Our Verdict
With November’sNational Novel Writing Monthalmost upon us , Mac - using writers have no shortage of noveling programs to choose from . Black Mana Studios’Manuscriptdistinguishes itself from the plurality by aid writers craft novel with an easier path to publication . However , its rarify - but - scant features come at a middling unconscionable cost .
Manuscript employs a three - measure approach to committal to writing : the tar , the synopsis , and the chapters themselves . First , it advance you to craft a one - sentence summary of your story . Then , Manuscript tempt you to outline the skeleton of the plot in a synopsis . Finally , you’re able to lay out and prepare your chapters , with capsule descriptions of the events in each , before you actually start writing your text edition .
Pitch , synopsis , chapters : Manuscript ’s three - footstep advance is childlike enough to let creative thinking flourish , but provides a truehearted foundation for your writing .
Pitch, synopsis, chapters: Manuscript’s three-step approach is simple enough to let creativity flourish, but provides a firm foundation for your writing.
I find this approaching imposingly practical . It ’s broad enough not to feel creatively constrictive , and Manuscript let you well skip over any and all of these steps if you just want to start writing . But following the program ’s structure helps you build your novel from a immobile fundament , and catch potential secret plan holes before they turn into gaping pits of writer ’s block . In addition , having a rake and synopsis ready can assist considerably when subject your finished novel to literary agent .
Manuscript unapologetically embraces a bare - bones approach to composition . You ’ll find no fancy format , progress trackers , or pecker to add footnotes or annotation . You get a Word of God counter and a slider bar to convert the text size of it , but slight else . The Preferences simply let you piece font and color for textual matter and backgrounds . you may create and customize leaflet of index cards beneath your chapters to chase characters , locations , or other research , but you ca n’t add image or internet links .
I ground Manuscript ’s full - sieve redaction mode less useful than other programs ’ similar feature . you could only set your Thomas Nelson Page to fit the height or the breadth of your screen , which leave text either tremendous or unreadably tiny .
You can create index cards to track your characters, locations, and other elements, and customize their icons and colors.
I appreciate Manuscript ’s ability to export to the ePub format utilise by Apple ’s iBooks and other digital bookshop . Many fuller - featured rival broadcast lack this ability . Manuscript also boasts an excellent and thorough 10 - minute of arc video tutorial , and a amazingly good FAQ that provides good advice to help you find a literary agent and get your novel publish . Some of its entropy , including links and pricing for hold an ISBN phone number for your novel , I ’d never witness anywhere else .
Black Mana ported Manuscript to the Mac from iOS , and its roots on the iPhone and iPad show for unspoiled and ill . The programme seem well-favoured and for the most part work well , though many of its interface elements feel built more for a touch screen than the received Mac interface .
The jump to the Mac OS may have left Manuscript with a few lacking pages . Occasionally , change the color of an index board would make that card ’s name disappear temporarily . I also initially happen a bug that freeze the computer programme when the text reached a sure point on the pageboy . Black Mana told me that this bug , touch on to auto - hidden gyre bars in Mac OS X Lion , had been found and would be fix .
My biggest concern with Manuscript lies in its price . It cost $ 4 on iPhone and $ 7 on iPad , but nearly $ 40 on the Mac , for a program that ’s almost — if not entirely — selfsame . For $ 15 less , you could download the even simplerWriteRoom , while make up just $ 5 to $ 10 more have you the immensely more powerful Scrivener ( ) or StoryMill ( ) .
you’re able to make indicator cards to track your characters , locations , and other component , and customize their icons and color .
Macworld’s buying advice
I liked Manuscript ’s practical , no - bunk take on noveling . But its satiny visual aspect , and the clever touches scattered throughout the programme , still do n’t seem like a in effect value in Light Within of its bounty Leontyne Price rag . Unless you do n’t beware pay a relatively large amount for a well - made but stingy set of feature , you ’ll get more bang for your Pearl Sydenstricker Buck elsewhere .
[ Nathan Alderman is a writer , editor in chief , and three - time NaNoWriMo attemptee in Alexandria , Va. ]
