Comment on Steven Sande's TUAW Review of Storyist

[Steve E]

Steve made this post in Announcements today. Since I can't respond to it there I'll respond here.

 

Self described "50-something Apple geek" and NaNoWriMo winner Steven Sande has posted a great review of Storyist 2 titled "TUAW Review: Storyist 2.0, a professional's writing tool" at TUAW.....

 

First, a good solid review. Yea!

 

Second, glad to see Steven Sande is a Pantser who appreciates both Storyist's Plotter and Pantser qualities. ("Writers who like to pre-organize their stories will be ecstatic about the depth of management tools provided by this application, while those like myself who like to "write first, organize later" can use the Storyist tool set to their advantage as well.")

 

Third, did you read the responses to the review on the TUAW site? You need a way to clearly separate yourself from Scrivener. Perhaps a motto: "We're not Scrivener, We're Better." Perhaps an extensive (and biased) feature comparison chart at the new Storyist site?

 

Your Friendly Neighborhood 50-something Apple geek.

- Thoth.

[marguerite]

Steve made this post in Announcements today. Since I can't respond to it there I'll respond here.

 

First, a good solid review. Yea!

 

Second, glad to see Steven Sande is a Pantser who appreciates both Storyist's Plotter and Pantser qualities. ("Writers who like to pre-organize their stories will be ecstatic about the depth of management tools provided by this application, while those like myself who like to "write first, organize later" can use the Storyist tool set to their advantage as well.")

 

Third, did you read the responses to the review on the TUAW site? You need a way to clearly separate yourself from Scrivener. Perhaps a motto: "We're not Scrivener, We're Better." Perhaps an extensive (and biased) feature comparison chart at the new Storyist site?

 

Your Friendly Neighborhood 50-something Apple geek.

- Thoth.

Yes, a very good review: solid and well balanced. Congratulations, Steve!

 

I had a sense of déjà-vu reading about the reviewer's Pantser approach to Storyist. I remember feeling exactly the same. But v2 is even more responsive to the varying needs of Plotters and Pantsers, and I was glad to see that the review reflected that.

 

What is the thing with Scrivener, anyway? Its developer seems to have done a wonderful job of convincing the writer community that it's the program to beat, for which I guess we must applaud his marketing instincts, but still ... Surely the market is large enough to support two programs.

Best,

M

[walterdeanlewis]

New Storyist User.

I just purchased Storyist, and have been using Scrivener for about 9 months.

 

First off, I initially looked for program on which to write (or rather continue to write) my novel. I began working some time ago on Word/Pages, and never really questioned that approach. I created new docs for each scene, and used notecards and section sheets. It wasn’t until I got into the editing that I began to revise the work and add depth. I won’t bore you with the details, other than to let you know that even before having a dedicated software program for writing, I used a particular type of organization.

 

I only mention the following because it has a lot to do with why I have decided to use Storyist over Scrivener for fiction writing.

 

I hate to admit it, but I have a voracious appetite for book on writing. I gravitate to those works that focus on structure, planning and work style, in an attempt to find that goldilocks method that would propel my creativity to new heights. I know it can be counter productive to do so, but I always felt as though I was imposing a system on myself rather than flowing naturally into a work style.

 

The two works I have adapted to fit my style are “The Marshall Plan”, by Evan Marshall, and the almost painfully tritely titled “You Can Write a Novel”, by James V. Smith. The former made the prospect of writing a novel length work of fiction seem possible, and introduced me to the section sheet concept, as well as the insight into viewpoint characters. I did take some issue with a few of Marshall’s concepts, but that’s a different story. The latter book is a slim volume that spoke almost perfectly to the way I like to work. I borrowed a few concepts from Marshall, but I converted my work to the “Smith” format, and was blissfully happy.

 

Then I got a dedicated writing program.

 

I initially bought Scrivener, due in no small part to the still unsurpassed full screen mode, and ease of use. At the time Storyist didn’t have the full screen yet. I must write in full screen mode, and like the ability to set the transparency, and otherwise manipulate the full screen experience. I still use Scrivener extensively in other types of writing, but it is not a dedicated NOVEL writing tool, which led me to begin my search anew. I was able to create a loose approximations of my organizational tools, but the program was not designed to work with them, and I felt myself working around things.

 

So now I am using Storyist. Storyist, in my short experience, has a greater learning curve, but I fell as though the fiction focus of Storyist. The learning curve is to be expected from a powerful application. Storyist’s configurability really shines through and the feature set being geared to fiction writing makes it edge out Scrivener in my book.

[thealtruismsociety]

I tried writing in Pages at first. It was so complex just getting the format write for what I read was a proper Manuscript that it was frustrating. I'm a brand new writer and I want to write, not fiddle with settings. I loved Storyist because I started writing and everything was formatted perfectly, indeed it helped me create the cover page as well. Other application may do this but I'm using Storyist everyday and loving it.

 

I have scenes and characters and I've fiddled with the Wiki aspects some but I know I'm no where near using the full power of this program. After the novel is written I'll go back and fill everything out like I would have wanted it BEFORE I started writing so I'll be ready for dare I say it, the next novel.

 

My only problem is I'm still unemployed and have 9 days left on my demo and 28 days left of NaNoWriMo, what to do.

 

PS: Am I blind or is there no spell check on these forums???

[marguerite]

My only problem is I'm still unemployed and have 9 days left on my demo and 28 days left of NaNoWriMo, what to do.

Join the beta testers. Just PM Steve and ask. You get to try the latest features before anyone else, too, although you need to exercise a little caution to keep your Great American Novel from becoming lunch.

 

There is a spell checker.

Best,

M

[Steve]

My only problem is I'm still unemployed and have 9 days left on my demo and 28 days left of NaNoWriMo, what to do.

 

TAS,

 

Contact me if you'd like to participate in the beta program.

 

Another option is to take advantage of the extended trial offer. Send email to support and I'll send you a temporary license good through 12/7/09.

 

-Steve