words on paper for you – or should I say on the computer screen. You still have to compose the sentences yourself, rely on your own vocabulary, and correct any mistakes you make as you go. Some of the novel writing software programs have in-built word processing capability for spell-checking but even then you are probably better off doing the grammar and spell checking in your favorite word processor (Microsoft Word for most people).
- Last, but probably no less important, the novel writing software program will not serve as your weapon against procrastination and writer’s block. If you are having trouble getting up in the mornings to face an empty computer screen it won’t make much of a difference that the screen is now filled with the Newnovelist novel writing software drafting window.
Here is what book writing software can do for you:
- A good writing software program will show you how to structure a good story, i.e. what plot type to use for your story idea and how to create interesting characters for that plot type; it will give you an indication how many chapters to write and how long they should be, as well as how many scenes you need per chapter, etc. Some of them give you context-sensitive writing tips as you move along in the story development design stages.
- The more sophisticated novel writing software tools will take you through the steps required to develop a story idea from spark to storyline through to synopsis, guiding you with examples from some of the great works in your chosen genre. This is great for the beginner.
- You will be able to do your character sketches, and write the character backstories, timelines, and outlines in the novel software, even write the chapters if you like. In addition most writer’s software tools now enable you to print out pre-formatted manuscripts when you are done writing, which is great for those like me who aren’t too keen on that sort of thing. This means organization and management: having all your work in one place and accessible at the click of a button. In fact for established novel writers this may be the single most attractive thing about novel writing software – the story-management features.
- If you have already written your novel and are looking for ideas how to improve it novel writing software can help you troubleshoot your story idea. Parse the story idea through the writer’s software program to see how it conforms to your chosen plot type. These “story engines” and “wizards” from such writer’s programs as Dramatica and StoryCraft Pro novel writing software were designed basing on the best examples available from each genre, some of the finest fiction out there. In using the writing software you are in fact learning from the experts and masters, not so much from the people who wrote the novel writing software.
This then is what to expect from novel software to
help you work on your novel. There are quite a number of writing software tools
available today for this purpose and they come in several flavors, from the strictly
organizational or story-management programs that enable you to store your novel
in one place to the more sophisticated ones for story development that come
with so-called “story engines” and “wizards” that take your story idea and run
it through the engine or wizard to determine which plot structure it naturally
should follow. Below I present two categories of novel writing software and
some of the programs that fall in each. There is a bit of overlap though, with
some of the writer’s software programs exhibiting elements of both categories.
The various flavors
of novel writing software
This first list are story-management programs that store all
your story notes, character sketches and the drafts in one place, giving you
easy access at the click of a mouse button, in addition to other features like
backup, auto-save, target counters, readability indices, etc. Some of them have
built in word-processing functionality.
- Liquid Story Binder: This is one of the oldest book writing software programs around and it has undergone probably too much transformation, but basically it makes a writer’s life easier through giving you a good writer-friendly word processor and story-management features all in one place. I liked the earlier versions better than the latest XE version. You can use a thirty-day trial, though before you decide to buy.
- yWriter: Free novel writing software freeware. . You can download and use it anytime to get a feel of what writer’s software is all about.
- WriteItNow: The latest is version 4.WriteitNow has evolved over the years and is now quite a robust program giving you features like a character- development module, an applet where you can set writing targets, a story board, and a fully functional word processor. You can test-drive the writing software before you buy, by downloading a demo.
- StoryWeaver: A structured four-stage process of story development (Inspiration, Development, Exposition and Storytelling) is presented for you to follow and flesh out your story idea. StoryWeaver novel writing software represents the first efforts at designing a software-based template that guides you on how to write a novel and it is very easy to use.
- MyNovel: This novel program has templates you can follow for developing your story idea. You can choose from basic templates, character-driven templates or plot-driven templates. It also comes with a full-featured, writer-friendly word processor and such other features as a writing-target counter, a facility for tracking your submissions, etc. One nice feature it has is one that allows you to specify your target age group for calculating readability, which is good if you are writing for children for example.
- Storybase: In Storybase novel writing software you develop your story idea by following the prompts provided by the book writing software and selecting options from a large database or dictionary of character types and narrative situations. By the time you get to the end of this step-by-step process of organic growth you would have a deeper understanding of what novel you want to write and where to take the story idea.
This second list of novel writing software programs is made up of story-development and brain-storming
tools for when you want to take a story idea and explore its possibilities in
terms of plot and structure. A few of them in addition also provide some of the
story-management functions of the programs listed above. Some of these novel programs are quite detailed and use complex algorithms or “engines”
and “wizards” for story development that it wouldn’t do them justice to try and
give you two or three-sentence summaries of their functionality. Power
Structure for instance comes with a PDF document totaling 97 pages and
Dramatica’s manual is 343 pages long, in addition to several downloadable audio
files. I have tried StoryCraft Pro, NewNovelist, Power Structure and Dramatica
Pro; the others I have yet to try. This is the short list for the second
category of writing software programs:
- Dramatica Pro
- Writers Dream Kit
- StoryCraft Pro
- Power Structure
- The Marshal Plan For Writing
- NewNovelist
I tend to think that any novelist can benefit from trying
out these writer’s software tools. Even if you don’t go ahead to make them your
staple desktop application, there is a lot you could learn about your chosen
technique that could positively impact your productivity or your writing style.
If you are new to book writing software the big question
that needs to be answered now is which of these novel programs to use – or if you
should use writing software at all. And it all depends on what sort of writer
you are and of course how much you have to spend. If you are just starting to
write then I would recommend you use a program like StoryCraft Pro or
NewNovelist novel writing software because these will guide you through the steps for crafting a good
story, in addition to forcing you to adopt good story-telling habits and a more
efficient approach to plot development. These two are also reasonably priced. Dramatica
and to some extent Power Structure are complicated and are more suited to story
analysis and troubleshooting than plot development in my opinion.
The experienced fiction writer on the other hand may not
need all this novel writing help and the writing tips provided by the book
writing software and would prefer instead the simplicity of a writing software tool
that allows freedom for you to work the way you are used to, a non-interactive
writer’s software tool that lets you concentrate on storytelling and follow a
pre-planned outline – or worry about plot structure later. For these writers WriteItNow
or MyNovel may be more your type of thing.
This article shows you how to use book writing
software (Storybase novel software) to generate novel writing ideas (story ideas).
And this other one details how to develop your story
idea using another writing software tool (Power Structure novel program)
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