Tuesday 7 May 2013

Software for Writing Novels

Novels can be complicated, so many people have written specialized software to help people write their novels. None of these actually "write" the novel--rather, they are organizers. An acquaintance of mine, Michelle, clued me on to novel-writing software.

I must confess that I am skeptical about this kind of software. I am also cheap, and I hate to pay for things that I suspect I don't really need.

I decided to check out what CNET Download says. Titles I found there include The Writer's Novel, StoryView, Dramatica Pro (which claims to help solve plot and character problems), Writing Type, StoryLines, and MyNovel. I keep telling myself that I just need to learn how to make a relational database using MS Access and I will be set. Before I try that, though, I downloaded a program called Writer's Cafe 2. I made a minimum effort to use it. It may or may not be useful for me. It's possible that I will comment on the software later.

Software makes sense for people who use computers anyway to create--I am using a laptop right now, so moving to a different piece of software is not a big deal. I don't know how useful creative software is for the plastic arts, for example, although digital visual artists do use computers, of course.