Writing Software I've Said Goodbye To

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There are so many choices for writers now. Writing software languished for years. Clunky, messy and sometimes so confusing, I picked up pen and paper. Today I’m going to talk about three top shelf pieces of software that I kicked down the road.  

Most new software finds me one of two ways. Nanowrimo and writing friends. Occasionally there will be a Facebook ad for something new, but other writers are always so excited to tell another writer about some outstanding thing they’ve found. Word of mouth rules. 

Scrivener 

This was the first writing software I bought myself. Since I own it, I can write books forever and never need to pay again. I’m not worried about a subscription or losing work because I want to end my writing relationship with said software. Subscriptions drive me bananas. 

 I liked Scrivener. I still open it from time to time. Two books live in it. I have scene cards, research, and chapters. I can export out to Word or format it (this is tricky and sometimes a waste of your time), character information, locations, a scratch pad for ideas or pieces you’ve cut out but want to save for later.  

It’s meaty. It’s all there. They released an updated version recently. It improved many features. They may tease me back over to their side of the street. 

Reason I left it? Learning curve. I’ve taken several classes on Scrivener. There are still things I don’t understand how to use well. Like metadata. No clue. I believed once I understood it, I would love it. That didn’t work for me.  

If the world ended tomorrow, and that’s much scarier a line than it used to be, I would use write in Scrivener. I own the IOS app. I used it infrequently. But I own it. That’s key in my list of requirements.  

Bruno Bueno

Save the Cat 

Everyone has been on the Save the Cat wagon. The book is a quick read. If you haven’t picked it up, you should. It’s worth it.

A guest came to our writers’ group and talked about Save the Cat. She said her book that followed the STC formula outsold her other titles. Then she said she never used it again. Yeah, that fell pretty flat in the room.  

The software received a recent update. There have been some changes in their team and they’ve pushed the software everywhere they can. That said, I used it for half a book. They have tutorials which I watched dutifully. It’s easy to use.  

STC made me want to learn how to use databases more efficiently. You can track items, people, places and such. Things run as scenes in sequences familiar to you if you’ve read the book. I didn’t ever really write in Save the Cat software. It didn’t flow for my mind. Not its fault or mine.  

If you are writing for television, theater, movies and such, you’ll be at home. Even some of you who write novels will like it. It is a subscription. When I quit STC, I took screenshots and downloaded what I could out of it. There has been information lost. That frustrated me. I don’t see myself using this again. 

Plottr 

There has been some buzz about Plottr. I want to be clear and upfront that I’m not sure it’s even meant to write in. But when I used it, I thought using it just for plotting and outlining only sort of weird. It's disconnected somehow. 

The software bills itself as plotting tool. And it is. Here again I’ll say it’s meaty. So much to dig into. Timelines, characters, and places. I didn’t find a way to add in items. I’ve always used items as touchstones in my books. So, when Save the Cat had items as a feature, I knew I wouldn’t want to do without it. 

It has templates based on several of the best systems including The Hero’s Journey, Romancing the Beat, Save the Cat and others. It also integrations with Word, Scrivener and such. The developers are active and spit out improvements all the time.  

If you need something to help you hold all your info, this might be the place. Such a beast. A pantser would contemplate bits and bobs of a plot inside Plottr.  

Kaleidico

This one may suck me back in at some point. I’m using Notion to hold all my info for the book I’m writing now. If it doesn’t go well, I might pick this one back up. It’s got a very nice interface, hefty features and offers a lifetime option if you find it invaluable. That means you’re not at the risk of needing to recreate things down the road if you stop paying them a subscription. 

I’m still not sure I’ll ever find a piece of software that does it all. But I’m not afraid to try out something new. Sometimes new software makes me aware of an aspect of my writing I need to improve or treat with more importance. Give something new a whirl and see what shakes out. I bet you learn something.

Is there a new piece of software I must try? Let me know about your favorites.