Software to help you write your novel!

I'm even more old fashioned. I use Wordpad.

But that's only because I can use it to format my work to HTML for online viewing. There's no spellchecker or dictionary, which is a shame, but I just took the dictionary included with MS Works and put it on the desktop. I use that a lot when writing, nowadays. I'm good enough at spelling that I usually don't need to use a spellchecker much, but when I'm in doubt I use the dictionary...

I'm always sorely tempted by novel-writing software, but in truth, I really can't see what the benefit of most of it would be. Most seem to be just glorified word processors, and while they might look snazzy, they don't really help you write.

I came across a page for a really nice-looking writing program a day or so ago and it had little areas for things like plot, genre, writing type (like novel or short story), wordcount, characters, outline, submissions, all these really cool things to keep track of, but I couldn't buy it and like I said, I can just do that sort of thing in a file of my own, I really don't need to spend money to get a program to do it for me (even if it did look nice...*sigh*).

 

Well, so far in this thread people have assumed that I obviously find word processors too confusing, or that I don't know the first thing about grammar!

I saw an advert in a writer's magazine, and thought to ask before I bought it, if I bought it, whether it was worth it!

The problem I have is length (no sarcasm ). I can never seem to get a peice of writing long enough. Amazes me how everything I read about novel-writing tells me to "cut down like mad" because my 1st draft will be hundreds of thousands of words long! I can't get to 20 pages!

 

There's a freeware program called jarte that is essentially wordpad (rtf) but with the added features. It has spell check and word count and formatting options. All in one nifty, free, compact bit of freeware.

http://www.jarte.com/

 

That happens to me too, so what I do is that i keep a really big files with all the possible dialogue and ideas I might use in the main story and edit the main story accordingly. The reference file is several times larger than the actual amount of writing I have :/,

 

This simply means that your muse has yet to deliver to you your novel. No software in the world will make a short story into a novel, and counting words is, in my opinion, a fruitless venture.

I have never read a book, and then later extolled, “That book was seven hundred pages long, the longest I have ever read, ergo the best I have ever read!”

I absolutely never, ever, count words when I am writing. I only ever ask Word to give me the word count when it is a requirement for submission. During the writing process, never, ever, ever. It is the least important of all criteria in any piece of writing.

 

Acglaphotis and Neo,

Twenty pages of good writing might equal a good short story. Nothing wrong with polishing those efforts up and submitting them.

Terry

 

Neo,

Your problem has little to do with "writing" per se. Rather, it is a problem of choice. You have chosen to only tell "part" of a story. If your writing is only 20 pages long, then view it as a chapter. Every chapter of every story is merely a snapshot in time. I would ask myself, "What comes next?" Even if my MC dies, time continues on. Perhaps the MC's child carries on. Or the villain begins a reign of terror that eventually must end. REMEMBER...AN AUTHOR MAY BRING A STORY TO A CONCLUSION, BUT HISTORY IS NEVER FINISHED! There is ALWAYS a continuation possible for every story. Within a book, it is called the next chapter. Outside the book, it is called a sequel.

I recently wrote a story about POW's on an alien planet. One of the captives escapes into the nearby jungle and is hunted by alien masters. When I wrote the beginning of this story, I had no idea what would happen if the aliens caught the human. All I wanted to do was develop a sense of the importance of freedom to the human spirit. When I got done with the escape scene (18 pages), I did not know where to go with the story. But I DID know one thing...my MC was still alive, so there must be more "story" to tell.

The next chapter unfolded: It began in the obvious place...my MC survived alone in the jungle for several days. I chronicled him overcoming basic needs until his pursuers caught up with him! It was night when they entered the same clearing that hid my human. The MC had learned to sleep in trees to avoid lethal carnivores on the floor of the jungle. He watched from above as his enemy set up camp. Then, a family of predators attacked the scouts, driving them back into the jungle. My MC escaped and ran in the opposite direction as far as his legs could carry him. In the early morning light, he got glimpses of a distant mountain peak and some strange force drew him toward it. When he started up the slopes of the foothills, he is discovered by another human dressed in odd clothes made from animal skins. This man speaks the same language as the MC and brings my escapee into a secret world of "free humans". Turns out, the same human need for freedom that compelled my MC to escape from the labor camp...this need has driven others to escape over many years. Some survived and they built a secret world of free humans.

Oooops...that little story tidbit about the colony of free humans needed expansion, leading into more chapters. When I got done telling this tale, I was over 440 letter-sized pages (144,000 words). I edited out more than 50 pages and when I got the MS back from the print layout people this week, it will still be 508 pages in a PB 4 1/2 by 7 1/5.

It all started with a single 20 page "story" that kept unfolding because I chose the tell the next major event in the time line. Even now, while the book came to a climax, the "story" is not over. I am working on the sequel.

So Neo, take your short "story" and ask yourself, "What happens next?"

 

On the subject of useful software to help with novel writing:

Has anyone here heard of Source Control software? It's a database system, primarily used by software engineers (like me) to keep track of changes to source code. You start by creating a "repository" and then add files to it. Once the repository contains the files you want to work on (more can be added later, as you add more chapters) you "check out" a working copy of it to a folder on your file system.

The system tracks changes to these working copies, and compares them to the last known repository versions for differences. Through shell extensions to windows explorer installed with the version control client, it puts a little green tick or red exclamation mark over the file icon, to indicate whether the file has been changed since it was last updated from the repository, or since the last time any changes to it were committed to the respository.

When you make a change to one of the files and "commit" the changes to the respository (through the right click menu in windows explorer), the system will record the differences between the current repository version, and the updated version you're committing. What this means is that the system stores every single version of the file ever committed. If i deleted a section last weekend, but now want it back, i just have to find the nearest commit date before the deletion, and "check out" that version of the repository. You can even add "notes" each time you commit, which are also stored in the database, to remind you of the changes you made. This can be especially useful during redrafting.

Obviously this only works if you remember to commit after every writing session. I for example, commit every night before i go to bed, when i'm sure i've finished writing for the day.

I realise all that sounds rather complicated, but it's actually really simple - honest! Imagine having a filing cabinet which contains your novel. Next to the filing cabinet you have a photocopier. Every time you want to work on your novel, you photocopy the sections you want to edit, make your changes, then file the photocopies back into the filing cabinet in date order. Now, if i want to get at either copy - the original, or the editted one - i just look in the folder with the right date!

 

i don't have to imagine it... i have something that does all of that and more, in a single much simpler, easy-to-use gadget... and i use it all day, every day... it's called my laptop, w/ ms word... ;-)

 

Whatever method (such as Mammamaia's Word document files or Flightlessfoofaraw's Source Control database), backing up files on a regular routine is something to be done. Much saddness, frustration and despair can be avoided while hours/days/weeks/months or more can be saved.

Terry

**I know a bit off topic, but figured it was a good place to insert the suggestion/reminder.

 

Like SVN or git? Isn't that a bit overkill?

 

To be honest i'm probably not doing a great job of describing exactly what source control is! It wouldn't replace a text editor, like ms word. Rather, you would use it to track the changes to your ms word *.doc files. The alternative to using source control, would be to save a new file after every day of editting with a different date code. So, for example:

chapter1_10012008.doc
chapter1_11012008.doc
etc.

The source control system however, only records the changes made to the files, rather than storing multiple whole copies of the files themselves, and therefore takes up less space on disk. The result is a continuous record of your work, from the very earliest content, to the very latest revisions and edits. And - let's imagine you commit once a day in the evening - you can retrieve copies of your files as they were on any given day since you started work on them.

Whether or not any of that is useful to you is debatable. Let's say for example you decide to remove a whole section. Then, a few days later, you realise there might have been some stuff in that section you could have used. If you've been using source control, you can "check out" a copy of your files before the delete, and easily get the lost data back. I have to say, that's only been useful once or twice for me in the couple of years i've been using it, but imo even that warrents the small effort it takes to commit changes to your files once a day.

It also provides a date stamped record of all the work you've done on something from start to finish, which might be of some use if you're ever in the unenviable position of having to prove your work is your own. I'm aware you've worked in the business though, and therefore you'll have a much better idea of whether or not that's realistic.

Yeah, or CVS. Whether or not it's overkill depends on the individual I think for the computer literate it's very easy to use with a GUI client like tortoise, although i concede a little complex to set up. I only suggest it because i find it very useful.

 

A revision control system like CVS doesn't usually store diffs for .doc files - the binary content usually requires full version storage. The Word 2007 docx files would probably fare better, though.

 

Thanks for the tip there, cog! I hadn't realised they were anything other than plain text, although i guess given all the formatting in them i probably should have.

The size point was more a semantic one though, i feel. Word docs are so small compared with disk sizes, it should present too much of a problem. And OO odt files are even smaller. I just like the convenience of having a historical backup of my work, although i concede that it wont be as attractive/useful for everyone!

 

Actually, I do agree, but the configuration and maintenance of a revision control system is not within everyone's technical level. Nor is navigating a revision tree, especially with binary file storage - the version control system isn't usually well-equipped for showing differences in non-text content, so you have to be fairly meticulous in providing good revision comments as well.

I use revision control for all manner of content in a corporate environment, so I am pretty familiar with the practical drawbacks, unfortunately.

 

Well, if you are going to use a revision control system, why not just dump odt and docx and go LaTeX? They have a load of formatting options and they can render pretty well after your done with the content. And if you want to pass the file around you just have to render it as pdf. This sounds like a good idea for a plugin for some text editor, a miniature offline revision control system for day-to-day writing. I like it : p.

 

I use Liquid Story Binder which, I think, is great.

I mainly use it because you can write in full screen mode but apart from that you can use it to organize your files and snippets, and you can customize the interface and use only the tools you find useful. You can have dossiers for your characters, add notes, storyboards, timelines, and much more. But you can use the tools that *you* find handy so every user/writer probably uses a different interface.

I once tried... Dramatica (I think), but I didn't like it. At all. Because it tries to write the story for you and it's not even that handy.

Liquid Story Binder, on the other hand, is just a very useful tool that allows you to have all your information, resources, writings, notes, etc. in one place.

 

I use OpenOffice when I write, which works just fine=) However, since I am the kind of person who needs to plan her stories I use StoryLines for that. It's like Liquid Story Binder in the sense that you can plan every aspect of your story; you can add plot lines, scenes, character information and everything you could ever wish. You can even write out whichever scenes you want, to store before actually using them in your text.
StoryLines doesn't have somewhere for you to write the story though, but that's the only thing that differs it from Liquid Story Binder.

 

I gave that Liquid Story Binder a download and have been playing with it all day.

I think I love it.

I must report that I find this platform is really great for someone as organizationally challenged as I am.

 

Software for multidimensional novel development

I am writing a complex novel with multiple threads involving multiple characters. I would like to know if there are any software programs that facilitate the process of developing the structure for such a novel.

Specifically, I would like it:

(a) to show all the action for a given character across chapters and settings

Thus, to show how a given character is being developed across time.

(b) to show the all the action and characters involved in a given thread

Thus, if the overall plot involves a crime, a thread might be the forensic investigation. I want to see the scenes involved in this thread as organized across time.

(c) to show how different threads are related to one

Thus, how might a forensic investigation relate conceptually and temporally to other aspects of the overall investigation.

(d) to show all the action organized sequentially

 

That might be very hard to find (not to mention code). It's far easier to do this yourself because just doing something like this

Would be next to impossible! You'd have to outline when that happens yourself because I don't think there is an english parser THAT smart and powerful.

 

Clarification: I didn't mean that the entire substance of the novel would be put into the program, only summary items (e.g., Jake searches for blood stains in the bedroom) .

I have come across a program called Storyboard for script writing. Does this program do the sort of thing I want.

 

Liquid Story Binder Rocks all over outer space!

Give it a try!!

 

what's wrong with just doing up your own outline?... that's how the pros do it!

 

lol. My novel writing software is called MS Word XD.