Has anyone here ever used the computer program NewNovelist to help them write their novel? I purchased it a while back, and used it sparsely but I feel it is very mechanical and constraining, a sort of jump-through-the-hoops, press-the-right-buttons and then taa daa!! A novel! Though for me it hasn't worked much apart from maybe the character details but that could be done in word! What are your feelings on the program?
I will never understand why people buy Novel writing software and what is wrong with Word or Notebook.
I think there are programs that are good for helping us organize things, but the ones that are genuinely useful are not the ones for novels. They are, as you describe, too mechanical and constraining. The kinds of softwear that isn't so specific, or is more designed for essay writing is probably. Instead of thesis statement or whatever, you have main plot or conflict, and then can do timelines and character sketches where you would have supporting arguements and stuff like that. Something like that, anyway. The one I'm thinking of gives you the freedom to organize things in a way that makes the most sense for you.
I agree with Rei and Lemex. Word does everything you need as a writer except help you manage revisions, or manage chapters in a longer piece of writing. A little bit of organization with folders and document naming can help in tracking revisions and chapters. though, so you really don;t need additional software. As for "creativity engines", stick with the one that sits atop your spinal column. All the other neat toys are just that. Ok, that is a little overstated. If you like flowcharts and other visual representations, you migh find Visio useful for generating them. If you need to set yourself a schedule to keep you on track, then use Project. Maybe you can make use of a source control system like subversion to manage revisions, although its a lot of setup for just that one purpose. But most tools will just distract you from the act of writing.
I do most of my writing in a program called TreeDBNotes, a general purpose notetaking program which has a tree structure down the left of the window, and tabs at the top for storing different "notebooks". It means I can jump to a different chapter, or to my notes about a location or character, in one or at most two clicks. I've found it immensely useful and timesaving. For me, it was well worth the registration fee. I've never used one of these novel-writing programs, and they don't appeal. TreeDBNotes sorts out the organisation for me, I don't see how any computer program can help me with the rest of it (deciding how the action will proceed, how x should say y, etc...)
I got a program called Write It Now for free, so I've been using that. I sometimes use Word, but WIN is just more convenient in that I can separate my chapters without having to create a completely new document or an unsightly gap in the text. That's pretty much the only reason. I wouldn't use it at all if it didn't have the ability to export my text to Word.
I actually use NewNovelist. It was a Christmas gift last year and I said what the heck, why not? It's really not all that great though. I mean, unless you like to create deep, intricate bakgrounds on every single thing in your novel. I don't, so that's part's rather useless. The only thing that helps me is how it divides everything into sections, so it's much easier to jump to a chapter rather than scrolling for ages down a Word document. 60 bucks, though, is way too much for this program. Its dictionary sucks and it doesn't even have a word count, forcing me to copy and paste the whole thing into a Word document anyway.
I write all my stuff in word, but use Story Lines for organising. I can add several projects, add scenes to them and also make short notes attached to each scene. Very useful for me, who sometimes find it hard to write if I don't know what will happen when.
I haven't used it, although I've seen it somewhere before. Truthfully I really don't see the benefit in using a program to write. The most I've ever used aside from the internet for research has been Microsoft Word and even that isn't vital to writing. Plenty of author's wrote great novels before computer's were even invented. The only program I would ever really use for anything involving writing beside word would be the TreeDBNotes that iolair mentioned because this seems like it would make plotting easier.
Word 2007 does an awesome job of tracking revisions. So that is my gold standard write now. As far as chapters go in my stories I just have seperate stories all under one category. That way I can keep my folders in order. If you look on my Flash drive you will see loads of files that have Story - Name, or Poem - Name, Article - Name. I do that to keep stuff in alphabetical order and categorized properly.
