Our Verdict
With November’sNational Novel write Monthfast approaching , aim authors everywhere are groom to put word to Thomas Nelson Page . If you plan your novels with military preciseness , Mariner Software’sStoryMill 4.0.4could be the good ally to launch your literary rape . However , writers who wage in a more freeform approach might find the program ’s data - hard approach confining , and those hunger even more exponent and functionality might not find it here .
StoryMill build your novel from private scenes . Once written , you could rearrange these chunk of story on the fly , either from the program ’s convenient left over - hand sidebar or its innovative Timeline . you could also rename view in the sidebar , but funnily , not in the label prevention that appear atop each scene ’s editing windowpane .
StoryMill ’s data point - intensive approach to writing Army of the Righteous you cross - cite each scene with your leaning of characters , placement , and storylines .
StoryMill’s data-intensive approach to writing lets you cross-reference each scene with your lists of characters, locations, and storylines.
Metadata for each scene appears in a resizable Lucy in the sky with diamonds below your text , unexampled for version 4 . Here , you could add bank note , persona , entanglement links , and keyword tatter . you could also interlink each scene with the program ’s separate lists of type and placement , mark whether the scene belongs to a picky storyline , and create start and end day of the month for it in the Timeline scene . If this supernumerary entropy bothers you , just skid the metadata pane down to jazz .
Several ingenious , useful features serve StoryMill stand out from its rivals . I particularly liked its parole frequency computer , to avail authors stay out of a linguistic rut , and its imprecise but still receive cliché detector , which flags overused phrase . I also enjoyed StoryMill ’s built - in tutorial , which wittily parody the Three Little Pigs to explain the program .
StoryMill offers plentiful highlighting and annotation tools , plus color - coding to aid you distinguish your first draft from your final holograph . With its handy snapshot feature , you may also save and compare multiple edition of the same text file , and restore premature drafts if you end up liking them better .
The Timeline is a great idea that doesn’t work quite as intuitively as it ought to.
StoryMill ’s full - screen editing mode also outclass the competitor by avoiding other programs ’ strict minimal art . In addition to your school text and an otherwise blank background , it present running word , character , and page counts at the bottom of the screen , along with text edition zoom controls . Still too distracted ? you could easily banish this data .
The Timeline is an graceful and clever construct , but for me , its execution pass unretentive of its intention . Using multitouch commands , you may scale your timeline from one C down to hours , and pile your scenes according to which storyline they interest . If a single effect cuts through multiple storylines , you’re able to tag it on the Timeline as well .
While you may drop back unassigned shot directly from a list to the Timeline , you ca n’t click and drag scenes back and forth along the Timeline to change when they start or end . Nor can you dredge a scene from one storyline to another . Instead , you ’ll have to press each scenery to spread out an info windowpane , then manually change the date and the specify plot line . I also discover the multitouch pinch - to - rapid climb less than accurate ; I had trouble sliding smoothly through unlike scales of time , often overshooting the trust scenes to end up on a blank stretchability of timeline .
The Timeline is a enceinte idea that does n’t go quite as intuitively as it ought to .
StoryMill ’s cheerful , thoroughgoing help files say that you may drag - and - sink entire storylines to reorder them in the Timeline . When I assay it , the storylines did exchange places — but the scenes within them initially stayed put . Closing the Timeline and reopening it showed the scenes in their proper novel order , and Mariner says the computer programme ’s next update will repair this glitch . On one social occasion , the timeline also froze completely after I haul a new scene into it , although I could n’t procreate this error .
Elsewhere in the program , attempting to save a file after taking a snap cause me an error subject matter that enunciate the data file had been alter by another computer program . A “ Save Anyway ” pick saved my change without a problem , and Mariner says the platform ’s next update will also address this bug .
When you ’re quick to export your chef-d’oeuvre , StoryMill can render your text to Word , PDF , RTF , or other common file types . you’re able to even make your own templates to decide which elements you export , and in what order . It ’s easier to discover than rival Scrivener ’s ( ) turbocharged export engine , but also lack that programme ’s ability to export directly to Kindle filing cabinet and other atomic number 99 - ledger data formatting .
Macworld’s buying advice
If you just want to save by the seat of your pants , StoryMill may be too structured for you . If you hunger every feature article under the sun , you may find Scrivener a better - fit program for a slightly lower monetary value . But if you take a well - organise approaching to keep your writing under ascendency , StoryMill will do the problem nicely .
[ Nathan Alderman is a writer , editor program , and undeterred literary - agentive role rejectee in Alexandria , Va. ]
