Story Development Software: Good or Evil?

In the early days of the personal computer, we're talking the mid-'80s here, there was speculation that someday books would all be writen by computers. It sounded a little too science-fictiony for most writers. After all, words on a page---no matter how well they appear to work together---are meaningless without the insights and experiences of the writer behind them.

At this point in time, I'm happy to report, computers are not writing all our books for us.

However, writing software has progressed far beyond the basic word processing abilities of Word and Word Perfect.

Today, we have a wide variety of story development software. Most can be used to write novels or screenplays, even television scripts or stage plays. Programs such as Truby's Blockbuster or Dramatica Pro teach their own unique approach to story development. Other programs, such as Power Structure, StoryBase, and StoryWeaver provide prompts for help with character, structure, and theme.

They do not write the story for us.

But they are coming closer.

Dramatica Pro, for instance, uses what it refers to as a story engine, that reveals relationships of deep structure independent of subject and content. It takes you by the hand and shows you what character, plot and theme issues you need to address. And finally, it weaves all your plot points together for maximum Dramatica Pro impact.

Truby's Blockbuster helps you find the best story form for your genre work, helps you develop the 7 keys that provide the nucleus for your story, and then lays out the 22 steps of story development to carry your plot from start to finish.

I've used most of these programs at one time or another. While I believe Dramatica Pro has great potential and a unique take on story development, it also has a steep learning curve. Personally, I turn to writing software to save time. If it drains my time to learn how to use it properly, then it defeats its purpose.

Truby's Blockbuster, on the other hand, quickly gets me to the heart of my story and has me putting the pieces together in a relatively short time. I don't use it for all my projects, but find it most helpful for the bigger books.

Could I write without the use of software?

Of course.

Would my stories be better for it?

Probably no better. Probably no worse.

Then what's the point?

The point is this: story development software can serve both good and evil, depending on how you use it. If you rely too heavily on the software, then you defeat the purpose of being a writer, which is to bring your own take on the world into your work. Your stories will likely begin to all read alike, very cookie-cutter and pre-fabbed. You'll be moving us another step closer to the day when computers will write our books for us.

But if you use the software to organize your thoughts, to make the initial brainstorming process quicker and more efficient, without relying too heavily on each and every aspect of the software, then it can serve the good in your work.

Much like the rules of grammar, the rules of struture and story development are there to guide you. Once you thoroughly understand how they work, you're freer to break them. This is when you step forward as a writer, with your own voice, and your own creative approach to writing.

If you'd like to check out some of these programs, here are some good places to get started:

Novel-Writing Programs: http://thesuccessfulwriter.com/novelwrit ingsoftware/

Screenwriting Programs: http://thesuccessfulwriter.com/screenwr itingsoftware/

Whether you decide to use story-development software or not---Steinbeck, Hemmingway, Faulkner and many others did just fine without them---always remember to bring yourself to your work.

That's the only true way you'll ever be an original writer.

David B. Silva
The Successful Writer
http://thesuccessfulwriter.com

---

Spyware Statistics -- Whats New in May 2005?

Although statistics often is blamed for various deadly sins --... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains - Microsoft RMS Integration ? overview

Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft Retail Management System (Microsoft RMS)... Read More

Lowering The Risks In Developing Do-It-Yourself Software Projects

Mike Dunville* had a decision to make. As the new... Read More

Exactly What Does FTP Stand for and What Can it do for Me?

FTP stands for "file transfer protocol". FTP is basically a... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains eCommerce: overview for developer

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was designed back in the... Read More

Navision Attain Database access via C/ODBC in ASP.NET Application

Navision Software was purchased by Microsoft and now it is... Read More

Lotus Domino/Notes - Microsoft Great Plains Tandem as ERP with Documents Workflow - Overview for IT

Lotus Domino/Notes ? Microsoft Great Plains tandem as ERP with... Read More

Need of Document Management System (DMS)

Document Management or Enterprise Information Management is perhaps one of... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Dexterity vs. eConnect ? FAQ

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, former Great Plains Software Dynamics/eEnterprise... Read More

Outlook... Not Just for Email! Using Your Outlook Calendar

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most widely used software... Read More

Google Brings the Earth to Your Desktop

Google Inc. has launched a new software package that allows... Read More

MSN Messenger Is A Sweet Way To Communicate

MSN messenger is a pretty cool invention. I mean I'm... Read More

Freight Forwarding ERP: Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains customization & setup ? overview

Microsoft Great Plains may be recommended for international freight forwarding... Read More

What is Fleet Maintenance Management?

Fleet Maintenance Management is a critical position in any company... Read More

XML Parser and Their Types

XML parser is a software module to read documents and... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains POP: Purchase Order Processing ? Overview For Consultants

Great Plains Purchase Order Processing (POP) module makes up one-third... Read More

It?s Back!! WordPerfect?s Amazing Comeback

Have you noticed WordPerfect is gearing up for a comeback... Read More

eCommerce development for Microsoft Great Plains: tools and highlights for programmer

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, former Great Plains Software Dynamics... Read More

40/sec to 500/sec

IntroductionSurprised, by the title? well, this is a tour of... Read More

Open Source Concepts: Dual Licensing Explained

We were recently faced with a decision: either to let... Read More

The Bluebird Project

The objective for Zandi Digital is to make available clever... Read More

Microsoft CRM Implementation ? Fundamental CRM Principles Revision

Microsoft CRM is relatively new player on the now becoming... Read More

COSMIC: A Small Improvement on the Symons Method

The COSMIC FP (function point) software quality metric, is no... Read More

Windows x: Basic Windows ?Security? Issues

Language development computer: Computer-based method for aiding language development seems... Read More

What is Spyware? Are You Being Watched?

Find out why Spyware Removal from computers is important and... Read More

10 Things You Could be Using Photoshop For, But Probably Arent

Most people don't use Photoshop to its fullest capabilities. Here... Read More

Is Your Family Protected?

When you think... Read More

Software Automation Helps Increase your Bottom Line

When you own a small business, time is money. And... Read More

Groupware as a Document Manager: Collaboration Series #3

This article is the third of a series of articles... Read More

Great Plains Customization Upgrade? Overview For CIO/IT Director

Around the same time Microsoft made its move with .Net... Read More

Fast Car Knoppix

Small can be beautiful! Working with Knoppix for the past... Read More

Create A Flash Presentation For Free With Open Office

The intentions of this short tutorial are not to teach... Read More

RSS: Get Notified When Your Favorite Websites Are Updated

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way for a site... Read More