Outlining

[nadinbrzezinski]

so I decided to splurge and went ahead adn finally bought power structure

No, it is NOT a cheap program, but so far I have been very happy at how fast the outliing process is going. Hell, I may be able to put first words on chapter one today

[petgoat]

1. Cheaper on EBay.

Seems like most of what it does could be done using colored yarn
on bulletin boards, and 3X5 cards. But it works, it's portable,
and very helpful in sorting out complex narratives.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. If I knew how to do XML databases

I could do it myself

[sybylla]

3. I despise outlining

Ever since 7th grade I've rebelled against it. Whenever possible I always wrote my paper first, then created the outline from it. It always seemed that if I did it the other way around, I'd find that I'd backed myself into a corner and would have to rewrite the outline anyway.

But...now that I've gotten a little experience working on a novel-length project, I think I'll put a little more emphasis on outlining and plot development before I dive in. With my first project, I've found that I've had to do far too much of it during the writing process. But being my first project, I'm happy to learn as I go.

Does Power Structure help with plot and subplot development while you put together your outline?

I've heard of the program but I'm always suspicious of writing tools with that kind of price tag so I never looked very closely at it. I've been taken enough on the cheaper stuff marketed to writers that I have a hard time making a bigger investment.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Yes it allows you to do

characters, background and the rest of the story

It also allows you to either delete sections or add sections as you wish.

The other thing it does is that it allows you to use the standard three act or the Mythic journey system

But it does not force anything on you.

By the way, I hate outlining as well, but my second published novel came out far better after I SAT DOWN and outlined the project... it also gave me a nice synopsis

The best I could recommend is download the demo and play with it... in other words find out if it works for you before spending the money

There is also a cheaper alternative (as in free) that I have used also in the past. I don't right now since I find the database a little weak and would love that program to have a zoom feature, http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter.html
Trust me, if you want to try this and not spend a buck, YWriter might be what the doctor ordered and if you do need a database and wish for soemthing free and good... here is it

http://www.tranglos.com/free/

[sybylla]

7. Thanks for the info and the links

I'll try YWriter first - maybe adapt my current project to it and see how it fits. But I'm leaning towards a tool like Power Structure for my next project.

[joeybee12]

4. Good luck with that...

...I'm sort of torn with outlining. I do it, then I change it again and again. almost takes up as much time as the writing!

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Oh and just discovered this free tool tonight

http://www.jhorman.org/wikidPad/