NovelBase Blog

Changelog

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:47:18 +0000

25/01/2010 – v1.2

ColorPicker added.
Scrollbars for dialog forms, when used on small screens.
Datepickers used for selected event in the timeline.

17/01/2010 – v1.1

Confirmation Dialog added to New story button.
Writing screen changed to operate in a horizontal mode, for better viewing of the story.
Tick marks added to timeline

NovelBase v1.0 is out!

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:37:50 +0000

Yes, it’s true. NovelBase has finally been released!
Go and signup, if you want to try this new novel writing software.

Where do you write?

admin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:27:55 +0000

Recently came across the http://whereiwrite.org website

This project photographs authors in their office, where they create their works.
Maybe if they used NovelBase their desks would be that little bit tidier

Composition in writing

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:04:01 +0000

In NovelBase you write short pieces, which are called scenes. These scenes form the basis of your book. They are arranged in the Compose screen, which allows you to select the correct order of your chosen scenes. An individal scene can also have multiple revisions. Each revision can be completely different, or a variation on a theme, or even just a different edited and proof-read revision.

When the scene have been written they can then be assembled in the Composition area. This allows selection of the scenes, which optionally reside inside Plot folders, to create the NovelBase composition.

This allows writers to begin at the end of their timeline, or rearrange their scenes how they see fit, to create the most interesting storyline. Selecting each scene, it can be simply be added to the linear composition area. A preview of how the entire book is composed is available for the author to see. Composition can be re-arranged until the writer is satisfied with the outcome. Scene can be edited to provide a better fit, and the changes are reflected in the composition.

Event Timeline

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:05:59 +0000

In the event timeline section of NovelBase, I wanted the ability to view events as they occur by dates. This mean the horizontal axis shows a chronological timeline, with the dates increasing to the right. The length of the event, i.e the timespan between the start and end date of the event serves as an indicator of the width, and obviously vice versa. The wider the event, the greater the timespan.

On the vertical axis is a list of characters in your book. Each character can have multiple events, and to show this involves some positioning of the events themselves to minimize overlapping. The event timeline as it currently stands is subject to change. I can see some improvements could be made, but that would have to be effectively a rewrite. The current implementation is functional, in that you can see, at a glance, how the event timeline is shaping up.

As the event screen also serves as the scene writing section, this could be named Scenes instead of Events. A scene can actually occur without having the properties of an event, that is the start date and end date can be left blank. This allows the author to create the scene, without having to worry too much about the dates in which it occurs. The downside is that scenes with no dates cannot be displayed in the timeline. Of course, the author can go back and enter the dates after writing the scene and then it will be shown in the timeline.

I wanted to strike a compromise between the immediacy of writing and the usefulness of the timeline, so that if why dates are optional.

Location section added

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:50:20 +0000

I’ve now added a location section in NovelBase. It is very simple at the moment. It uses a friendly name for the location, which is used when it is referred to from other sections of the program. Then the other field is the description in free text for the author to write. This could be expanded in the future but at the moment, it’s short and sweet.

Possible additions could include the ability to import a image to represent the location. I was swaying around on the naming of this section, I initially named it environments, but I feel locations is probably a better word for this. This location section could come more into play in other sections, such as the scene writing screen where the pre-defined location could be selected for that scene.

Character Development in writing

admin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:04:31 +0000

For the first attempt at developing characters in NovelBase I designed a screen to allow the input of relevant information. The goal was to allow the writer to add character information, but not to constrain them. Recording this information is useful for fact checking and consistency throughout your story. Consistency helps build realism in fiction, and the opposite is also true, that inconsistencies can destroy fiction. With many characters, it can be very useful to be able to double check their date of birth for example to ensure that the timeline of the story is possible, and there interactions with other characters occur at sensible ages. So for these reasons NovelBase records the character development details.

I decided to split this information into segments. The first section is named Details. Here the more mundane details of your character can be recorded. First up is recording their name (the only required field, as it is used throughout NovelBase to identify your characters). Also available to record is the character’s nickname, if they have one, and their date of birth. From the date of birth, the character’s age can be calculated at various times in the story, as opposed to just entering the age.

Next up is the physical section of the character description. Here the hair, eye and skin color can all be detailed. As well as the height and weight of the character should this be relevant. By building up a physical description, it will help the author to visualize their characters. Again this helps build consistency by ensuring that you know the characters details.

After the physical comes the personality section. This will offer a sliding scale of where the characters personality lies. That is, are they an introvert or extrovert, are they emotional or logical? Of course people are rarely on extreme or the other so NovelBase allows you to enter a range to show this.

When done for all the characters in your book, a virtal world will be forming in your head. All this should help the character development in writing. It will round out your characters and hopefully give a better grasp of them for use by the author. The character details page of NovelBase is bound to evolve to store more relevant feedback as suggested by the users themselves.