This has the potential of turning into an advertisement, so I’ll try to avoid that.
I thought it might be quite useful to quickly list the programs I use and/or have used, that help me write. Although these are all Apple Mac programs, they all have a Windows counterpart.
The first program I’m going to mention is, appropriately, the most important. On my computer I have Apple’s Pages word processing program, and lying around somewhere is a copy of Microsoft Word (not installed, I hasten to add). I use neither of these programs for my writing. Instead I paid a little bit of money for Scrivener.
Scrivener is a writer’s dream, or at least it is mine. With it you can separate your masterpiece into chapters and even scenes, able to work on them individually or side-by-side. For each chapter or scene you can keep notes, for example a list of things that you must mention in that particular scene. You can even write a synopsis for each chapter and/or scene.
You can view your work in a variety of ways, and keep character profiles–for example–in a separate folder, but still all within the working document.
I’m probably confusing you right now, so it would probably be best to go to the website to check it out and see just how many features it has. As I said, I’m trying not to advertise here, and as such I know that there are other similar products available. But this is the one I use, because its the best one I’ve found that suits my needs.
Here’s a few screenshots of how I use it, but let me assure you I don’t use it to its full potential.
Writing in Scrivener
Using the outline function
The cork board, uniform or freeform
Self-designed character sheet
This is exactly what it sounds like. I’m a sucker for detail, so I find it useful to plan out what happens when in my story. I guess it may only be needed for epics or series for most people, but for me even a short story can require a bit of planning.
This particular program isn’t available for Windows, but there are plenty of equivalents out there.
My WW2 Timeline
iCal
For those that don’t know, iCal is the calendar that comes with Macs. For you Windows people out there, you’ll have one in your Outlook, or you can download a standalone version.
I use it much like I use Timeline; to plan things out. The difference here is that with a calendar, I can reference dates and know what day they fall on. I’d imagine most people would probably use this or a timeline program, but I’m strange and use both at the same time.
How I use iCal
aka Backup!
I’ve put this last, because it doesn’t actually help you write, as such, but I think it’s a very important program. There are plenty of other services you can use, this just happens to be the one I use. The point of it is that if your hard drive ends up in Silicon Heaven (where all the calculators go), you’ll be a bit cheesed off I reckon if you hadn’t backed up your masterpiece.
Backing up on another drive is a good start, but what happens if your house burns down, or someone walks into your house with a really powerful electromagnet? It’s always a good idea to backup anything important somewhere offsite, and Dropbox provides this ability.
If your a bit nervous about security, then there’s plenty of programs available for Windows users to password protect zip files, while for Mac users you can just use the Disk Image utility.
Then you just need to remember to actually back your work up.
Have I missed anything? Got any good programs or alternatives? Please comment.
