I’m excited this week! I have no time to be writing, but there is little else I can do before I move. So, I write.

software: yWriter

Once when I was planning to write for NANOWRMO, I searched for different things that people were doing to make the writing task easily. I came across yWriter. It got my attention enough for me to download it. That was a few years ago.

working out the setup

In the first week of July, I opened yWriter because I wanted to try something different as my latest story was getting longer. I found that the application is not nearly as simple as using WordPerfect (my default app) or Word. I actually had to go to the online manual to get started right. It was thrilling!

The quick start guide gave me enough information to learn how to set up chapters and scenes. (I don’t know how to delete chapters, but I’ll figure that out too.)

First, I set up the skeleton for my novel, the chapters and scenes. It was really easy once I knew what to look for. Then I uploaded my story, 7,272 words, chapter by chapter into yWriter. That was July 4th, fitting since it allowed me to declare my independence from the bulky use of word processing for novels.

what i learned about yWriter

• It can read my writing back to me
• It has a publishing function that will format the text for reading online
• Timeline view lets you see your story as notes, like sticky notes
• Drag and drop works in the timeline view
• I can’t delete chapters yet
• It offers many ways to notate my story for ideas that pop up

rolling along

Today I have 28,570 and the only reason I slowed up was because I had a move in the midst of everything.

Ideas are coming and I focus on how to get it said, not the mechanics. And an interesting thing is happening.

I’m dreaming of my characters’ stories. The story’s in my system. Two weeks ago, after writing the ending until after 05:00, the backstory for one character came to me before 08:00. It was too soon to put my contacts back in. So, I wrote it on my legal pad, two pages front and back.

Last night, I did a quick read-through (I know I shouldn’t have). I was amazed at how much the backstory tied things together. Things I hadn’t thought consciously of, but were burned into my brain from the story. It’s actually fun.

peace of mind

I have no worries about how I will move my content around if need be, just like the yWriter developer says. I just focus on the writing, knowing the revising will be infinitely easier.

Word processors make writing very easy when compared with typewriters. But, when it comes to larger documents, it can be fairly cumbersome. When I am writing, I don’t feel the need to change order a lot but it does happen. yWriter has some excellent tools to make moving content really easy. One is a drag and drop capacity for scenes between chapters.

The other I’ve found so far is the storyboard tool. It looks like notes on lines. And I can slide these boxes to different chapters and different characters for POV.

about the story

This story I’m discussing is my first fan fiction. I’m hoping to submit it to The Chamber, the fan fiction site I blogged about it on Telling Stories.

It’s the first long story, novella length now, that I can actually see myself finishing. Part of that does have to do with not having to worry with the mechanics either during or after, since yWriter automates so much.

about the title

I got the quote from “Roxanne” 1987. After successfully fighting their first real fire, the character, Andy (played by Michael J. Pollard), made the proclamation. It’s my proclamation since I’ve actually satisfactorily advanced on my story and can see an end to it — for the first time.

I’m happy with this application but I will keep my eyes out for other writing tools. I may try a paid one, to see what I might be missing. Please share any suggestions you may have for tools you like or have heard about.