Organizing your zombie fiction novel (Mac software)

[raptorman]

Hello all, I'm J.L. Bourne, author of Day by Day Armageddon. (http://tacticalunderground.us/dbda1.htm) I'd like to share with some of you writers out there the software I used, and still use to organize the thoughts in my head, to the work on paper. I did a lot of research in the beginning, and the cost versus benefit pointed me to some software called CopyWrite. (http://http://www.macreview.com/productive/writing/copywrite/copywrite.html) This software has helped me organize my thoughts and character locations and inventory down to the last item in the main character's bug out bag. You can insert maps into the sidbar of the program so that you have locations down to technical accuracy. You can also put photos of writing stimulus in the sidebar to click on to jog your creative flow. I don't work for the Bartus company, but I can tell you that this software is worth the small amount of money you will pay for the download. The updates are free, and the developer is always making the software better.

You can separate your work by chapter, or whatever. You can also make different versions of the same chapter and choose between them. There is even a nifty feature called a "goal meter" so you can set your goal at say 300 pages, and watch the status bar slowly creep to the right as you make your goal.

This software won't make your writing any better, but it sure will organize your thoughts into coherent order and make your end product flow faster and easier.

I'm only posting this here at HPOTD because I know that some of the writers here suffered from the same thing I did before I found software like this, lack of order. For those of you that use 'windoze,' I think there is probably a software solution out there for you also. Just takes a little research.

Screenshot (warning: large picture)
http://www.tacticalunderground.us/blog/wp-content/4NOV_SS.jpg

[Svengoolie]

Personally, I'm really not that computer savvy...and the only writer's software I've got any kind of experience with is Movie Magic Screenwriter.

I didn't like it--I found it too inflexible for my own personal writing style, and abandoned it almost right away.

If you wanna be old fashioned about organizing your characters, thoughts, and ideas....try using index cards. They're especially great when you're trying to organize your piece scene by scene since you can add or subtract or shuffle stuff around on demand without starting everything from scratch each time the way you would with an outline.

Another extremely useful tool for organizing or brainstorming is a chalk board or its modern equivalent--one of those big plastic boards you can write on with a magic marker and then erase when you want to. I've got one, and I've used it for years.

Hope that helps...

[Deadman_Deluxe]

Personally, I'm really not that computer savvy...and the only writer's software I've got any kind of experience with is Movie Magic Screenwriter.

I didn't like it--I found it too inflexible for my own personal writing style, and abandoned it almost right away.

If you wanna be old fashioned about organizing your characters, thoughts, and ideas....try using index cards. They're especially great when you're trying to organize your piece scene by scene since you can add or subtract or shuffle stuff around on demand without starting everything from scratch each time the way you would with an outline.

Another extremely useful tool for organizing or brainstorming is a chalk board or its modern equivalent--one of those big plastic boards you can write on with a magic marker and then erase when you want to. I've got one, and I've used it for years.

Hope that helps...


I personally prefer to use the index card system/big white writing board/scraps of paper in a box folder ... and of course the mighty HP Jornada mini PC/PDA when i am away from home, for the exact same reason ... the available software is just no good, or inflexible as you put it, though i wouldn't agree that this is such an "old fashioned" route as almost everyone i know who write's anything of a semi serious nature is also pretty adverse to all of the available computer software, unless they are writing a bog standard essay.