Scrivener versus yWriter5 versus MS-Word

Rodney Robbins here. I’m using a new software program for novels and I like it a lot. The program is called Scrivener and it is now available for Windows programs. Mac lovers may have heard of this program before. Or, you may have heard of a similar program called yWriter5. I have both plus, of course, MS-Word.

Scrivener and yWriter5 are similar in that they are specifically designed for professional writers working on large documents. MS-Word is fine for editing and layout of a finished document, but it is just not in the same league for writing a book length project. With the real writing software, each chapter or section is treated as a separate file in its own folder. Detailed information is attached to the file. It is almost like paper clipping a note card, summary page or research notes to each chapter you write. The files are kept handy so you can find them, work on them or rearrange them with ease.

For me, I found yWriter5 a bit too complicated. I liked the idea, but found the interface busy. There was more than I needed with yWritere5. On the other hand, Scrivener has may of the same features with a simpler, more visual interface that I liked better. The word processing power is there, but perhaps one layer away. Maybe it is the Mac influence (for ages, Scrivener was only available for Apple computers).

In Scrivener, the screen is divided into three sections. The section on the left is called the Binder. The Binder is like the folders view in Windows, but it only shows folders related to the open document. The larger central section is for writing, holding your plot cards or looking at an outline of your novel. On the right is the Synopsis section. It holds the plot card and other data that is “clipped” to the writing section you are working on.

• So, yWriter5 is free and certainly worth a look. It is written by an award winning author and lots of people use it.
• Scrivener is under $50 and well worth the money as it is an elegant program designed specifically for the needs of professional writers working on long documents.
• MS-Word costs over $100, but you probably already own it.You can get some of this functionality using by using the Document Map function and naming each section using Heading Tags, but it’s a work around.

In my opinion, Word is not nearly as good for actually working on a story–moving scenes, keeping research handy, following multiple story lines and such–compared to the other two options. (Plus, I just hate the new Ribbon in the 2010 version of Word. All the functions are moved around willy-nilly with no apparent logic.) You may want to edit or layout your final document in Word, but there are better options for writing a 400 page novel.

So, for me, I really like the power and simplicity of Scrivener and highly recommend you give it a try. On the other hand, your mind may enjoy the detail offered by yWriter5. While you may end up using MS-Word for your final edits, it lacks the features novelists need for handling large, complicated stories with multiple chapters, scenes, plot lines and related research, notes, settings and character arcs.

Try Scrivener. I think you’ll like it.

Celtx Play Writing Software Upgrade

UPDATE

I downloaded the new 2.9.1 version of Celtx script writing and pre-production software onto my Toshiba Windows 7 laptop and it worked great. I love this program for writing stage plays and screenplays because it lets me just type without having to worry about the technology. However, when I tried to use my download link to put the paid version on my iMac (not a problem with the paid license), I couldn’t get it to work. I actually use this program fairly frequently, so I downloaded the updated free version to the iMac and that went fine. I’ll give Celtx a call and see if they have an explanation for why I couldn’t get it to work on my Mac (my guess would be the shopping cart knew I was on a PC the first time, and so my download link is PC only). You’ll know more when I know more. Check back soon.

ORIGINAL POST

So far, I’ve written a new straight play and a new musical using the free Celtx writing and pre-production software. I went to work on a little something today and saw they had an upgrade available (free) and a $10 Writer’s Pack. I figured I’d give it a try, but it was not to be. There is a bug in the purchase process. I tried 5-6 times to buy the package but the screen just sat there. I’ll update this post when they bug this fixed.

Rodney Robbins–Back on Track

Last year, I had such a horrible time in the Seton Hill Genre Fiction MFA program. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. (In my humble opinion, anyone interested in actually writing novels should steer well clear of that place; although, if you are an academic looking for PhD Lite, you may fit right in.) So, now, a year later, I have finally gotten my mojo back.

Rodney Robbins "Murder at the Du Monde."

How? I went back to writing the way I like to write, the way I know I can be successful writing. I like to work from an outline. I like to dream it up and write it down. I need to see that the whole story works or I’m not interested in wasting my time. I hate hate hate writing and polishing a few pages at a time. Hate it. It makes me want to jump off a freaking cliff and die. Some academic programs insist this is the only way to write (Seton Hill, for example, forces  students write this way or fail out of the program), but it just won’t work for most writers. In my experience, writing and polishing every few pages is too freaking slow, deadly dull and forces writers to  constantly switch hats between being a writer, an editor and a master grammarian. (Insert puking noises!)

So, I went back to writing an elevator speech (pitch line, story line, theme), then working up the introduction, plot points and conclusion, then scenes, scene questions and simple answers. Suddenly, writing is fun again. The new mystery novel is moving along nicely. I can see the whole story and where it is going. I am confident the story will work because I can see, scene by scene, the way the story builds and moves. I am back to writing with confidence and joy.

You need to know that a lot of experts are full of crap.

They know what works for them (or at least what is easy for them to grade). That doesn’t mean their process will work for you. Some people like to just sit down and write (Steven King and Louis L’Amour come to mind). All they need is a setting, a character and a feeling and they’re good to go. Some folks (damned few) like to write and polish, write and polish (Dean Koontz and Mary Higgins Clark work this way). Others need a detailed outline (Randy Ingermanson, yours truly and tons of other people who actually finish their novels). While some like to write a summary or synopsis then flesh it all out later (Nora Roberts/J. D. Robb is one).

Could anyone “force” Steven King to slow down and use an outline? I don’t see how.

Is there any chance that Nora Roberts could increase her output by writing and polishing one chapter at a time? I’d say the chances are slim to none.

If you don’t yet know the way you like to work, try the four different methods used by successful authors. If you already know what works for you, don’t let some geeky academic dweeb, some internet expert, or even your favorite author ruin your good thing.

PS

Click here if you want to learn one of the best ways to write quickly.

Never Read Shakespeare

I’ve screwed up again! Started reading Shakespeare ‘s “Hamlet” and realized something about hidden structure in all novels. Apparently, there are only six types of writing in a novel:

• Descriptions
• Summaries
• Actions
• Dialog
• Transitions
• Soliloquies

That’s about it. Just stack up those bricks in an interesting and conflicting pattern and you’ve got yourself a story.

Here is an example:

—–

Description

It was a typical home office, except for the heads. Bison. Water buffalo. A middle aged woman with long blonde hair and startled grayish-blue eyes.They looked even spookier at this late hour.

Summary

He liked to tell people the head was a prop made up to look like his first wife. “Oh, she’s alive and well and living off half my income in Boca,” he would say. The truth was rather darker than that.

Action

Phil gently hung up the phone, leaned back and looked thoughtfully up at his ex.

Dialog

“Well, that’s it then,” said Phil. “They’ve called the loan.”

“I told you they would,” said a voice from the corner. “So what are we going to do now, Dad?”

Action

Phil opened his desk drawer and took out a long-barreled frontier-style revolver.

Transition

It took almost 30 minutes to get back to Phil’s daughter-in-law’s house.

Summary

A long 42 minutes after that, they had reached the job site for one of Phil’s major competitors. The backhoe started on the first try. Phil clicked on the headlights. Barely 12 minutes later, she was gone without a trace. Well, almost without a trace.

Action

Phil climbed down out of the backhoe and stood by his son. Wordlessly, Phil took his gloves off and smacked them against his thigh.

Description

The night closed in around them. The scent of scrub pines, dust and diesel fumes hung heavy in the air. There were no lights, no sounds, no neighbors yet. That was what made the new development such a perfect body dump.

Dialog

“Where do you want me to put this?” asked the son, holding up his wife’s gold bracelet.

“You don’t want to keep it for awhile?”

“No, let’s do it all at once and be done with it.”

“Well,” said the father, “How about under the driver’s seat?”

Soliloquie

As Phil drove them carefully back home, he thought about the small package in the trunk. He looked out the window and said quietly to himself, “I wonder if it was wrong to keep the head?”

—–

You can see the patterns easier in a stage play because scene descriptions always come first, dialog is set off differently from action, and transitions are right justified. If you look for them, you can see the patterns in a novel as well.

Now you try it. Using the picture below, write something horribly good!

Your story starts here.

Writers–What to do When You’re Stuck

I have a wonderful sci-fi adventure story I want to tell. I’ve been thinking about it off and on for years. Just lately, I’ve been thinking about it more and more. I’ve wanted to start writing the story, but I haven’t. Why not? I’m stuck. What am I stuck on? A plot point. The story doesn’t make sense. I can’t connect the pieces. I don’t know how these characters interact with those characters.

What to do?

Put the story on simmer, and check in with it every night for a few minutes. That’s it. If the story ain’t ready, well, it ain’t ready. No sense pulling the darned thing out by the roots and looking at it. Just let ‘er simmer.

I’ve been doing that for about 3 months now, and just this morning, I saw how my three interlocking stories fit together. I could have beat myself up, pounding out pages, leaving blood on the canvas, but until those cookies are done, there is no sense trying to smoosh them into your ice cream.

So, my advice, for what it’s worth, is to put that story on simmer and check on it once a day before bed. Try it yourself, and share your results here.

No sense taking the cookies out till they're done.

The $40,000 Question for Novelists

Another writer who gets it.

I hope you’re ready because here it is, the one question that no one else will ask you, that no one else except you can answer. It’s the one question that can make your  life simpler, your writing faster and nearly effortless. I’m about to ask you the one question every struggling author must answer, but probably never will. Ready:

What is the easiest thing in the world for YOU to write?

No one has ever asked me this question. I guess it doesn’t occur to many people that writing should be, could be, must be, almost effortless. It’s not think anyone else could answer this question for you either. Nobody but you has to sit there pound their head against the keyboard, struggling, trying to MAKE their story work. Nobody but you knows what you might write when you finally get sick of struggling and decide to just write something fun, simple, easy and effortless.

I don’t know about your life, but I work, and for me, it is a struggle to work. I live with three chronic illnesses, have a family, vet bills, car repairs, in-laws … I tell ya, my life is a lot like yours: it’s tough sometimes. I don’t want you to sit at your writing desk, STRUGGLING to write the Great American Novel when what your brain really wants to write is goofy little romances. I don’t want you sweating out the details of another senseless murder, when you could effortlessly dash off a fun adventure story.

If your Victorian romance isn’t working, maybe the story just isn’t done cooking yet. So, in the meantime, what could you just sit down and write. No plotting. No character biographies. No meta-meaning. If you had just finished writing your fifth successful novel, and were sitting in your den in Hawaii, what would you write just to keep your fingers busy?

There is a genre, maybe the stuff you read as a kid, maybe the first Big Book you every loved, maybe that stuff you read when no one is looking. THAT’s what you should be writing.

Maybe your trying to write fun, but you’re really a dreadfully serious old bore. Be honest. A change of voice might do you good. If you try something new, you might find there are a thousand other dreadful old bores just like you craving to read what you have to say.

Try it.

Take a day off from that horrid workload you’ve assigned yourself, and just write something fun. Now, fun for you might be a thriller about the end of the world or a kids adventure story. Fun might be a complex alien world or a romantic novella about a car mechanic and a big city lawyer with puffy hair and too much to do. Only YOU know what is effortlessly easy for you to write.

Life is too short to waste bashing your head against your keyboard. Take the easy way out: Forget about what you SHOULD be writing and try, just try, writing the easiest thing in the world–for you.

Now, the Supernatural Part

So, I’m on page 30 of the new mystery novel set at the Hotel Du Monde. I just wrote a wonderful scene that takes the story in a new direction. While there have been hints about something weird going on, this is the first scene that really says “supernatural thriller.” Should I wait till page 30? I don’t know, but it works fine in a first draft, and I like it when things appear normal–at first!

Learning to Spelt

This is a direct quote from Agatha Christie’s autobiography (p. 128 in the paperback edition). She’s talking about her childhood lessons when she was about 10 years old.

“Every day I had to learn how to spell pages of words. I suppose the exercise did me some good, but I was still an extraordinarily bad speller and have remained so until the present day.”

By “present day,” she means in her eighties. That’s 70 years and more than 50 novels–all written with extraordinarily bad spelling.

Sitcom Writing Tips

Here is some entertaining advice on getting into sitcom writing. Turn your speakers on and click the play button [>] below.

Finding Your Voice Ain’t for Wossies

I sooo hate that expressing: Finding your voice. Did you lose it? Are you so such a poser that you can’t write without your artsy flair? I want to say, “If you aren’t big enough to climb into the desk chair, sweetums, maybe you shouldn’t try writing a book with so many words in it.” I think when someone can’t “find their voice,” maybe they just need to change their point of view.

If the story isn’t working in first person, try writing it in third person. If there is no suspense writing from an omniscient POV, try writing a chapter from a completely external viewpoint. Tired of your lead character? Try letting him lie to the readers. Will they catch the lie? Will they wonder why he’s being deceptive? Will they be angry because he’s a cad, or feel sympathetic that this poor sap can’t even be honest with himself? Could that uncertainty make your story more interesting?

A lot of college professors want to make writing into some deep, meaningful, existential crisis. (Insert puking sound here.) Sometimes when things go wrong with your story, it’s just a matter of craft. Some stories are held together by nails, and other stories need screws, or pegs or interlocking joints. This ain’t rocket science folks! If going left isn’t working, try going right.

All I’m saying is, if you like your story, but don’t like your writing, try writing your story another way.