What’s the one program or app you couldn’t live without? I’m really struggling to keep all my research for a new idea in order and am on the hunt for some new systems.
Also, I’m really enjoying Dabble for writing lately. It’s a cloud-based writing software with a great plotting tool and room for notes. Scrivener is great, but I hate that it only lives on my computer. (And I’m a Windows girl, so still waiting for the latest update…)
I use Grammarly daily. It catches all of my punctuation and spelling mistakes and lets me know when my wording is unclear. However, I’m seriously considering switching to ProWritingAid once my renewal comes due.
I’ve used both, but I think the bells and whistles in ProWritingAid win. Hands down. They have a free trial to see if it works for you. They also usually have a sale right around NaNoWriMo. I bought the lifetime license during one of their 50% off sales and never looked back.
That’s my complaint with Scrivener too. I’m a Windows girl too. Plus, I can’t use it if I have a free 10 minutes to write while at work or anywhere else. I’ve been using OneNote to corral my notes, writing and some research but I can’t drill down as much as I like. So I’ve been dabbling in Wiki’s. Not for the actual writing but to keep all the other info. We’ll see how it goes.
About four months ago I started using Plottr (getplottr.com). I wasn’t familiar with Dabble until I read your post. I just looked at it and think Plottr is similar. It is made for planning and plotting, not the actual writing (and you can export Plottr content to Scrivener and Word). Plottr is more versatile than Dabble because you can use one of the pre-defined structural templates or you can set up your own. I more of less use the plot grid structural method described on the Dabble website. You can see how that could work in Plottr by looking at their demo of Pride and Prejudice. Besides being more versatile, Plottr also is fabulous because you can look at your content in a timeline view or an outline view. Plottr is also cheaper than Dabble.
I recently learned about fictionary.co. It’s a great editing tool for an existing novel (and they have a version for professional editors), but you can also use it to plan, plot, and write a new novel. I learned about it from a Reedsy demo by the author/owner, Kristina Stanley (I think her husband is the tech person in their team). I think you can take a free class from her on Reedsy.com (and probably see the demo she did for the Reedsy webinar), and I think you can view YouTubes she’s done. Fictionay.co also has a free trial. The other thing I like about Fictionary is that Kristina is an author and she has several videos on Fictionary about writing (and tips in the software). So it is also a great learning tool.
When I first found Fictionary, I thought I would use it for editing completed work (and I also do some editing for other people). But for the fun of it I started planning and plotting a new novel. I like how that’s going. As I said, Plottr is very versatile (and I love the timeline view), but it is focused on planning/plotting, not writing and doesn’t have tips/suggestions. What I’m sort of doing now with the new novel is playing with scene ideas in Plottr (and viewing them in the timeline), and then when I decide on something, put it into Fictionary so I can advantage of the tips and feedback from the software. If you do a free trial and look at some of the videos, I think you’ll see what I mean.
Plottr has great support and a good Facebook group. Fictionary has great support as well. When I first started, Kristina answered my questions right away and she was interested in my feedback. Plottr solicits enhancement suggestions in the Facebook group and Kristian was also interested in new ideas and said they do updates based on author suggestions.
This is a really interesting thread.