Tools I Use -- Scrivener, Plottr, WordWeb, FocusWriter

[BudMcMann]

In addition to the MS Office suite, I frequently use these apps:

• Scrivener -- I've used this for about five years, but as an expert, I grade myself a three or four out of ten. I can help with startup and the basics, but configuring the complex options of the "Compile" export function is still a challenge. Scrivener has a lot of handy features for writers, such as a multiple-language name generator, integrated cleanup tools, customizable and searchable keywords and metadata. The organizational structure is intuitive for me. Support is excellent, and the community is huge.
• Plottr -- I got into this shortly after they began. I grade my knowledge at six out of ten. I'm a visual guy, and when I get an idea, this makes it easy to slap together a sequence of beats, scenes, or even chapters with notes and hastily scribbled first drafts. Then I can drag and drop the components as the plot develops and see them in different timelines or character lines, or however I want to organize it. It comes pre-loaded with a boatload of standard beat templates, such as "Romancing the Beat", plus scene structure templates. The Character development section is flexible and fantastic, especially the "Marcel Proust Questionnaire." I can export (structured/preformatted text only) to Word or Scrivener. Plottr has features I haven't used, such as an Act/Chapter structure. I tried it once when they first released it, and it blew up a huge plot. They've done a lot of work on it, but I've been too chicken to jump back in. The development is ongoing and improving, but I have encountered serious issues, such as writing entire scene drafts that vanished. I'm careful now to perform frequent manual backups in addition to their automatic ones. Their support is good, and the app has a lot of potential when it matures. Right now, it's sort of like an unpredictable teenager. Still gets the grass mowed and the trash taken out, but forgets curfew.
• WordWeb -- Ctrl/right-click for an excellent pop up thesaurus and dictionary, anywhere, anytime. The free version is quite good. The basic Pro version (15US/month or 29US for full purchase with limited upgrades) adds a lot more words, plus anagrams and advanced search function. You can add multiple standard (e.g., Chambers, New Oxford) dictionaries and thesaureseses (thesaurii?), plus word lists in over a dozen languages, place names, and other trivia. I reference it a hundred times a day, if for nothing else than to spark an idea for an image or simile. NOTE: The developer is environmentally conscious and requires that free-version users occasionally answer questions about their air travel. If the answers are not satisfactory, you can be locked out of the app.
• FocusWriter -- this is a free, simple editor for RTF, ODT, and TXT files (default is ODT). It has a highly-customizable screen with optional "Themes", as well as customizable toolbar and hotkeys. I often have multiple, tabbed documents open--notes, outlines, journal entries, or entire stories--separate from other apps. It has a full screen mode and a customizable scene separator within each document (default is "##") with a pop-up listing for easy navigation, selection, and rearranging. If I have a sentence or paragraph I need to come back to, I simply preface it with ## (followed by a space!).

I also have, but rarely use:

• Scapple -- a 'mind-map' application from the folks who created Scrivener. This never really fit my style, and as far as I know, hasn't been updated in years. I use drawio.net for diagramming (see below).
• Grammarly -- Annoying. Usually keep it turned off, and activate it only when I'm prepping a doc to send to someone. The AI can be inventive, but it makes me feel dirty to use it.

Is there someplace on AW where we can share valuable websites, such as drawio.net (a free quasi-Visio app site)? Should those be listed here?

Best Regards,
Bud

 

[Jean P. R. Dubois]

Thanks for the tool tips! These are great sites, Ive used Scrivner and Grammarly out of these but havent delved too much in the plot centered tools. So far I havent needed them much since I write my book based on the plot, I start with the beginning and end points then discovery write the journey while taking anything I find useful out of my "cool ideas for later" document. I've been curious about one called World Anvil but I think that's more for D&D than for novel writing.

I'll have to check out some of those tools, like plottr and WordWeb, they both sound useful. Thank you for sharing!

 

[Foolish Frost]

I do use Grammarly, but I only listen to it as a suggestion. Over half its help seems to be aimed at removing every bit of voice my writing has, and I'm not having any of that.
Still useful for catching spelling and basic grammar issues, missing words, and other mechanical errors. I just spend as much time telling it to bugger off as I do using it's suggestions.

 

[MAUMAU]

I use Scrivener as well, but use very few of the many features available writing Fiction.

If one were writing Non Fiction, I think it would be great for getting all of one's research and links into one platform. As @BudMcMann mentioned, there can be a steep learning curve to learn all that is available from this software. I think the biggest benefit to Scrivener (at this time) is that there is no monthly subscription like many other writing programs and the purchase price is very reasonable.

 

[BenPanced]

I haven't used Grammarly for any fiction yet. It's been limited to the essays and other papers I've been writing for school, so far.

But, yes. I agree with Scrivener and Scapple. Both have been a tremendous help with my writing.

 

[G N-Wade]

Deleted as I have obviously upset someone

 

[Valkyrie Tina]

I use Scrivener (a life saver for my chaosbrain), also 4thewords and Grammarly (as I speak English every day, but am not a native speaker, I need all the help I can get). I am still looking for a good plotting tool. Last year I thought I had found one (niche German program), but then I found out it didn't work as I thought - I found out when it completely destroyed my plot structure.

 

[Infinimata]

Up until very recently I used, for note-taking, an app of my own making (it ran as a web app in a browser). I wrote it mostly as an exercise, and enjoyed making it, but had difficulty advancing it past a certain point in its development. I recently deprecated it in favor of Obsidian, and while Obsidian has a couple of issues, they're easily overcome with plugins or some retraining of use. The good things about it are amazing.

 

[Lakey]

I found this quite good: https://quillbot.com/grammar-check

Just a quick note to be a little careful with services like this one — read the TOS carefully before you upload your work to it, because you don’t know what they might to do with it. (The QuillBot site also offers a “paraphrase” service which is almost certainly LLM-driven. See this discussion and these guidelines for some of the reasons why LLM usage is disfavored at AW.)

 

[ReaP84]

I've never heard or used any of these programs. What are some of the advantages to using them over just basic word (I have like 8 million word files with different things: characters, outlines, backstory, etc)? If I'm fairly far along in the writing, is it worth it to try one of these out?

 

[BenPanced]

The thing I like the most about Scrivener is everything being in one place. You have a central file called a binder and can keep everything in that one document: your character profiles, setting information, other research, and the manuscript itself, making it easier to find details across a project. You can also easily click and drag anything to rearrange it at will. I know that some people create one long Word document for a writing project, but I found it easier to work in Scrivener where you can see individual file names in a sidebar.

 

[Al X.]

It's all a matter of preference. I tried Scrivener and didn't care for it. A single Word doc works best for me.

 

[BustedPrinter]

It's all a matter of preference. I tried Scrivener and didn't care for it. A single Word doc works best for me.

I use word, but arrange my book covers, character profiles, etc in other folders but don't find toggling between them to be an issue. I even print my novels into printed books at home for my beta readers and find MS Word works just fine for that.

I wish MS Word did not have a size limit though. Its generally not a problem, but I am right up against the 22 inch limit on dust cover jackets for my hard cover books though. I can still print them, but it has to be a 5.5 by 7 inch hardcover book. With the front flap, front cover, spine, back cover and back flap... it uses up some inches fast!

 

[Al X.]

I use word, but arrange my book covers, character profiles, etc in other folders but don't find toggling between them to be an issue. I even print my novels into printed books at home for my beta readers and find MS Word works just fine for that.

I wish MS Word did not have a size limit though. Its generally not a problem, but I am right up against the 22 inch limit on dust cover jackets for my hard cover books though. I can still print them, but it has to be a 5.5 by 7 inch hardcover book. With the front flap, front cover, spine, back cover and back flap... it uses up some inches fast!

I didn't realize there was a limit. If I understand correctly, you are using Word for your cover graphics as well?

I use MS Publisher for my cover graphics. I don't think there is a size limit that I am aware of, but I don't produce full front and back covers either. For my print version, I use the same .jpg I use for my ebook for the front cover image, and use KDP print cover creator to make the complete back and spine. It's not as professional looking as a well done full print cover but it works well enough for my needs. I mean, they sell.

 

[BustedPrinter]

I didn't realize there was a limit. If I understand correctly, you are using Word for your cover graphics as well?

I use MS Publisher for my cover graphics. I don't think there is a size limit that I am aware of, but I don't produce full front and back covers either. For my print version, I use the same .jpg I use for my ebook for the front cover image, and use KDP print cover creator to make the complete back and spine. It's not as professional looking as a well done full print cover but it works well enough for my needs. I mean, they sell.

All this is personal preference, so I got no issues with what anyone uses for programs, or like you and I use; a few different ones.

I use PaintShopPro for my book covers as well. Sometimes I just cannot get what I envision in a single photo, so I will take several and intergrate them into one. Or... take a photo and manipulate it so it looks more like a painting if that is what I envision. I use PaintShopPro a lot, but rather dislike how it works with text and find using Microsoft Word with text works better and is easier for me.

I am not sure if MS Word is great or not. It took me awhile to get the right print set-ups and margins and stuff, but now that I have them as templates, it is easy as I add new novels and children's books. The children's books are where size really comes into play because they tend to be bigger in size, and tend to be hardcovers.

There are just so many different types of covers: yes hard and soft covers, but some are embossed, some debossed, and then so many choices on what gets debossed or embossed. Like the title is always embossed or debossed, but the authors name might or might not be, the title on the spine, or the publishers logo... so many choices, and so with debossing or embossing, that is not printed, but uses another method to get the look. All those variations have differing templates. With MS Word it is easy to add or subtract all that for another children's book or novel so a template takes only a few minutes to make. (As a side note: I like the look of debossed covers better, but honestly most of mine are embossed because it is easier to do.

 

[Craigd]

I use Ulysses for writing. I find it amazing. I did try hacking together something with Obsidian but it just didn't work for what I wanted

 

[BudMcMann]

I've never heard or used any of these programs. What are some of the advantages to using them over just basic word (I have like 8 million word files with different things: characters, outlines, backstory, etc)? If I'm fairly far along in the writing, is it worth it to try one of these out?

Everybody's different. We use what works for us. As an engineer, I used Word exclusively from the early 1990s into the 2020's, mainly because I was comfortable with the formatting, TOC, indexing, text boxes, and automation functions. Plus, it is ubiquitous--the de facto standard for industry.

For my personal writing, I've customized the layout and functionality of Scrivener to my specific needs. A listing of the color-coded chapters, documents and subdocuments is on the left side. That makes it easy to navigate, edit, and tag chapters, scenes, and/or multiple subscenes when I want to keep the original, but try something different. I change the color associated with each doc as it goes through the stages of development and editing. I keep two documents active on the page (one narrow window for an outline or character info). Select a chapter, and you can view/edit the contents of all the docs under that chapter heading in one window.

On the right is a ready reference for the selected document:

• summary and notes
• external bookmarks, which can be viewed or opened (web pages or external documents, including Word)
• access/comparison to backups and snapshots
• customizable keywords and metadata (POV? Main characters or events? References to clues or red herrings?)
• footnotes and comments. I use highlighted comments to remind me to adjust something on the page or elsewhere.

I could go on and on about other features, such as text cleanup, and automatic daily backups, and corkboard view, and...

My single, biggest complaint is the Track Changes functionality. Word is the clear winner on that. All things considered, it's a small sacrifice for me. When I need to confer with an editor, I export the tagged Scrivener docs to a pre-configured, standard MS format for Word, which is what they all require anyway. Ubiquitous, right?

As an engineer, I learned the truth of the axiom "flexibility breeds complexity". That is true with Scrivener. Part of Word's value is the simple access to common tasks with limited interface customization. Scrivener can be that way, but to really squeeze the value out of it takes some work on the configuration. That pays off with an intuitive flow when I start putting the words on the page.

In short, Word was developed to be everything for everybody. Scrivener was designed by writers for writers.

I have to put in another plug for FocusWriter. I keep that up nearly all the time, ready for when I want to jot down an idea, create a character voice journal, or work on short stories. It's better than Wordpad--small, simple, and free.

-Bud

PS I didn't mark this post so that I receive notifications, and I haven't found anywhere that I can change that. I'll try to keep watch on this thread, but if you need specific info, message me.

 

[Al X.]

All this is personal preference, so I got no issues with what anyone uses for programs, or like you and I use; a few different ones.

I use PaintShopPro for my book covers as well. Sometimes I just cannot get what I envision in a single photo, so I will take several and intergrate them into one. Or... take a photo and manipulate it so it looks more like a painting if that is what I envision. I use PaintShopPro a lot, but rather dislike how it works with text and find using Microsoft Word with text works better and is easier for me.

I am not sure if MS Word is great or not. It took me awhile to get the right print set-ups and margins and stuff, but now that I have them as templates, it is easy as I add new novels and children's books. The children's books are where size really comes into play because they tend to be bigger in size, and tend to be hardcovers.

There are just so many different types of covers: yes hard and soft covers, but some are embossed, some debossed, and then so many choices on what gets debossed or embossed. Like the title is always embossed or debossed, but the authors name might or might not be, the title on the spine, or the publishers logo... so many choices, and so with debossing or embossing, that is not printed, but uses another method to get the look. All those variations have differing templates. With MS Word it is easy to add or subtract all that for another children's book or novel so a template takes only a few minutes to make. (As a side note: I like the look of debossed covers better, but honestly most of mine are embossed because it is easier to do.

My needs are somewhat different than yours, at least with respect to covers. I've also developed a Word template for print versions, with margins, gutters, even/odd headers, etc... and it works pretty well. This is where I think MS Word has a clear advantage over open source clones like Libre Office. Open Office and Libre Office do have those functionalities, but they are much easier to set up correctly in MS Word, plus, file compatibility between Word files created in Word, and Word files created in Open Office starts to fall apart with advanced formatting. But I also use MS Word at work, and like the previous poster before me, I use it for engineering reports, and yes we have report templates. For formal proposals, our marketers take our word documents and dump them in to programs like Indesign to create professionally typeset looking documents, which Word falls slightly short of.

The cover process I use is fairly simple. I'm no graphic artist or Photoshop jock, so I try to squeeze the most out of what I have. I will take a photo that I have taken personally as a background image, do some recoloring, maybe add some other image elements with some degree of recoloring and transparency, and add the text. I have had a few covers done professionally - one thing I learned, is that the title text and author name must be huge, bold, centered and must stand out in thumbnail size images. I've settled on a sepia tone standard, which works pretty well. I spend a lot of time choosing photos, so I have something with the right, or very close to the image elements that I want in my cover. I would imagine that with children's books, covers are going to contain several graphic blocks that need to be moved around and placed, e.g. happy hippos and the like.

 

[BustedPrinter]

Years ago I did not know much about MS Word but like you needed it for work so I bought one of those all-inclusive books just on MS Word. Over time I really learned its advanced features. Now as it is updated I just have to learn its newer features, but really lets me get a lot out of it.

With book covers, one has to read the fine print carefully of where they obtain and even buy their cover photos because there is a lot of restrictions on commercial content. Something as simple as using the wrong font can land a writer in hot water legally. And even buying photos online does not always mean you can legally use them as many have number limits on them. So to prevent legal issues, and having an interest in photography, I just started taking my own photos.

In some ways it is easier because rather than endlessly searching for the right photo, I just take it myself. Like doing the cover for a pirate novel. I can just go down to the harbor, snap a picture of a wooden sailing vessel, then airbrush out anything that is modern looking on deck. Or take another picture of a sinister looking subset and put the ship in that kind of background. I have taken five different photos before and cut and pasted them so that I had the perfect book cover. It takes time, but is kind of fun on its own. It nets me a lot of memories because its not just a book cover, but a trip to get the various pictures to make up the book cover!

But it can also be challenging. People are the most difficult. I am fortunate in that my ex-wife was a model, being paid by others for a few photo shoots so I have used her before, and now use our daughter. I have thought about using Model Mayhem to get a model for my covers, but have yet to do so... or in the future just might contract with a professional photographer to get the cover photos I need.

But all that is part of what I love. Writing a novel or children's book is only part of the fun for me. I love getting that perfect cover for hard, and soft covers, and getting the various types of soft cover books done the way I envision them. But I also love bookbinding itself. Granted I have a Perfect Binding Machine, but getting that book finished from first word to printed is a huge sense of accomplishment for me. It's just THE book that I first envisioned and I had my hands in all aspects of it.

But my wife and I just LOVE books. Even though I have only brought 20 to the world, it was 20 books that never existed before. It is also why I love to encourage other author's because the world just needs more books, and more creative people. It just annoys me now there is AI that is ruining that.