[BookCat]

I have StoryWeaver on my laptop. It's okay for the initial inspiration but at a certain point it gets very silly, asking that the details (age, gender, occupation etc) of your characters are swapped around. While this provokes creative thought, these characters couldn't seriously be used as is. But I think the software is meant to make you think "outside the box".

I wish there was a trial version of Snowflake Pro because I have Randy's Dummies book, meaning that I could buy the software at half price, but I don't want to invest in something I haven't tried. There aren't even any decent youtube videos regarding it.

I never got on with YWriter, it's too boxy and anal for me. I hate having to fill in details in so many boxes, then do it all again in other boxes. Never tried LSB.

Scrivener is a workhorse, like Word, and I get along fine with it. I didn't experience the heavy learning curve others speak of. To me the tree-structure of the binder was a familiar concept.

I'd love to hear your opinion of Scapple.

I'm gearing up for this year's nano; I'll probably use a combination of Scrivener, FocusWriter and The Novel Factory to finish the first draft of a novel I began some time ago.