Alternative Writing Tools

[Semeny Licket]

Sometimes a word processor doesn't cut it for me, especially as I've recently found the need to storyboard a project to keep track of numerous parallel narrative arcs. I've found a Java program called oStorybook which does this: With it, you can create different "strands" of the narrative's focus to keep track of the progress of multiple story arcs that occur simultaneously. I'm not sure it's the best for interactive stories, however, because it's not so much about branching threads as it is about parallel threads.

I prefer to rely on a simple word processor for plotting and writing, but I think it's still interesting to play with offline programs like this. So far I've been using headers and links in Word, but it's all set out in a very linear way. I looked up another program called Twine which looks very entertaining for all its simplicity, and it appears to export stories in an HTML-like format. You write out a paragraph and create links by placing [[double square brackets]] around linkable text, which can be anywhere in the paragraph or at the end. It seems pretty nifty.

Anyone else have deeper experience with programs like these?

Incidentally, I was worried about what section of the site to put this in. I wanted to use Authors' Hangout because the subject involves writing tools, but because I had a shadow of a doubt, I decided to opt for General instead. I'm sorry if this should be moved.

 

[jealco]

Twine can actually export into HTML, too, making completely readable multithread stories. It sees a lot of use in the interactive fiction community for that. You could probably write an entire story in Twine and port it to here with very little in the way of extra work. Granted, I've never used Twine, just read stories written with it, so I could be mistaken.

I may have to join you in this hunt, as I'm writing for a few stories, and while I can generally A) Keep track of my major points in my head and B) Turn those into coherent, continuing arcs with little effort, sometimes I really need an effective way to keep track of all those big ideas, especially when dialogue (my personal writing bane) hinders my writing. Word, Wordpad, Notepad, and Notepad++ have all failed me as easily manageable ways to keep track of continuing arcs, especially when splits occur.

 

[Semeny Licket]

Word, Wordpad, Notepad, and Notepad++ have all failed me as easily manageable ways to keep track of continuing arcs, especially when splits occur.

I've mostly been using Word as a dumping ground to save posts. It's laggy, but the navigation pane and headers are at least some way of keeping track of information...if you like scrolling through interminable lists. Notepad++ is excellent if you're coding, especially simple HTML (though I recommend whatever's available from Quackit for that). I actually had to edit a document that was apparently written in Wordpad. It saved to ODT, making it look like it was written in OpenOffice (it wasn't), and it didn't port well. It was the most surreal project I've had to undertake.

 

[Patzo]

The longer I spend on here, the more I want to take a look at Twine. I've seen it referenced as the perfect way to start making games, and I've read/played a few that, even if they were too linear to be true choose-your-own-adventures stories, did clever and surprising things with the form. I want to try adapting some of those techniques to a story here on CHYOA.

I'm definitely going to give oStorybook a shot. For writing out long sections of text I might use OpenOffice, but right now my planning typically happens in Evernote. I just create a big notebook stack for the story, then separate notebooks within for each diverging plot branch. Also nifty: the phone app and desktop client sync together, so I can jot down quick thoughts on the train and expand on them once I'm back home.

 

[dirtytyke]

I've had a play with Twine. It lets you do conditional variables etc which is quite nice, but I'm waiting for that to be implemented here instead.
I've used a program called MyNovel for writing. Though it isn't really designed for parallel threads or trees it does let you write each 'chapter' (which could just be a thread I guess) separately, save background information about your characters and locales etc, as well as images for your reference.
Unfortunately I don't think it's actually available any more as the website seems to be offline.

 

[bsnick]

On Linux: Zim is perfect for choose your own adventures as it's simple to use and allows endless children threads, grand-children, grand-grand-grand-children, funerals, births, weddings.... er, I'm getting carried away.

Keepnote could probably be used too.

 

[bobbydavros]

There's a free online editor called Inklewriter that I use for writing my threads before I post them to chyoa, that's been designed for choose your own adventures. It's nice and intuitive and I've not hit any problems with it so far and it saves things very frequently which is a good thing.

 

[Peri2g]

I actually became ridiculously obsessed with Twine for a short while. I didn't have any formal programming experience, and most of the pitiful programs that I'd written on my own did nothing substantial, so with the illusion of programming that twine gave, I was hooked. With Twine, some scripts from Glorious Trainwreck, and Sugarcube, I was able to make a pretty powerful game interface. I lost interest when I realized how difficult it'd be to do damn near anything with the system I'd created though.

In terms of story boarding, I actually use The Brain for my non-smut writing endeavors. It's basically a visual interface linking different strains of thought as child, parent, or associated thoughts. It's a great help for keeping ideas organized.

 

[Patzo]

Has anyone used Snowflake Pro? It's a pricey piece of software, but I outline and develop my writing using snowflake method, and I'm wondering if it's at all worth saving up for it.