Billy Suratt wants to know…
I'm curious if there are any particular tools you find useful for writing, especially given the mix of mediums in which you work. Do you typically just fire up Microsoft Word and stare at a blank page until words start falling out of your head, or do you use some kind of more purposeful writing software like Scrivener?
Do you use different tools for different kinds of projects (comics script, TV script, screenplay, book, etc.)? Are there any particular tools you find useful for helping organize research (especially for longer-form projects like books) and keeping track of ideas for possible future use?
I've been trying to get acclimated to Scrivener for years but it's never completely took. I think whoever said it's "like Photoshop for writing" was right, but just like Photoshop, it's got a pretty steep learning curve at first. I relied on Evernote for saving and organizing research and jotting down ideas for years, but I don't trust the company that acquired it a few years ago and have been trying to figure out a better solution (Microsoft OneNote being one possibility).
I used Evernote for a while and even recommended it on this site. At some point, some upgrade or something new I wanted to do with it made pointlessly complicated so I switched. I now use the basic iCloud Notes program which does everything I need including syncing my notes between my PC, my iPhone and my iPad.
Years ago, my pal Steve Gerber wrote a template for writing comic book scripts in Microsoft Word. I used his for a while and then wrote my own which Steve switched to at some point. He was talking with someone in the software industry — I know not who — about developing an actual program based on my template (with me getting a cut) when he took ill and that was the end of that. Steve, sadly, did not recover from that illness and I still miss the guy.
Somewhere along the way, my template stopped working with newer versions of Word. I've managed to forget everything I learned about how to edit templates so…well, it works at times and doesn't work at others and I've given up trying to fix it. But I write my comic book scripts in good ol' Microsoft Word with or without my template helping me. I also use Word for all my prose writing. (I am, by the way, a P.C. guy and I don't mean Politically Correct.)
Years ago, I began writing TV, movie and animation scripts on a program called Script Thing. It was then new and going through a lot of Beta birthpains and I struck up an e-mail correspondence with its author. He turned it into a very good program. And I especially liked it after I persuaded him to include a feature which would output a dialogue script for animation — a script with just the dialogue and each speech numbered and I showed him how to format them.
He later sold Script Thing to its current owners who renamed it Movie Magic Screenwriter and did further improvements on it…but (big grin) they kept my animation script format. You have no idea how much easier that has made my life when I've been writing and voice-directing cartoons.
Movie Magic Screenwriter is great for screenplays but I've never been comfy using it for comic book scripts. One of these days, I may try it again for that and another funnybook-writing friend recommended I try Final Draft. Again, "one of these days."
Most blog posts (like, say, this one) are written in the online entry screen for WordPress, which is the software that powers this website. Once in a while, I'll do a first draft of one of the longer posts in Microsoft Word or even a plain Text Editor, then paste that text into WordPress.
But these days, that's what I use for writing. I've never tried any of these programs that purport to help you organize your thoughts or which analyze your writing and offers suggestions. I'm always afraid they'll scrutinize my writing and suggest a career in Motel Management. I hope this answers your question, Billy. Thanks.
