A Writer’s Toolbox Part One – Software
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My husband has been a woodworker for many years. His first project was a dresser/cupboard for my son’s bedroom. Hubby tried hard to make a quality piece of furniture, but it looked rather, well, homemade. In part, this was because it was his first attempt, and he was learning. The other thing, however, was that he didn’t have the right tools. Now, twenty-five years later, he’s got a garage full of tools and has made most of the furniture in our house (including the kitchen cupboards!)
Writing is the same way. If you’re going to be a writer, having the right tools is important. For years, I wrote in MS Word because it was the only word processor I had access to. Don’t get me wrong – Word is a great program. However, I have found that I don’t need all of its bells and whistles. I’ve used the software for nearly as long as my husband has been woodworking, yet I still only know about a third of Word’s commands.
The other problem I have is that – at least when it comes to writing – I am a very visual person. I need to see a picture of my novel in order to know what events come when and which characters are in what scene. I’ve tried using color-coded index cards (not a bad way to go, but they are too easily mis-filed) and white boards (takes up too much space on the walls of my tiny office.) A writer friend of mine swears by Excel graphs, but I never could plot things the way I wanted.
So, finally, after much debate, I bought a copy of Scrivener software. It was a marriage made in heaven! Now, I can shuffle not only my index cards, but my files as well. I can take snapshots and map out my characters’ arcs. Overall, it has saved me a ton of frustration, grief, and time.
[image error]A great beginning to a new project
Don’t worry…I’m not here as a shill for Scrivener. What I’m trying to say is that in order to increase your productivity, you need to find what works best for you. Whether you choose Google docs or even write longhand in a notebook, it doesn’t matter. However, I encourage every writer to try using different tools in order to find what works best.
