Gregg E. Brickman, Mystery Writer
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Pay List:  Writing (Scrivener)

4/3/2014

4 Comments

 
Picture
Of all the things on my Pay List, writing is the easiest and the hardest.  Easy because I love it.  Hard because I need to get it right.  It also requires discipline, which seems to have diminished in the wake of retirement.  While multi-tasking has always been a part of my life, I suppose now I allow myself to be more easily distracted, creating an increased need for organizational tools.

A couple of weeks ago I posted my budding storyboard.

Picture
It grew to look like this.

Storyboards by their very nature are cumbersome.  I remember years ago my idol, Barbara Parker, gave a talk on creating a storyboard.  She said she had taped all her story notes all over her kitchen cabinets.  I like the picture of that, but I suspect Steve wouldn’t.

I started the current one on a poster board like the kids use.  Semi-portable, except the stickies fall off unless they are secured with a bit of tape.  Previously, I’ve used my bulletin board.  Not so portable.  Once I taped it all on the back of the door.  Not portable at all.  The last novel I used a table in MS Word for my Storyboard.  Portable but cumbersome to reorganize or access in the middle of a thought.

I write on a 13” MacBook Pro, which is infinitely portable.  And I work in almost every room of the house, on the patio, and on the treadmill.  What’s a girl to do?

I sat next to Rick Wymer during the Florida MWA meeting in March.  At SleuthFest 2014, he attended a session by Chris Kling about the Scrivener content-generation tool for writers.  I had heard about it previously and had a total misconception about it features and benefits, thinking it forced the writer into a certain format.  Au contraire.  I was sadly uninformed.

PictureA word-processing screen.
Rick chatted about the program, mentioning that it has a full featured word processor and so much more.  There are options for writing formal papers such as a dissertation.  There is a totally open template, which appears in the word-processing picture below.  And, there is an option for novels.  It incorporates a corkboard for storyboarding, which is what captured my attention, and has a place for character sketches.

The software was originally developed for MAC, and while the PC version isn’t as powerful, recently major refinements were made to it.  (Hey, I have a MAC!)  He also mentioned the reasonable cost—by then I was thinking $LOTS—but the MAC version is $45.  

His enthusiasm was contagious.  I went home and downloaded the trial from Literature and Latte.  The nice folks provide a thirty-day full-access version (thirty contact days, not calendar days).  I saw something on the site that alerted me to buy from the Apple App Store for convenient updates, so that is what I did just two days later.  I started one file for my miscellaneous writing, which includes my blog posts and book reviews.  

And I started a file for Imperfect Obsession, my next planned title in the Imperfect Series.  I typed in all my existing sticky notes, have since added more to the corkboard, and easily rearranged the items.  Everything I included—character sketches/sheets, pictures, research articles, web links, notes, and chapter “outlines”—is accessible from within the program.  I'm so excited.
Now I have a poster board that only holds a map of my fictitious city.

Anybody need a fresh, hardly ever used storyboard?

GEB
4 Comments
Barbara Sherman
4/3/2014 12:44:16 pm

You are one computer wizard! I admire your ambition and dedication to your writing. Keep up the good work!

Reply
Gregg
4/3/2014 02:37:26 pm

Thank you, Barb. You know I like the computer stuff.

Reply
Eric Beaty link
4/23/2016 06:36:57 pm

Great to see your thoughts on Scrivener, Gregg. Can't wait to see you demonstrate this at our writer's group.

Reply
Gregg
4/24/2016 09:28:11 am

Thanks, Eric. I can't believe you read back this far. I'm planning on bringing my computer the first meeting in June (unless by some miracle the house is finished and we're moving in!)
Gregg

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    I write mysteries about nurses doing extraordinary things.  I'm also a nurse, teacher, wife, mother, cook, enthusiastic reader, and citizen of the world.

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