Sweet Suites: Solid Storytelling Software, Part 2

Hopefully everyone, especially the technologically terrified, took some time over the last month to tiptoe into being more comfortable and at ease with how software is set up and works. This last article will finish up the software suites, Novelize, Novlr, Papyrus Author, and Quoll. Unlike some "Top Ten" type articles, I'm not going to list my top picks. I think I've done a decent job of detailing enough of the suites that anyone can make a decision on what to try out, if any at all. Giving you my preferences would be assuming a lot on my part, as we all have different ideas of what we want our programs to do, and what I want is not what you want.
Novelize
This suite starts out with a 17-day trial, a bit of an odd number, but the biggest turn off is that to even start the trial, you have to enter payment information. I am not a fan of handing over financial payments on the off chance I *might* like something and stick with it. This practice smacks of hoping you'll forget to cancel in time and they get at least one payment out of you. Now, that being said, the pricing isn't bad, $9 a month or $64 a year (yearly is always cheaper).
Now, if you are willing to plunk down a card for the trial, you'll be taken to a Create page where you can enter in information for a new story, or import one you already have written. It allows you to pick what kind of story you are telling, so one of 12 pre-set template populates. You can also name your Notebook, which is where you put all your timeline and character information in.
On the left is where you can keep track of word count, chapters, summarize your beginning, middle and end, so you don't forget where you are headed. The majority of the buttons and icons are on the bottom of the screen, out of the way, and includes the Outline, Organizing, and Main Menu. The writing area is large, but then again, most of the suites have large typing areas. The Notebook has tabs for characters, locations, events, items, etc. It is easily accessible, and will stay out of your way if you are typing and checking.
You can hide the side panel, leaving you with an even larger area to write in. This is not the most simplistic set up of the suites, but seems to work hard to keep the look streamlined and not full of clutter. Picking the template at the beginning also gives you a total word count, based on the typical length of the genre you chose. So, if you are writing multiple stories and books, on your Dashboard will be how many words you have, and how many you have to go, along with a weekly word count so you can track your weekly progress...

Read the entire article in the Dec/Jan 2021-22 issue of InD'Tale magazine.

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