Alright so I am going to take a moment to talk about some great products.
1) Scrivener
Alright so if you do not know about this program you should go look it up. It seriously rocks for creative writing and there is a reason why it is generally speaking the go to product for novel writers. Its features are many and the utility and customization is pretty awesome. I think the simplest way of thinking about it is as a series of files/folders all linked together. Each file can be viewed in three pieces word document, outline, and notecards. Each has a relationship with one another. You can create files and folders to denote scenes, chapters, acts whatever you want. The freedom is all there. Reorder them as you desire (super useful for large projects with lots of POVs, in fact here is an example of one project I have
here). Also super cool is that you can open as many files as you want seamlessly. You can split screen them to reference all sorts of stuff. There is also a distraction free mode that blacks out the screen, I enjoy this greatly for when I want speed write.
The Metadata section which is tied to each file/folder, which btw a folder can also be a document with the files within it cascading down, is simply incredible. It allows you to make notes in two different sections Project Notes, which are seen everywhere no matter what document you are in, and file specific. You can also create keywords. These are a very useful tool that allow you easily search for secondary characters, items, mentions of certain plot points. Whatever you want. It rocks.
One of my favorite features for editing is snapshots. You essentially make backups of each file individually within your project as you want them and need them. You can set up notes for those back ups. I have particular scene in one book that I have written like five different ways, each with a back up and notes denoting the differences and advantages of each out. You can even completely clear your current file, pop up your meta data and have a floating window displaying the snapshot. I like to do this when editing because I am actively rewriting everything and cannot just glance over sections.
I currently work with it on both Windows and iOS. The Microsoft version is where I started and it is simply splendid. I am able to customize a ton of things and utilize features really creatively. It works perfectly with the iOS version which is fantastic and will only get better. The iOS version has a little bit less features, but that is perfectly okay. I mostly use it for writing when I do not want to be at my desktop so all I need is the ability to write (though it still outlines and uses notecards perfectly well among other things). The Mac version is probably the best version, but the features it has in addition are not that much more extensive as far as I know, though I do covet them. It actually is dubbed Scrivener 2 and I look forward to it eventually coming to Windows.
Seriously, this product rocks. And there are all sorts of other features like name generators, more ways to use metadata, and just stuff I barely touch. It is splendid.
I cannot remember how much it costs off the top of my head. It has students discounts and scrivener participant and winner discounts. All I believe are worth it and I would pay full price for it at sixty dollars, which I am positive full price is less than. The only rub is there is not a way for them to give you a license in the iTunes store so I had to buy it twice to have it on mobile. Zero regrets. When I get a Mac in the future (I covet Scrivener 2 bad), I have zero qualms about buying it a third time.
2. Aeon Timeline 2
Aight, so I just got this and this is sick. I have always struggled with making timelines in my book. I get confused and baffled and even if I lay things out on paper, it just gets complicated. My worlds can be massive and complicated. This simplifies a ton. You can make events fill them with characters and participants and observers as well as whatever you'd want to call them. The customization is great. You've got the ability to make customized calendars, which incredibly fun.
I haven't spent near enough time with it yet to fully understand its depth, but it is certainly there. I am playing with a lot of features at the moment and plotting out the timeline of my first book to make sure my passage of seasons and time make sense.
It is expensive at fifty dollars but I got it for 40% off. Spending thirty felt good, not sure I would have spent more, though I am quickly falling in love with it and cannot wait to use it for my more complicated worlds. I can already see how it is going to streamline everything.
