software for writing books

[Paul Dale]

I started in Word, and ditched that for OpenOffice for my first book. I've just downloaded Scrivener to help me organise my brain dumps for the next one. As it says itself, looks like a good first draft tool, but will probably use OpenOffice, Sigil and Calibre for production.

[Metal Mick]

Hi all,

I recently made a concerted effort to get back to writing again, and went through this thread again to see what had transpired.

Like many, I'm impressed with WriteWay and Scrivener. However, I discovered MyNovel 4.

This seems to combine many of the nice traits of both Scrivener and WW, but gives developing writers a bit more of a hand. For experienced writers, it may well be somewhat too basic.

What resonated with me was the way I was able to easily start using it effectively; what concerns me is the relative lack of reviews or opinions on it, and that it rolls all the work into one file. Zdnet has a good review, but the only others I have found seem more like advertorials than reviews.

If anyone who has a view on this software, I'd like to hear it - both good and bad.

For now, I'm trying the demos of both Scrivener and WW - the former seems to me to have great power but needs familiarity to get the best from, the latter less so, but not such an attractive workspace.

Regards,

Michael P

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Metal Mick

[...]Like many, I'm impressed with WriteWay and Scrivener. However, I discovered MyNovel 4.[...]

I hadn't found that one before. I'll put it on my list to review ... probably a while off now, busy time of the year here now and if I expect to eat I'd better concentrate on what I get paid for (which isn't writing ). Two things I'll note from a brief look at the website: the ribbon interface is not one of my favourite things, the diagram editor is a curious and possibly interesting addition.

[Metal Mick]

[QUOTE=gmw;2098348 <Snip> the ribbon interface is not one of my favourite things, the diagram editor is a curious and possibly interesting addition.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I noticed the ribbon, but it seems to function somewhat better than I recall in my brief experience with MSOffice.

Well, I'm playing with MyNovel now, and will let you all know how I feel about it.

Cheers,

[Metal Mick]

Hi all,

I've cast my critical eye over MYNovel and formed the following opinions:

Good things about MyNovel4 demo

1. Lots of aid. For example, date selection for the novel setting is comprehensive and there is a potted world history as a brief reference. Want to use “star dates” for your Captain's Log? No problem.
2. It seems to remember where you were in many instances – I tried creating a novel, but couldn't save it, but when I returned to the application, some of the default selections were in front of me.
3. Allows use of MyNovel (rolls all files into one) as an editor, or Word or LibreOffice
4. When generating a character, there are items such as birth date (and death), status of character (protagonist, antagonist, etc), and physical characteristics, feelings, attitudes, relationships and more
5. Right-click gives context menus
6. Interface is customizable to some extent
7. It will use the Win7 TTS to read your work back to you – I think this (also on other applications) is a great tool because I feel it will aid my proof-reading
8. Spelling dictionaries: I looked up Options in the dialog and found it used an Australian spelling dictionary (where I am located). A pleasant surprise.
9. The word processor permits bullets and numbered lists and seems to offer a little more than the rudimentary word processing tools.
10. Calling or ideas for V5...

Bad Things:

1. The ribbon takes up a fair amount of space on a low-res laptop screen, but on 720p resolution screens is not too bad
2. Tried typing “wormhole” and searching using Microsoft Encarta (didn't know that still existed!) within MyNovel and got a response “no match...in Bing”
3. Not being able to save the demo is a real pain. Should be time expiry. Novels are big things, and this is capable software, with a fair amount of complexity. Takes time to learn, even though this seems an easy application to find your way around in.
4. Diagrams take up a lot of screen real estate, but the panels are dockable so you can use all the screen if you desire.

Neutral

1. The diagram tool seems okay – and again quite useful for newer writers, but... I have a doctor in my story, and he has a workplace. I created both and linked them to see how things turned out. Results were obvious (a text and line link between the two, but my feeling is that when I get things really going and there are many characters with unique relationships, I may be glad of its inclusion.
2. “Get Inspiration” seems to me a bit obscure and is only available to registered users, but it seems to be a simplistic means of giving ideas by linking to web pages.
3. Text analysis tells you how often you use particular words in your prose. Interesting, and perhaps useful for those who overuse a particular word habitually, and locates it in the text for you, but you have to close the dialog to make any edits and this could prove tedious. Also gives readability level of the piece though I am unsure of how accurate this might be.
4. Export to a file is disabled so I cannot even be certain if this is a basic “export to doc/opt/etc” or something with real formatting power, but the website says, “export your manuscript to major file formats including ePub, Adobe PDF, RTF, HTML, Word 2003-2010, Open Office etc...” I don't know how comprehensive the “etc” is...
5. “We guarantee you'll be impressed with our software...” says the website, but I couldn't find out if it was a money-back guarantee, or if this is just hyperbole.
6. Users of V3 reported their files being screwed up by the application, and losing work. No mention of this in V4 though
7 I could not establish if there was an upgrades policy for new releases. It appears that there is a 50% discount for upgrade from V4 - at least upgrades from V3 were offered this.
8. I was creating a trait for a character, and got a crash, with a popup email window that also had information on the crash as an attachment for me to email. I decided to try to continue working and everything seemed quite normal.

That's about it.

In brief I found it easy to use this software and think it has quite reasonable merit. It would cost me around $40 to register, which is not unreasonable.

Any specific questions, please ask. I'm off to play with WriteWay and Scrivener, the other two on my shortlist.

Regards to all,

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Metal Mick

[...]3. Not being able to save the demo is a real pain. Should be time expiry. Novels are big things, and this is capable software, with a fair amount of complexity. Takes time to learn, even though this seems an easy application to find your way around in.

Thanks very much Metal Mick for taking the time to share your thoughts on MyNovel. The fact that it can use an external editor is appealing to me. The item I quoted above, not being able to save in the demo, is - to me - the most serious fault. If you can't save, you can't work on something properly over several sittings, and so you can't properly evaluate. These days there is almost no excuse for such crippleware.

Have fun looking at WriteWay and Scrivener.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by gmw

If you can't save, you can't work on something properly over several sittings, and so you can't properly evaluate. These days there is almost no excuse for such crippleware.

Have fun looking at WriteWay and Scrivener.

Crippleware was pretty much standard procedure in the '90s. If you want FOSS, then look for FOSS but please don't complain about a demo having features disabled.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by teh603

Crippleware was pretty much standard procedure in the '90s. If you want FOSS, then look for FOSS but please don't complain about a demo having features disabled.

Why not? If you don't complain then the developers don't know what they're doing wrong. (As a software developer myself, I know the importance of critical feedback to product development.) Following trends from the 90s (especially for software that started life in 2007), is not generally to be recommended. Developers do not have to open their source code to distribute non-crippleware products - I can give you links to many, many examples, indeed Scrivener is an apt example here.

[Penforhire]

I notice MyNovel's site does not appear to have a user forum. I see a "Writer's Circle" but it appears to be a writer's support group.

I've been lurking in the Scrivener for Windows support forum and I'm impressed with the community and developer support. Not that they are quickly coding changes or bug-fixes but rather that they are responsive and suggest work-arounds.

[Metal Mick]

Originally Posted by gmw

Thanks very much Metal Mick for taking the time to share your thoughts on MyNovel. The fact that it can use an external editor is appealing to me. The item I quoted above, not being able to save in the demo, is - to me - the most serious fault. If you can't save, you can't work on something properly over several sittings, and so you can't properly evaluate. These days there is almost no excuse for such crippleware.

Have fun looking at WriteWay and Scrivener.

HI gmw, et al,

you're entirely welcome. This is a great forum, and many have been quite selfless in their help for me, so I pay back whatever and whenever I can. (I was a little concerned about the length of my last post - I tend to go on a bit. )

I wrote to the author via his "Contact Us" form, politely letting him know I felt he was disadvantaging his software by releasing such a demo. If he replies, I shall update here.

Regards to all,

[BookCat]

It's my birthday in a few weeks and I'm thinking of persuading friends to chip in to purchase writing software. As lots of people seem fond of Scrivener (Windows), I've been considering that. But what can it do that other programs can't?
For example, I'm a huge fan of Word's outline view, and often use this to brainstorm and format writing. I also use Write Or Die, then paste the results into the relevant part of the Word outline.

For prompts, I use a small program called Mikkomatrix, which I've customised for a greater variety of random prompts.

What does Scrivener do which is unique to this program? Is the Windows version worth having?

I know many are big fans of it, please bring me up to speed. Thanks.

[Metal Mick]

Originally Posted by BookCat

<snip>

What does Scrivener do which is unique to this program? Is the Windows version worth having?

I know many are big fans of it, please bring me up to speed. Thanks.

Hi Bookcat, et al,

Firstly, from what I have read and experienced, Scrivener is worth having (in win or Mac), and I will happily defer to those who are far more expert in it than I, regarding its capabilities.

I'd suggest though, that you try downloading a trial version of it, and using the tutorials to see if it is right for you; then try other applications, as I am doing now.

Don't think you have to change your current workflow because Scrivener has its fans, nor that you are obliged to like it in preference to others. Many have already said they prefer other applications, and each has its merits.

Cheers,

[gmw]

Originally Posted by BookCat

[...]What does Scrivener do which is unique to this program? Is the Windows version worth having?

I know many are big fans of it, please bring me up to speed. Thanks.

I don't use it, but I'd be tempted to start if/when I start a new project - and I do mean the Windows version. Of all the Windows software I've looked at (see the first page of this thread for some of my related comments), it is the one that I personally thought would be the easiest one to get up and running and productive with - and to me that's what made it stand out most over everything else.

[aecardenas]

Originally Posted by BookCat

What does Scrivener do which is unique to this program? Is the Windows version worth having?

I know many are big fans of it, please bring me up to speed. Thanks.

I used to use Word exclusively for writing, but found it too "linear" and restrictive in terms of how I write or compose. And that's the key in terms of writing novels---at least for me. When i write books or plays or screenplays, i rarely work from beginning to end, or if I do, then I need some allowance to swap scenes or insert scenes into the first part to resolve something that I've conceived in the latter half, etc. etc. Basically, writing is a non-linear exercise, as your characters and their personalities tend to influence how your story resolves itself, or might even open up plotlines that you hadn't thought of before. Also, you might want to write a chapter or scene, and keep it on the side...but dont' want to get it lost in a folder somewhere, so it's nice to have all documents accessible in one place.

One of the first software applications that actually gave me a good way of handling my material was a product called Z-Write, which allowed you to work independently on a number of chapters/scenes, outlines, reference material, etc, and then merge them later into one cohesive output file that you can then reformat and make publishing ready. Unfortunately, they stopped developing it.

But fortunately a new product came along that did everything Z-write did and a lot more...and that's Scrivener.

What I like about Scrivener is that it allows me to be a writer with it, meaning it gives me plenty of space within the program to do my notes, outlines, have my research files (images, videos, text, html, etc.) in one place, the ability to compose scenes, have various VERSIONS of those scenes, select and choose which part of the scenes I want to keep in the final version, and be able to compose all of these elements into a particular form, such as a Novel, a screenplay, a stage play, a comic book script, etc.

And the best part is that you can do it all in one program, that way you're not searching around a folder for a ton of different word documents or excel sheets.

You can go to Scrivener's website and see for yourself the variety of different features it has. For me, its the best bang for your book. It's a program that was designed with "Writers" in mind, rather than have the writer forced to use a specific application or format.

Word is great for finalizing your finished document, by the way. And that's ultimately what I use Word for. Once I've "written" the book, then I compile it into RTF (you can actually, by the way, compile your work into a variety of different formats, such as PDF, HTML, .epub, etc. etc.) and then use Word to "finish" the book, creating table of contents and then make it ready for publication.

I hope this helps in your decision. Good luck!

[morantis]

I know I used a copy of something called "WhiteSmoke" that was supposed to be a fantastic grammar and spelling checker and it was either completely non-working or totally wrong, lol.