MyNovel

It takes much more than a pen and paper or a text editor to write a novel. You may run out of ideas faster than you would expect and you will put your novel on stand-by for a long time. If you are experiencing the writer's block, MyNovel can help you plan and organize your work. Obviously, it does not write a novel for you, but it provides you with numerous features, which may give you new ideas for characters, story progression and much more.

Downloading and installing MyNovel may take several minutes, but you will not encounter any confusing options along the way. The software is not free, but you can use a trial version, for a limited time period, with a few restrictions. It works on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, as a stand alone writing package, which means that you don't have to install any external word processors.

The software's core functions are made available on a series of ribbon menus, just like in a MS Office application. Unlike MS Word, the interface of MyNovel consists of various panels, besides the main editing area, on which you can write a plan or a summary for the current chapter, attach images and links, create personal notes, select events, organize ideas and more.

Novels are not created like blank documents. Creating a new novel involves going through an entire procedure, but a wizard will guide you along the way. First, you must type the novel's title and plot, select a genre, an approximate reading age and a chapter title format. Furthermore, you must define a time period, in which you want to set your story. You can also select a novel template, if you want to follow a certain "recipe."

The possibility of establishing writing goals is another useful feature. When creating a new novel, you can estimate your daily and total word count and specify a due date. Another advantage is the fact that MyNovel can be used in combination with various MS Office versions. If you select an external word processor, while creating a novel, the software will create additional output files, in DOC, DOCX or ODT format.

Creating new characters or places can be difficult, especially if you are working on fictional novels, science fiction, fantasy and so on. This is why MyNovel comes with various inspiration tools. You can use them to generate character names and attributes, places, objects, general ideas and more. The software does not limit you to clicking a button, when creating one of these elements. When creating a character, you can select specific characteristics, like age, hair, eye color and so on or select random characteristics. Fantasy names can be generated as well.

The place generator comes with interesting functions as well. Besides selecting a place type, like realistic or fantasy town, cottage or tavern, you can also select smells, feels, temperatures and much more. MyNovel comes with a built-in web browser, through which you can access a writer's circle. If you connect to the writer's circle, you may share your ideas, join competitions and much more.