Tools of the Trade by Kait Carson

Before the age of computers, a writer’s tools consisted of a simple pen and paper. The process took the form of write, edit, re-write, edit, and finally, type the finished product for submission. Sure, a writer could opt to type from the start, and many did, but typewriters were loud in those days, keys clacked, and jammed, interrupting the story world. Corrections were made with a gritty pencil-like tool that had a brush on the end and often resulted in holes in the paper.

In the 1980s, personal computers made their debut. There was no wide-scale access to the Internet to offer a distraction, and the keyboards were semi-silent. Plus, editing was a breeze. No more rewriting entire passages that passed muster, instead, cut and paste! A writer’s dream come true.

The Internet opened up the writer’s world to writing programs. I tried one named Dramatica. If a writer had a story or character problem, the program had a feature that provided a potential solution. Several writers I knew used it and loved it. Unfortunately, it proved too option rich for me.

Microsoft Word became my weapon of choice for writing. It had its limitations, cut and paste were unwieldly when the manuscript was novel length. Moving scenes and maintaining continuity proved difficult and creating multiple files for each aspect of the novel often meant spending more time going back and forth in the directory tree than writing. The search and replace functions were heaven sent. If only someone would invent a writing program, I thought, that let you have everything in one place and allowed for an easy story reorganization.

Enter Scrivener. The program was everything I dreamed about in a writing program. It’s perfect for pantsers and plotters. Each chapter or scene (depending on how you write) has index cards that can be used for listing the highlights of the scene. Master index cards can help outline the novel before you write. Best of all, if Chapter 3 needs to be Chapter 10, drag, drop, and done. There are sections for a story bible, character lists, settings, and research on the same screen as the manuscript. Scrivener allows the writer to be the architect of their own writing environment.

Literature and Latte, the publisher of Scrivener, also makes Scapple. The definition of the word scapple hails from the stonecutting industry and means to work roughly without finishing. Scapple isn’t a writing program, it’s a mind map program. I’m using it to show the relationships among my characters to determine if any are walk-ons who need to be cut. The map includes each character’s motive, means, and opportunity for the murder and demonstrates if the clues and red herrings do their jobs. It’s a shorthand way to uncover any outliers and either develop or discard them to tighten the story.

From pen and paper to pixels and bytes, a writer’s tools have expanded. None is right for every writer, but the options are exciting. Do you use any writing programs? Have you found they aided or invaded your writing?