gamma Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Storyist is a nice program, much in the flavor of Scrivener, Avenir, Jer's Novel Writer, Journler, CopyWrite, MacJournal and other writing programs that I've purchased and registered. Each of these programs has an up and downside relative to the others, but they all have a major advantage over a bloated word processor. Judging by the small number of Storyist forum members, I assume sales for Storyist's sales have been limited. This shouldn't be because Storyist is stable with nice features and an excellent interface. I have invested in a significant number of writing programs to make those programs and updates available to me, and to support their developers' efforts to promote future versions. Unfortunately, the unusually high price of Storyist (about double the cost of similar programs) will keep me from purchasing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Hi Gamma, Storyist is a nice program ... Storyist is stable with nice features and an excellent interface... Thanks for the kind words on Storyist! I'm sorry we won't be able to count you as a customer right now. I hope you'll continue to check in on Storyist from time-to-time and that the above reasons (stability, features, interface) will eventually win you over. Good luck with your writing! -Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Storyist is a nice program, much in the flavor of Scrivener, Avenir, Jer's Novel Writer, Journler, CopyWrite, MacJournal and other writing programs that I've purchased and registered. Each of these programs has an up and downside relative to the others, but they all have a major advantage over a bloated word processor. Judging by the small number of Storyist forum members, I assume sales for Storyist's sales have been limited. This shouldn't be because Storyist is stable with nice features and an excellent interface. I have invested in a significant number of writing programs to make those programs and updates available to me, and to support their developers' efforts to promote future versions. Unfortunately, the unusually high price of Storyist (about double the cost of similar programs) will keep me from purchasing it. Hi Gamma, I'm guessing that Steve moved this post to Feature Requests because it seems to be a request to lower Storyist's price. Frankly, the magical thinking behind software pricing has always been a mystery to me. But I can certainly see why someone might be reluctant to pay $59 for something they have never tried (demo versions notwithstanding). I would, however, like to expand a bit on your interesting list of writing programs in the flavor of Storyist. * Scrivener $34.99 Organizes research better than Storyist but a bit too cluttered for my taste. * Avenir $29.99 Flashier than Storyist yet surprisingly less powerful (IMHO). * Jer's Novel Writer $30 Includes a useful database for organizing notes and research. (Something I'm hoping Steve will consider for Storyist. Note Sheets are nice but inadequate for organizing research.) An automatic outliner that really doesn't seem to do much more than the StoryBoard (displaying Sections) does (-something to consider in the next feature list, Steve). There are also Margin Notes. (I like these because they connect a note to specific text and not a whole Section. But I've harped on this before.) Product just released. * Journler $24.95 More for journal writing than fiction writing (unless your journal is fictitious). It integrates nicely with iLife. But it's basically a daily notebook information manager. * CopyWrite $24.99 A simple project management tool with a simple text editor and some good add-ons. (Steve might consider looking into the statistical and version features for Storyist.) (Hey, it's not plagiarism, it's research!) * MacJournal $34.95 Creates and manages personal journals. Good for bloggers. Just some thoughts for making Storyist better and making sure Steve has no time for a social life. -Thoth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 I notice the IPB (Invision Power Board) button for the General Topics forum has been "lit" ever since the Storyist Price thread had been moved to the Feature Requests forum. Is this normal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjl Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 I don't see where you're coming from with the price angle at all. I'm over here in the UK, and it worked out at around £30 for a piece of software I use everyday, and probably the best piece of software I think I've purchased since I started word processing. Storyist isn't cluttered, it's focused on the writer of 'stories' for want of a better word. I've used Scrivener, which is damn fine in its own respect, but I just don't think it has the clarity and precision that I need when I'm writing. It's worth the £30 alone as long as I don't have to mess about with headers and page margins. That stuff drove me bonkers using Word and other programs. Of course, it's horses for courses when it comes to pricing and the use of software. But I'll repeat again, at £30 Storyist was a real bargain in my eyes. PJL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 But I'll repeat again, at £30 Storyist was a real bargain in my eyes. Bravo, PJL ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoyd Loki Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Unfortunately, the unusually high price of Storyist (about double the cost of similar programs) will keep me from purchasing it. I just bought this program after trying it out for a bit. I have probably tried more than two dozen for both PC and Mac platforms. Judging from all of the features (and limitations) of all the programs I have tried, I would say this is a reasonably priced medium-tier application. It is the same price as Dramatica's Writer's Dream Kit without all articifial "theory of story" they try to shove you in. It is $210 less than Dramatica Pro. It is more than a $100 cheaper than Write-Brain's Power Structure (which is, laughably, word processor free), and half the price of their Power Writer (that has less structural features than Power Structure, does have word processor functions, but is not available for the Mac!). This program reminds of a very clean product I used when I slummed on PC's - WriteItNow. It had the same left side tree view, but it had none of the linkable functionality nor templates. Scrivener I've used and found it not only cluttered, but like they were trying to be all things. I can lose it all by myself on paper without their help. Avenir I own, and I find to be totally unintuitive, and greatly lacking in visual representation for story planning. It also sports one of the worst manuals in the universe. Hell, I would have paid this price merely for the header formatting! I hate having to figure that out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjl Posted October 18, 2007 Report Share Posted October 18, 2007 Oh man I remember using Dramatica in my PC days. It was like filling out a tax form, or a particularly painful stint at the dentists. All that theory! After weeks of putting together an outline using the software I was so fed up with the story and all the machinations that I never did start writing. A quote comes to mind, can't remember who and when it was said, but it goes a little something like this: I just put a piece of paper in and let my brain bleed onto the page. Count me in with the brain bleeders when it comes to writing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted October 18, 2007 Report Share Posted October 18, 2007 Oh man I remember using Dramatica in my PC days. It was like filling out a tax form, or a particularly painful stint at the dentists. All that theory! After weeks of putting together an outline using the software I was so fed up with the story and all the machinations that I never did start writing. A quote comes to mind, can't remember who and when it was said, but it goes a little something like this: I just put a piece of paper in and let my brain bleed onto the page. Count me in with the brain bleeders when it comes to writing. I admit to being a bleeder too (most of the time). There's no shame in it despite what the structured writing robots claim. Dramatica got so much commentary (I won't call it hate mail) from their customers that they re-wrote their entire "Theory Of Story" into plain English for their Tenth Anniversary Edition (book available on Amazon). But it still reeks of psychobabble and bureaucracy (IMHO ). A writer named Lesley Dormen (The Best Place To Be, The Secret Life Of Girls, etcetera) said: "We're all so vulnerable as writers. We ask ourselves to open a vein and then bleed onto the page, but artfully!" Another writer named Derrick Jensen (Endgame, The Culture Of Make Believe, etcetera) said: "Writing is really very easy. Tap a vein and bleed onto the page. Everything else is just technical." Perhaps you were thinking of one of these? Perhaps not. Similar allusions can be found in the writings of Maimonides (12th century), Paul the Apostle (1st century), and Aristotle (384 - 322 BCE). -Thoughtful Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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