Product Description

CREATIVITY SOFTW NEWNOVELIST

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1894 in Software
• Brand: Creativity Software
• Released on: 2002-03-08
• Platforms: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows NT
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 11.02 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
The idea that creative writing cannot be taught seems to be challenged by recent history. The creative writing course at Norwich, for instance, has produced authors including Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan and Andrew Miller; the latest attempt to impart the "rules of fiction" is Newnovelist--Start Writing Your Novel, a CD-ROM designed to assist the aspiring writer's learning curve.

Newnovelist aims to help writers hone their ideas, guiding them first to select the concept of their book, and then its category--be it an epic narrative, plot-driven or character-driven. After further honing the idea into a type of story (whether the tale is driven by a chase motif or revenge, for instance) the package gives tutorials on essential elements in creating the atmosphere of the novel and helping to picture the world that the characters inhabit. The final stage is to move from this to the creation of the story itself, with advice on the passages that will be necessary to realise the world and the characters successfully.

There is much that is valuable here in terms of plot and character, but some elements of the package are less helpful, particularly the section that asks the writer to give a one-line summary of their proposed book--nothing is more infuriating or awkward for an author than being asked to describe their book in half a dozen words. There is also no concentration on the importance of writing from inspiration and experience, and scant reference to the significance of prose style; in the end, without these elements, NewNovelist--Start Writing Your Novel can only be a piecemeal addition to the growing "industry" of teaching creative writing, although its tips on character and plot may well be helpful to some. --Toby Green

Manufacturer's Description
Newnovelist takes you on a journey. It harnesses your creativity, and helps you write your own novel.

By providing you with story creation steps, newnovelist breaks the writing process down into manageable chunks. You are provided with suggestions on how to use the steps, and the tempo to adopt; the degree of suspense to maintain, even the amount of time you might use for each element of your story. It prompts and suggests so you are never left alone with a blank screen or sheet of paper. You can keep track of notes that you make yourself, and store research notes and references that are easy to retrieve.

You can do all of this in the knowledge that newnovelist is maintaining a coherent plan for your story. The software provides you with freedom of expression that you want, within a logical framework that you need. So you can focus creativity and energy on the storytelling, and let us worry about structure.

Start a novel today. Start a dozen. Develop one character or a thousand. The only limit is your imagination!

Customer Reviews

Avoid this one!
If you need a bad start to writing your novel... "Newnovelist" is the perfect writer's companion for you.

It seems to be based on "Story Craft" written John Jarvis. I could not be bothered (quite frankly) to determine if this was a direct copy of Story Craft but it probably is because it follows the "5 Stage Process" that Jarvis claims to have invented. Too many would-be novelists fall into the trap of "formula writing" which is best avoided as it destroys creativity, however, if you really do not know how to start structuring your novel you would be better off with an industry standard like "Dramatica Pro".

"Newnovelist" is heavy on characterisation and structure ('...assigning a distinct and logical process)at the expense of free creative writing. It does give a fair indication of how any novel has to be structured but the examples used are out of date and heavy.

To learn how write a novel you need do no more than read work by successful authors within your chosen genre and see how the authors have structured their books, developed interesting characters, and led the reader from chapter to chapter. Or, to put it another way, do some research - and based on what you like reading, try to develop your own style. If you take this approach, or learn how to use an industry standard creation program like "Dramatica Pro" you will manage to write your novel. Want more free advice on writing? Visit our BLOG on www.burn-a-book.com/wordpress2

If you invest in "Newnovelist" you will set your writing process back by several frustrating weeks because short of the claim that 'Newnovelist releases the creative genius in us all' it actually bogs down the new writer in a process-heavy nightmare that will sap, exhaust and frustrate any creativity you may have started with!

Not for the serious writer
The idea behind this software is good, but unfortunately the idea isn't carried through to the programme. If you want to write your novel to a formula, then it's for you. If you require a bit more freedom, you will find this very limiting

I can't say I ever lost any work, like previous reviewers. But whilst I found it okay for jotting down ideas (assuming one didn't lose them) it was absolutely no good for copying and pasting chapter, paragraphs or character studies once I'd written them. Even in this computer age, a writer sometimes needs a few printed, easy to access notes at the side of them, rather than having to keep opening and closing software to find what they're looking for.

I took my version of this out of my computer ages ago, having never managed to write one novel with it (I've written others without the aid of software). So, no I wouldn't recommend it.

Just use word, not this garbage.
Okay, echoing the reviews of others, I have found this to not be user friendly, but it is not this that had me tearing out my hair, ripping the c.d from my computer and smashing it into a hundred pieces.
Beware, if you continue writing and saving, there is a cheeky little bug. It manifests itself like so; the save button suddenly changes function and deletes all your work. Not so bad, you may think, as long as you save regularly you will simply be able to retrieve a previously saved file. Oh no, not only does it delete every word you have written, it then saves it simultaneously, so that you are then left with nothing, all your hard work wiped out.
Just use word, this thing is a complete joke, a travesty for all would-be authors. Whoever created this monstrosity should be thoroughly ashamed, preying on peoples writing dreams at £25 a shot which is only more likely to deter potential authors.
This 1 star rating is far too generous as it is, but Amazon have neglected to include the 0 star facility.