3/27/2023 0 Comments Scrivener vs dabble![]() This is where all software is trending for a handful of important (yet sometimes annoying) reasons I won't go into in this post, but you can read more about in this post. Plot Factory is the leader in the emerging "web-based software" category for writing software (monthly subscription/cloud-based/mobile). As of 2020, I've started shifting my process away from Scrivener for these reasons. Scrivener will support your manual process, but it won't help you optimize it. But Scrivener does nothing to make these element cards "smart." There are no short cuts in creating new ones, and Scrivener can't help me locate the elements in the story or connect them to each other. Scrivener does provide templates for character and setting cards. Or I can't find the information due to the fact that I scrawled it down on one of the other hundred elements I had already created. The result is that months later, I can't remember some detail or another. I have Scrivener files that require several feet of scrolling just to reach my world-building elements, and that's when my folders are collapsed! And when the creation of new elements (characters, places, technologies, events, etc.) requires too much time and energy, I find myself choosing to forgo the effort. But alas, for serious world builders, Scrivener can and will get unwieldy. (I'm not even going to talk about Word.) I've used Scrivener for a decade, and it has served me well. Scrivener is the beloved, old tool for a ton of authors. This isn't easy to come by, but here are the best options currently available. You need software to help you generate and organize a ton of information. Spoiler: I'm going to advocate against using a dozen spiral notebooks and a bunch of sticky notes. Since this process is so information intensive, the largest challenge is finding the right tools. The solution is to develop a process that helps you create, organize, and reference your StoryVerse. That lack of world understanding is hanging you up. If you are a world builder, you'll discover that "writer's block" for you most often means you haven't built out the details of your world enough in a specific area. But sometimes, world builders enjoy more realistic settings for the purpose of toying with outcomes and characterization. We tend to drift toward science fiction and fantasy for the purpose of getting lost in imaginative worlds. World Builders tend to be dreamers and grand thinkers. In this first post, we're going to address those of us whose process most naturally starts with would building. Do you long for copious amounts of notes and pages of outlines? Or do you prefer to jump in and start writing the story? World Builders If you prefer the story side of things, we need to figure out if you are a plotter or a discovery writer. So, first off, which part of the process are you naturally drawn to? When you have a moment to daydream, do you jump straight into plot development, or do you dream about the world and/or characters? If you prefer world building, then this is the place for you to start. If you want to find out more about genre therapy, I suggest heading over to Sterling and Stone to read more on the matter. ![]() Writing is hard enough without having avoidable hurdles hanging you up! I'm going to skip over whether or not you are writing in the correct genre. This series of posts will be all about discovering your writing process and then matching that process with the right tools. (I wish I had understood more of this stuff BEFORE I had written my first million words.) But even in the early stages, it helps tremendously to have an understanding of your process and how to maximize it. You'll improve to the point of removing certain steps. ![]() As you write more and more, you'll refine this process. ![]() In addition to all these things, creating narrative fiction requires a writing process. It requires understand plot and structure (even if your understanding isn't conscious). Creating a great narrative story certainly requires craft and writing skills. Maybe you've finished a manuscript.and rewritten it over and over. You started and stopped the process of writing a book a dozen times. Or perhaps you've grown up with a set of characters living in your brain. ![]()
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