Thank you, Sam. I have watched all the PA videos by Ben, and a few of the German videos.
As I said above, my mind works best with a corkboard. I started out, as I mentioned, learning to organise my stories using actual A6(ish) pieces of cardboard, highlighters, pins and a large wooden board on the wall. A scene title and abstract on the front, 10 plot points on the back.
My brain is actually experiencing a disconnect owing to the lack of an Index Card view. It may sound funny, but lots of authors work from real or virtual index cards and would probably all feel just as lost as I do without them.
In Scrivener, I use the corkboard to lay out my scenes (as index cards) in order, with Titles and Abstracts first, then adding more detail. I then move that outline to a new area in the Navigator and run two screens.
The first screen contains the Abstract and the contents of the colour-coded virtual ‘index card’ I am using, where my Abstract is broken down into 10 plot points per chapter.
The second screen is my writing screen where the actual text of the Chapter/Scenes will appear. I then write each part of the scenes, referring back to the outline plot points as I go, aiming for c.300 words every 5 minutes per plot point.
The PapyrusAuthor Organiser obviously does not provide that visual corkboard, it is simply a list like the Navigator in Scrivener, but unlike that Navigator, it cannot provide me with a virtual index card view by the click of a button.
I can see the power of your software, and I have already used it to revise/edit/etc a 3.5K word short story just to try it out, but for a novel it will be different.
For an engineering document, a university essay or even a software proposal the Navigator/Organiser would work fine. For a complex work of fiction, for me, it does not do what I -need-.
I am impressed by the integration of so many tools into the package. Editing was easy. Publishing was easy. BUT, creating new fiction in it, so far, is not.
Obviously, the majority of your users do not create the same way I do.
I could create the things I use on Scrivener on one screen and then write in PA, but that defeats the object of finding a unified tool. I currently use Scrivener, Aeon Timelines and ProWritingAid. I then export to HTML and hand-code the eBook for KDP so I can have drop-caps, etc., using my own CSS.
I have tried many other writing software systems over the last 20 years, but none do exactly what I want yet.
PA would still fail to replace Scrivener simply because of the lack of a corkboard. My only benefit would be no longer using ProWritingAid, BUT since the subscription to PWA is less per annum (c. 60UKP) than PapyrusAuthor (c. 180UKP) would cost me, I cannot justify the extra expense unless it replaces ALL my other tools.
I am seriously looking for a tool such as yours with the added functionality of a corkboard, since I will have to repurchase Scrivener sometime in the next few months once V3.0-PC comes out of beta. Now would be an ideal time to switch.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ben’s videos, they were clear and informative, as were your German videos. I will watch the software and, if a corkboard is added, will be willing to try it out. All professional writers want to streamline their process and get rid of anything that causes time-loss or fiddling, so we can concentrate on creating books.
Thank you again for your replies.
