Writing programs, and allowing yourself to think

I composed my first novel (currently in ’suck’ draft) in TextEdit.

I happen to work on a Mac, so TextEdit was my default writing program; I’m sure if I had been on a PC, Word would have served the same purpose.

I don’t know why it took me so long to realize: your choice of writing program plays a huge role in affecting how you write. The ways you construct story, organize plot, and enjoy the process are all influenced heavily by choice of tool.

Being a musician, this should have been obvious to me from the start. Of course your choice of tool will influence the output; it’s fundamental to the act of creating. I think in retrospect, I always treated the act of writing as something more abstract, and separate from the process.

So, I tried to find writing programs that would not get in the way of writing, like Word did, nor programs that sat there giving you no help, like TextEdit did. My search led me to three programs: Avenir, WriteRoom, and Scrivener. All three programs boast a generous trial period, which I found quite helpful in evaluating them.

Avenir

Avenir I liked a lot, when I first used it. In fact, for the first few days I dutifully moved all my writing projects into it, just to get them into the format.

Avenir takes a very streamlined approach to constructing projects. It comes with several categorizations on the left: Chapters, Tasks, Actors, Scenes, Locations, etc. Right off the bat I jumped into this strict approach, dividing my projects along the lines Avenir had provided: building character bios, breaking the story out by scene, sketching out locations, etc.

It didn’t take me long to tire of this approach. Especially for short stories, I found the strict rigidity hampered the writing. Sometimes you just want to write, organization be damned. Obviously you don’t have to use any of the provided structure the program provides, but… it’s there, right? So you begin to feel a little guilty for ignoring it.

The real kicker, though, was the lack of a ‘typewriter’ mode in full screen. (By the way, a full screen is something that is crucial to being able to ‘escape’ into writing… I can’t believe that TextEdit doesn’t have this option.) So, I looked at some other options.

WriteRoom

WriteRoom has a heavy emphasis on a distraction-free experience, which they stress heavily on their website. I didn’t spend too much time with this program to be honest. Whereas Avenir provided too much structure, WriteRoom provided too little. The full screen mode was wonderful, and free from distraction, but there’s got to be a happy medium, right?

One thing I do like about the WriteRoom site is how they make it clear that the program is not for everyone. One of the programs they recommend is Scrivener (and Scrivener, on their website, recommend WriteRoom). So I gave Scrivener a try.

Scrivener

At this point, Scrivener is my writing environment of choice. It’s got the fullscreen typewriter mode, which I love, but it also has organizational tools to help with longer writing - completely customizable, too.

There’s mode called Corkboard and Outliner, all explained in a helpful tutorial that I didn’t spend any time learning. Maybe I should have, before spending the time writing this review, but there you go.

The thing about Scrivener that I’m liking, however, is how I don’t feel guilty about blowing off those features. My time in the program is mostly spent in full screen mode, writing without any distractions; however, every now and then I pop out and want to read some notes I’ve taken on the chapters, or characters, and it’s a great program for balancing those two desires.

I think my biggest takeaway has been, however, that there isn’t one best program, or method out there. Just like you can compose different and equally good tunes on a piano or guitar, different programs will generate very different outputs. I think forcing yourself to write using different tools and different styles can only be a good thing.

One of the ways I’ve been writing recently has been by hand, which is a major step to undertake for someone like me who’s attached to his computer by an umbilical cord. There’s some significant benefits, however, that no computer-based program could challenge. Since my writing speed is much slower by hand than it is by typing, I’m forced to write slower and thus think more over every word I write. Long and superfluous words - such as, oh maybe the word ’superfluous’ - get discarded much faster because they’re such a damn pain to write in the first place.

Also, writing by hand forces you to revise: if you have any desire to get the writing into an editable (computer) form, you’re going to have to type it up and reread what you’ve just written.

I’d encourage you to spend some time experimenting with different programs, and styles of writing. Finding something you’re comfortable with and that facilitates creativity will free you to spend more of your time writing, and less time fiddling. Writing is hard enough as it is, without having your writing program getting in the way.

UPDATE: Here’s a slightly more cynical take on the matter.