I love getting to talk to new authors and trying to help
them answer the same questions I had when I first started writing novels. One of
the big ones I get asked most often is about what software tools they should be using for
writing. Unfortunately, that question is every bit as subjective as asking how
to write the novel itself.
My brilliant and wonderful engineer husband would call me ‘artsy-fartsy’
for what I’m about to say, but it’s nonetheless true. Creating a novel is a
personal journey and no one process will be exactly like another. Some
writers need guided help developing characters before they even start
writing, while others develop on the fly with the bare-bones plot in the back of
their mind. Sometimes the problem is keeping the sub-plots in focus so the
novel doesn’t end with unfinished business. If there is a problematic area in
writing, you can bet there’s software out there to help remedy it.
But which to choose? Like every other process in writing,
the answer to this requires loads of research into each program’s capabilities,
but be careful weeding through the advertisements and the sometimes paid-for
endorsements. There are endless recommendations of different writing software by
authors all over the web. You can’t even go to a writer’s forum without having
software ads flashing brightly across the banners these days. In terms of
pricing, there is free software with limited functionality such as Storybook or
you can spend as much as $250 on something like Final Draft. But here’s the
thing...
A tool is only as good as the person using it.
I don’t mean anything about writing skills when I say that. I’m
simply talking about dedication to the tool. Just like buying exercise
equipment doesn't get you in shape if you don’t use it, most writing software requires
you to be fully committed to really be effective. That means doing every bit of your plotting, writing, brainstorming, EVERYTHING in them. Most of them have libraries
where you can enter every imaginable detail about your characters, world,
sub-plots, etc. But if you don’t use them to the fullest you’ve wasted your
time and money. At worst, the wrong software (even though the description
sounded so great when you chose it) can even sabotage your work if it forces
you to adopt habits that are in conflict with your writing style.
That was the exact experience I had with writing software. I decided
before I started God of Gods: Dreams of
Chaos #3 that I needed to get myself better organized and convinced myself
that using software was somehow more professional (yes, I’ve been that naïve). The
software I tried had the element libraries that I thought would be great to
help me keep up with my 60+ characters and it used a tracking system in which
every scene was written individually and the characters, locations, and dates
were all recorded for the reports it would generate to show you the story flow
visually. Sounds amazing, right? I did great with populating the element libraries, but when I had to
start treating the scenes as individual elements I discovered it completely
wrecked my sense of flow. I was no longer able to feel the motion between
scenes and that led to a draft with no momentum and a feeling of disconnect
between each scene. I’ve actually started the novel over twice now and I’m
still struggling with getting the flow right.
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| Unfortunately, there's no Sorting Hat for writers! |
If you’re having trouble managing your WIP, try software,
notebooks, Post-it notes, note cards, whiteboards, or tattoos even. Try
anything. Actually, try everything.
Creativity is all about being open to new ideas and resources and sometimes they
can come in unexpected forms.
So I’m going to say it again, artsy-fartsy or not, but creating a novel is your personal journey and no one else’s process will be exactly like the one that ultimately works for you.
So I’m going to say it again, artsy-fartsy or not, but creating a novel is your personal journey and no one else’s process will be exactly like the one that ultimately works for you.
Once you’ve found that magical process, get out there and
make something amazing!
