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The computer has been a
valuable tool for writers of all types on many different
levels. The software available now can really
revolutionize the way writers write, making you more efficient,
and therefore more productive. There
are some excellent tools available for the writer with a
computer, and for all types of budgets. I have tried a
few, and I'll share my experiences and opinions here. I
am not affiliated in any way with the makers of any of these
software products, these are just my impressions as a writer
using writing software.
Dramatica Pro 4.0 Dramatica
is hands-down my favorite of all the writing software I've
tried. It is extremely powerful--and therefore fairly
complex, with something of a learning curve. Once you
get past its not-so-user-friendly interface, though, you'll
find a storyweaving engine that can seriously help you create. Dramatica
leads you through a series of questions about your story,
helping you fill in the holes and focus on the important
points of your plot. It leads you through character
development focusing on motivations and conflict between
characters. Dramatica uses some archetypes that can be
very helpful in defining the roles your characters should
fill. The demo comes with a sample; Star Wars as
it would look in Dramatica. This really gives you a
strong idea how the components of Dramatica work. Dramatica
also allows several overall views of your story, showing how
the plot progresses and how each of your characters moves
through the plot. This overview can be very helpful as
well. It also comes with some brainstorming tools that
can help jumpstart your creative processes. After you've
worked through the Story Guide questions, you can print out a
variety of reports about your story that will keep you on
track as you write. The
one drawback I found using Dramatica (aside from its
complexity, which can be a hurdle) is that it tends to be
slightly restrictive. It's hard to explain if you
haven't used it before; if you take the demo for a spin you'll
see what I mean. The goal of all the initial questions
the program has you answer is to get your idea down to a
"storyform". A storyform is a relatively
narrow template that suits your story--sometimes it seems you
end up restricting your story to suit the template. But
that is, like everything else on this page, a personal
impression that you may or may not agree with. Try the
demo, and see how it suits you. A
free downloadable demo of Dramatica is available at The
Storymind Writing Store The demo allows you to
do everything but print and save, which will give you a good
idea of the power and flexibility of this software.
StoryWeaver 2.0 This
is another of my favorites. If I could only have one
program, I would pick Dramatica, but as it is I own both of
these programs and I like them both. StoryWeaver is made
by one of the same people who made Dramatica, and it shows in
the way the program approaches the idea of a story. It
is a little scaled-down from Dramatica, and therefore easier
to use out of the box. It uses a question-and-answer
index card format that is easy to follow and leads you nicely
from vague story idea to completed plot outline.
StoryWeaver is also considerably less expensive than Dramatica. StoryWeaver
also allows you to print out reports about your plot to help
you stay on track as you write. When you've completed
StoryWeaver's exhaustive question list, you will have a fully
developed plot, ready to put on paper. StoryWeaver
is more basic than Dramatica in some respects; there is no way
to change the level of depth of the question-answer process,
something Dramatica allows with three different levels.
StoryWeaver does not have the overall views of the plot that
Dramatica does. But these extras are just that: extras,
and StoryWeaver does an excellent job of helping you hammer a
storyline out of a vague idea. A
free downloadable demo of StoryWeaver is available from The
Storymind Writing Story at this
link Once again, this is an operational demo
that lets you do everything but print and save, so you will
have a good idea what you're getting before you buy.
Writing Tutor Writing
Tutor by Simon & Schuster is something I picked up on a
whim one day browsing through Amazon.com. It's an
inexpensive little writing program with some tools to help you
with brainstorming and some random-association tools.
It's an interesting way to spend an hour or so, but I wouldn't
recommend it for ongoing use. You'll get much more use
from Dramatica or StoryWeaver.
StoryView 1.1 Now
this is a really interesting program. I have to confess
I only own the demo of this one (available from the Storymind
Writing Story here) StoryView can create large
outlines of your plot that you can print and hang on your
wall. It can import your Dramatica story files and
create outlines based on those, which saves you some
work. With the StoryView outline, your timeline and plot
progression is available at a glance...besides the sheer
coolness factor of having your plot on your wall.
Coming soon.... Other
writing software titles that are "on my list" but I
haven't gotten to yet... Power
Structure Mental
Relativity (I'm not sure how well this one would
relate to writing, but it sounds interesting) Master
Storyteller (This one sounds very similar to
StoryWeaver) First
Aid for Writers Idea
Fisher And others
I haven't found yet!
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