By Kendra Leah, @Writing2Day
I’m finally done retyping my work in progress, all 99,911 words of it, yeah! I still have about three more chapters to write before it’s time to work on the rewrite. I took out the climatic scene that I wrote while taking a correspondence class only to realize that I had expanded upon one of my earlier scenes for the climax. Since I definitely want to use this, that means I have to go back and rewrite/rework the original scene and maybe a good portion of that chapter.
I actually feel quite lucky that this is the one major mistake that I found along the way. I have definitely spotted other errors and inconsistencies that need to be dealt with. And, there is a chapter or two, lol, that feel pretty weak. Before I go any further in my novel, I need to recreate my outline. For those of you who haven’t been following, my outline was lost years ago. As much as I hate to admit it, it would seem this is an integral piece of information.
Call it karma, but just as I’m dreading having to recreate my outline, I received an email advertising the software program Outline 4D. I did click on it and it looks like a very useful program. But then my mind went back to two programs I wanted years ago, Movie Magic and Dramatica Pro. Since I’m writing a novel, I didn’t even look at Movie Magic (we’ll save that for my screenplay). I did some research on reviews of writing programs. The one that consistently came up towards the top of the reviews was Dramatica Pro – ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!
It seems the only drawback I could find was that some people feel it has a steep learning curve. I may not have a huge ego when it comes to my writing talent. I feel it is a raw talent and I definitely have a lot to learn to make it shine. What I do have confidence in is my ability to learn. Everything I have read about Dramatica Pro leads me to believe that, “No, it will not write the book for me.” But, if I go through the process of using the software, I feel I will end up with a better novel than if I just plodded along on my own.
So, I took the plunge and used my birthday money to purchase the downloadable version. I really don’t have the patience to wait for something to arrive in the mail when I’m this excited! I started using the program this morning before work. Started out on Level 3 (no sense bothering with Level 1) so I can dig into everything with the most intensity. I believe Level 1 asks about 50 questions about characters, plot, etc. while Level 3 asks about 300. I’m hoping that with work schedules and life in general, I can get through these questions in about a week. I’m very excited to see what all those reports have to say. Hopefully then I will be able to move forward with a solid outline in hand to finish things up and go back and start the rewrite.
I would really love to hear from others out there who use Dramatica Pro to see if you feel it has benefitted your writing. After I’ve used it for a while, I will post an update as to whether or not I’ve felt it was beneficial. If you don’t use this program, what do you use?
To your writing success!
