On My Wish List

So, I'm thinking of trying this novel-writing software called WriteItNow. It was first called to my attention in the August issue of Writer's Digest Magazine. It was one of the programs reviewed by Jack Clemens in his article "The 2006 WD Guide to Writing Software." According to Mr. Clemens, "WriteItNow, a relatively inexpensive novel-writing program, turns out to be a tremendous bargain. It's easy to navigate and filled with practical functions - everything from word processing, manuscript formatting and note organizing to a name generator and submissions tracker. It also offers, at no extra cost, online updates that provide research material on a wide array of topics."

Sounds good, right? So I went online and did some checking around. Either this program is relatively new, or just a well-kept secret, because a google search doesn't turn up all that much. What it does turn up is positive though. A couple good reviews from writers who tried it (all recommended it, saying it was a great bargain) and the official website for the manufacturer, Ravenshead Services at http://www.ravensheadservices.com/index.php. They offer a free trial to download, but being the paranoid person that I am, I e-mailed them and asked if they could mail me a copy instead. A few days later I got my free trial in the mail, and I have to say, this is a truly great program. It has lots of interesting features, all easy to use, and is very affordable compared with most Writing software at $57, which includes shipping and handling. For someone who has been a faithful (for some strange reason) Microsoft Works user, this would be a huge improvement. Perfectly tailored to the writer, this program offers to organize everything related to your story in one place. No more post-its stuck to every hard surface around you, and spreadsheets scattered hither and yon! There are tabs for characters, events, notes, places, ideas, locations, and submissions, and a tree view that expands for each class of information.

Some of the things you can do with this software are:
* Write and store complete novels
* Keep background details of characters, events, locations and ideas
* Display charts of events and relationships
* Generate characters, names and ideas
* Registered users can generate characters and background notes using add-ons
* Record all manuscript submissions

It also includes:
* Sample story with tutorial.
* 100,000 word spelling checker + 150,000 word thesaurus
* 100 step undo and redo
* RTF output. Create a neatly formatted manuscript with two key-presses
* FAQ. Frequently asked questions.

The feature that I'm most excited about is the Readability option. This will tell you what age level your writing is appropriate for and how difficult your story is by analyzing the words used, the length of sentences, sentence structure, and grammar using the Flech-Kincaid grade assessment scale. Perfect for those wanting to write Children's books or Young Adult Fiction targeted at a certain age group.

But I'm not doing it justice. If this sounds like something you might be intersted in, please go to their website and check it out for yourself.

I've got a birthday coming up in less than a month. I already know what I'm asking for! Hopefully this will be just the kick in the pants I need to get me going.