Gerald Brandt

I'd like to say, now that my 'Holiday Season' is over, that I hope everyone enjoyed the absolute best of the season.  And I wish only the best to you and yours in the New Year.

December has turned into one of the busiest months I've had in a long time.  With all the Christmas stuff happening, include school concerts, shopping, etc, it was tough.  On top of that, I stopped writing novels and wrote some software instead. 

My previous post showed a screen shot, and things were actually working pretty good at that point.  But, the devil is in the details.  I now have something to send to Linux beta testers, but the Mac and the Windows version have a bug or two.  One of them may be related, but I have a Mac bug I'm not sure what I can do about.  At this point, I'm dieing to get back to writing, so progress on the code will slow down.  

Still, the Linux version is in a state I can use it, and that's why I wrote it.  I'll use it to outline and write my next novel.  I'm also thinking of moving my current WIP (work in progress) into it, and see how I can use it for revision.  Hmmm, I'll have to add snapshots…

Anyway, that's taken a lot of my time as well.  Oh, and my wife noticed that when I code, I tend to get very snappish and angry, which bleeds over into regular life.   When I write, that doesn't happen.  Cool. 

When NaNoWriMo was over (for me), I didn't know what to do.  I'd been in 'the groove' for so long, my days felt empty.  I had a lot of normal work to catch up on, but once I did…

So, I decided it was time to write some software.  I wrote what I consider an Integrated Development Environment for writers.  Previously I looked at Scrivener, Writer's Cafe and yWriter.  All of which looked good, especially Scrivener.   Still, I wanted my own thing, it's what I do.  I also use Linux for my day-to-day work, and none of these products run on Linux (except Writer's Cafe).

I now have a basic application that is character/scene oriented.  Here's a screenshot: (click for larger image)

The user basically enters characters and their related information.  You can also enter locations where your scenes take place.  Once a user is entered, they get a 'timeline' on the corkboard.  As a scene is added and given a characters POV, they are given an index card on the corkboard.  Each card has information related to the scene associated with it, including the text of the scene itself.  Also, each card can be moved to anywhere on the timeline, and even to another character.  The entire novel can be rearranged at will.

When editing a scene, the text editor can be made full screen, with no outside distractions.  I used Q10 for this during Nano, and I loved it. 

All information is stored in standard files, so if a user decides not to use the software, no data is lost.  Also, the entire novel can be exported as a whole, for import into a word processor.

It's not done yet, but it's getting usable!  All this runs under Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.