Here to Create

One of my worst procrastination habits is testing new writing software.  I’m an organizational freak and can’t be content with just opening a new document and typing.  I need a program that lets me make timelines, outlines, and keep detailed character notes as well as all my research close to hand.  Also, I prefer to write in chunks of chapters or even scenes, and it would drive me crazy to have a separate document for each chapter, since SWORD AND KNIFE has 60 chapters.

My previous favorite writing program was Liquid Story Binder (LSBXE), which is a fantastic program.  Unfortunately, I run Ubuntu Linux and LSBXE just doesn’t run as well in Linux as it used to.  This is not the developer’s fault, as the program is only intended to run in Windows.  So if you use Windows, I definitely recommend trying LSBXE’s free 30-day trial.

But I decided I needed something more reliable for NaNoWriMo 2009, so I started testing new programs in October.  The one that best met my needs was SuperNotecard by Mindola Software.

It’s a Java program that runs on Windows and Mac and adapts easily to Linux.  (Instructions for running in Linux.)  It’s inexpensive at $29, with a trial version that reminds you to purchase after a deck has more than 20 cards.  It could easily be run forever without purchasing, but I found it well worth the money.

Complete review with a screenshot after the cut.

Click for larger image

SuperNotecard is just what it sounds like: a writing program organized like a deck of note cards.  Each card can be sorted into a separate deck, color-coded, categorized, flagged with notes, and linked to character and setting profiles.

I’ll give you an idea of how I use SuperNotecard.  I began with five main decks:

• Meta, which contains information like a summary, notes from beta readers, and a quote that struck me as useful to remember;
• Timeline, which has a card for each day in my novel, color-coded according to location;
• Chapters, where each chapter has its own card;
• Notes, where I freewrite on plot and characters with separate cards for each day; and
• Research, where I collect notes that relate to my worldbuilding

Other important tools include Factors, which is a somewhat odd term for keeping track of the characters, places, things, events, and other important objects in a story.  I can designate characters as major or minor, color-code, make notes, and associate them with the chapters in which they appear.  The same goes for places, things, events, and other objects.  I would be absolutely lost without this feature, as I can see at a glance (and add directly into a card) what exactly was the name of that minor character from Chapter 2 when I need him again in Chapter 57.

Another way to organize cards are Categories.  Because I have multiple viewpoints and some chapters with flashbacks, I use the Categories to color-code the viewpoint character for each chapter, as well as whether or not it contains a flashback.

Flags are another tremendously useful feature, allowing notes to be attached directly to a card.  I’m using this feature often as I revise; I list the changes I want to make to a chapter in the flag pane where I can easily refer to it as I write.

The interface is flexible, allowing cards to be displayed in different sizes and orientations.  The file listing is optional, as are all the toolbars, if you just want to write without distractions.

SuperNotecard has a flexible backup feature that automatically saves multiple versions of your work.  It also has basic tools like spellcheck and word count.  Another helpful feature is the ability to split the screen so that I can write in the top half of the screen and refer to my timeline in the bottom half.

Most importantly to me, SuperNotecard allows for easy exporting with a variety of options.  And if for some reason the program isn’t supported in the future, SuperNotecard saves all its data in an XML file, which allows for easy extraction.  No worries about losing data to a proprietary format that can’t be opened outside its originating program.

One of the drawbacks, at least on my relatively less powerful netbook, is that cards with more than 2,000 words begin to lag.  I don’t notice this problem on my more powerful desktop computer though.  Also, although it is theoretically possible to attach images to cards, I haven’t been able to make it work in a way that lets me click on an image and open it from within the program.

SuperNotecard also has several features that I haven’t worked with, including a nonfiction format that turns Factors into References that connect citation information to your notes.

For only $29, this has been one of the most useful writing programs I’ve ever tried.  It rivals Liquid Story Binder for its organizational abilities and surpasses it in some ways, such as its multi-platform approach and open file format.  I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to keep all their notes organized alongside their writing.