Writing Your Novel Using YWriter

There aren't many people who haven't at some time said that they would like to write a book. However, the big difference between those who do write a book and those who don't is the writing itself. Writing your first novel is no easy task and it can take novice writers months or even years before they have a suitable manuscript ready to send out to agents and publishers. Even seasoned writers find it difficult to complete their first novel because fiction writing needs a different mind set to freelance 'factual' writing. Needless to say, would be novelists could do with a bit of help in writing their first book.

Enter YWriter

YWriter is a novel writing software that lets you outline your novel in character sketches, setting, and motivations and then to use that information to write your novel scene by scene. Most people think in chapters or word count when they first start writing a book, and although this can be helpful, it is far easier to manage smaller blocks of text such as a scene. A scene is made up of an outer happening or motivation that the character has to respond to. When the character has made a response, the thing that motivated that response may change, requiring a different response and ho9peful resolution. These are the building blocks of a scene and each scene can be as short or as long as you want. When you have a suitable cliff hanger, i.e. something that keeps the reader wanting more, you are probably at the end of a chapter.

YWriter will take your scenes and store them under the right chapter headings. If you have already started your novel without Ywriter then you need to save the manuscript in RTF file format, which can then be loaded into YWriter. Ywriter is a free, downloadable program by Spacejock software. The software comes with a PDF document with instructions on how to use the software. I am, at present using it myself, it is a real boon because you can add things as and when you are ready and it is well worth giving it a try.