I suppose having to revise my story is what really blew my gasket. I interviewed my local police crime scene investigation (CSI) officer during a slow Easter week when the citizenry weren’t committing homicide. Having nothing more demanding to do, he shot gaping holes into my plot. By the time he was done, I had rather a lot of work to do. Since I had to rewrite some of my story, I decided to incorporate all of the changes I had noted.
Therein lies the problem. With 65,000 words already written, I had to take apart the story in fine enough detail to allow insertion of new Threads (plot lines) and plot elements.
I thought I would die. The tools authors have to work with are laughable.
For people old enough to have used typewriters, this must seem a callous remark. If I hadn’t just retired from many years of using automation to help solve problems which were fundamentally the same sort of issues, I might have just struggled through the process. But, other industries have usable, high functioning, affordable software, why can’t authors? What is this, the Dark Ages?
But, it’s true. I couldn’t find any high functioning software for authors. After listening to me complain, my husband agreed to set up a few tables in Microsoft Access if I would agree to learn enough about programming to take over the bulk of the work building the tables, queries and reports.
This provided incredible relief. While the work of learning to program is unpleasant and tedious, there are many things I can do which I was unable to do before. During this, I have brought my problems to my husband. Sometimes he restructures my thinking which improves how I use the software and sometimes he takes over my software for the evening and does a little magic programming which leverages my abilities by orders of magnitude. The database software as it stands will never be resalable to other writers. Microsoft Access is neither a stable software platform, nor does it have enough functionality for modern software requirements. The software is, however, an excellent prototype and will become an important exhibit in getting funding for full development of the software someday.
I have always greatly enjoyed discussing the creative process. Now I’m discussing how computer software might assist the creative process for fiction writers. Most visual artists aren’t much good at discussing the creative process itself, but now I’m at home among writers. I'd expect they’re better at it, wouldn’t you?
That’s what brought me here. Why are you here?
Sorry, but we've been bombarded by spam, so not only must you create a login to post, but you must use the Contact form to request a login. We apologise for its necessity, but spammers must be circumvented :)
- Theresa de Valence's blog
- Login to post comments
-
Deep in the rewrite
Hi Therese,
I'm here because I'm doing a re-write on my current book, and keep going backwards and forwards in the ms. as I follow various plot and character threads. In my day job I'm a huge fan of finding the right tool to get the job done - and these days, it's usually a technological tool. But when it comes to re-writing, we seem to be stuck with things that essentially have a linear basis. Like you, I'm convinced that there has to be a better way, but I also haven't found anything that works better.
Part of my challenge is that I can't quite visualize what "better" might look like. I'm intrigued by your use of Access - how are you using the tables?
Sharon Rowse
Author - THE SILK TRAIN MURDER
Carrol & Graf, 2007
Using software to help in the revision process
Thanks for visiting Sharon. It's going to take a long time to detail exactly how the software is structured, so laying out the specifics will take a little while. For a start, have a look at the items marked in the Glossary menu tab--these are elements of the data structure. Please have patience and I hope you'll visit often! If you register, you'll be able to keep track of your own remarks.
Let me just say that pulling apart the story so I could get all of the action on one Thread (plot line) together so I could look at it in one place was completely disgusting and frustrating until I was working within the software. Now, of course, I can just run a report which shows every thing in one Thread with a WordCount too. Pretty deluxe, eh!
As far as what "better" looks like, I hope that we'll have a very lively discussion!
Deluxe indeed!
Deluxe indeed! I'm most interested to see how your project evolves...
Sharon
software for writers
Have you tried Power Writer? (www.write-brain.com) I couldn't live without it. Making revisions in Word makes me want to scream. PW has an open outline by chapter/plot point always open on the left. The author can move chunks of text in the manuscript by dragging and dropping the corresponding plot point/chapter on the outline. PW also has non story tools that track things like scene and character development.
If I had to write a book in Word - well, I wouldn't.
melinda
melindaleighauthor@yahoo.com
www.melindaleighauthor.com
Software with useful features?
I agree that I would die if I had to live with Microsoft Word!
Sadly, though, I don't remember many of the names of the software packages I researched—there were couple dozen—and it was more than 18 months ago. I will say that of all the products I researched, none went far enough to solve authors' problems, i.e. the whole problem. I think the issues authors need to solve are quite extensive, and I, for one, want to know that the software in which I'm going to invest my time (and money) is a product which will solve most of the issues I encounter.
I'm not suggesting the product you use isn't valuable, in fact I'd like to hear more about it. It's possible that the product you use is fully featured and I missed it in my evaluation. Tell us (in detail) why you like it so much.
Power Writer
Power Writer has all the functions of a word processor, with two main additions.
The first, and in my opinion the most useful, function is the outline. If the writer chooses, a working outline remains at the left-hand side of the text window. The outline is divided by chapter and plot point and keeps track of all text within each chapter or plot point. Power Writer TM is flexible. In my version, I changed the terminology to read chapter and scene. To edit a section, the writer simply clicks on the corresponding point in the outline, thereby moving to any specific point in the document in a second. Additionally, chapters and scenes can be moved in the document by dragging and dropping them in the outline. Anyone who has edited a four hundred page document can appreciate this. The document can be downloaded into another word processor, like word, for email purposes.
The second major feature is the story tools window that can appear, at the writer’s option, at the bottom of the screen. The author can note important information here such as backstory, synopsis, theme, chapter hooks and a ticking clock. There is also an area that prompts the user to record character information such as description, goals, strengths, weaknesses and character arc. There are really too many features here to detail here. The only problem with the story tools is that, as far as I can tell, they cannot be printed. For those of us retentive minded souls that like to keep binders of information at our fingertips, this is a drawback.
Power Writer can be purchased at www.write-brain.com for $99 (sale price, reg. price $129.) At this point, the software is only available in windows format. The company has said that they are working on a MAC version, but no date has been set for this release.
Let me add, I'm not affiliated with the company in any way, I just love the product. When I see writers struggling with cumbersome Word docs, I love Power Writer even more.
Melinda Leigh
Software with useful features?
Hi Melinda, thanks for coming back to post and provide more details about the software you use. The most powerful feature that you mention—keeping track of Chapter and Scene—is a problem, because it doesn't carry the concept far enough. For me, there are some severe limitations with what you have described and what I've seen on the site, and, I'll be getting into all the details in the future. It's quite possible you've found ways to work around the issues I present and I hope you'll drop by regularly to set me straight ;) !
software for writers.
Power writers has many more features than simply keeping track of chapter and scene. In fact, there are too many to detail here. I do suggest you visit their website and download the free trial version. www.write-brain.com
Power Writer?
Melinda, thanks for posting. I created a page for you on this website under Issues/ExistingSoftware with the name Power Writer.
The reason that we need you to tell us about the software you use is that we don't know: what parts of the manufacturer's marketing material are software hyperbole, what in the software works for you, and what doesn't work for you. We're not looking for a list of features, we're looking for you to tell us what writers' issues specifically your software package solves for you.
Like many people, I will invest the time to research a product I want to buy after I have received enough recommendations about specific features/issues which make me feel it is worth my time to investigate. This is not to suggest the product isn't worthwhile—I'm a normal consumer—I listen first to the end-users.
Thanks for coming to visit—and we really appreciate your coming back. Hope you'll visit again.
Best,
Theresa
Word Outlines
There is actually an outline feature in Word ... although I'm extremely sure it could be easier to use. I have written book length complex documents with it though. Mere outline management is just the tip of the iceberg, though.
Word processing software and novels
Theresa, MS Word has a feature named Document Map that is a window on the left side. For it to work, you assign Heading styles to your chapters and (temporary) subchapters. For example, the title of Chapteri 1 could be Meet Ralph & Coworkers with Heading Style 1. (Before submitting, you would of course change the title to plain old Chapter 1.) You can jump from chapter to chapter by clicking on the Document Map on the left.
In addition, you can add (temporary) subtitles, such as Ralph Argues with Leonore, a scene in Chapter 1. Give the subtitle Heading Style 2 and it will show up indented under the chapter title. That way, you can jump to specific scenes.
Word has a true outline feature which is handy for major reorganizations. Again, the heading styles help greatly with this.
Word is not the easiest tool ever, especially with that acursed ribbon instead of pull-down menus (the 2007 version), but I've found that most of the ire directed toward it is associated with not knowing it very well. That said, I encourage you on your mission!
Document Map
Hello Anonymous, and thanks for visiting.
I'm familiar with the Document Map feature as I've recently been helping a consulting client with an autobiography. In my own case, I used a similar feature in a similar way when I was working within a word processing package. I'll write soon about what I did in that case because there are some interesting features. They're similar, but different, from what you've done. :)
Other postings about Word features are located on this site in Issues/Existing Software/Microsoft Word which can also be found by clicking on using Microsoft Word.
Now that I'm using the prototype for author-specific software, I have much more control than I ever did then, and I would never, never, never go back. ;) As time goes on, I'll be writing more about these new features too.
I hope you'll come back so that we can discuss the ins and outs of various computer tools.
Regards,
Theresa
Good developmental editors
Good developmental editors are hard to find, but for a source of "truly seeing" the chaff for the wheat in your novel a good one is hard to beat. My own faith in it comes from having done it for over 30 years--getting a clear pair of eyes on the forest so the author can see the trees. More about my own editing service under Knife Services is at my website - www.robertwalkerbooks.com
Rob Walker
Good developmental editors
Rob,
Thanks for visiting. I understand that an editor could be extremely useful for revisions, but in my case the story is not yet finished, but I still have to rip it apart. The same problem, but encountered earlier, though less clear for the editor, because of course he/she can't see the parts of the story not yet extant.
By the way, folks, Rob is mentioned in Peter Rennebohm's post about the trials of getting his fourth novel posted where the value of good developmental editors, including Rob, is discussed.
Regards,
Theresa