I’ve been following over the past year the ongoing development of a rather remarkable — and free — software for novelists: yWriter, by Australian science-fiction writer Simon Haynes.
Haynes wrote this software for his own use: he’s very particular about how he works, he says, and no software suited his needs. He was also spurred by participation in the annual National Novel Writing Month challenge to complete a novel within the 30 days of November [which is, by the way, just around the corner].
yWriter is a stripped down word processor, fully capable of turning out complete novels, but unhampered by unnecessary bells and whistles. In its first rendering, it was very spare indeed. Now in version 3, it’s still graphically very straight-forward, even though it now supports rich text files and simple formatting. In my view, it’s come of age.
What really sets it apart are the organizational tools, allowing writers to develop summaries of each part of the novel, scene by scene, chapter by chapter, which remain at hand as guideposts throughout the actual writing. The software also includes tools to help track characters, locations and even tension points within the story. And the program also tracks word counts of every section and allows one to see a graphic chart of daily progress.
His software is developing a crowd of rabid followers. Just reading some of their testimonials tells you a lot about the program.
- “…with yWriter, I can break my book down into chapters, or even paragraphs, and writing one, or editing one, makes me feel like I am accomplishing something, rather than adding a few words here and there, knowing I still have a hundred pages to go.”
- “yWriter has a wonderful way of organising different files for the same story (and the fractured way I write makes that incredibly useful); it is simple, clear and effective.”
- “Your software is intuitive, easy to use, and keeps things so organized that even major plot changes are manageable.”
Read more user testimonials here — they capture the flavor of the program. Screenshots tell you even more about yWriter than words. Click here for screenshots.
I must admit that the first time I tested out this software almost a year ago, I was rather confused about how to work with it. The software did not have very good documentation. That’s changed. A volunteer user has posted a very full description of all the views and menus.
When you visit Simon’s website, you’ll discover several other programs of direct interest to writers. Especially interesting is Sonar, a very useful program to help track manuscript submissions. Writers-for-hire, on the other hand, will appreciate Track-A-Minute, which will keep time logs for all on-going projects.
Often, just for fun, I like to import my writing into yBook, an eBook Reader which turns text into a clone of a paperback, with two facing pages. I feel like I’m published already! Readers have full command over font and text size as well, a real boon for my aging eyes. In a recent update, Simon has also provided facilities for direct downloads from the 17,000-title Project Gutenberg library of classics.
To top off this bonanza of writer’s software, Simon provides a number of articles about the craft and business of writing.
With National Novel Writing Month coming up in four weeks, now’s a good time to download these materials and prepare to churn out your next novel.
Sorry, comments are closed.