Category best practices
dannyjames
Notecard to help me write my next novel! Are there any other fiction
writers out there using categories? If so, what kind of categories
did you create and is there any redundancy with factors? For example,
my main character Tom is an obvious 'factor' in the book. Tom's story
is a category as well. Does each dramatic event that occurs in Tom's
life require a distinct category to build his timeline? In other
words, here are all cards in which Tom is a "factor". I understand
that. Here are all cards related to Tom's story. Okay, I get how to
do that as well. Here is the time line of events as they unfold in
the course of the novel by date/time and it shows what Tom did on
Monday and what Sally did on that day as well. That I don't quite
understand how that could be done. Suggestions/best practice comments
most welcome. I'm interested to see what value the software brings to
my writing process.
Ron Benrey
> I'm a fiction writer and just recently decided to purchase Super
> Notecard to help me write my next novel! Are there any other fiction
> writers out there using categories? If so, what kind of categories
> did you create and is there any redundancy with factors?
I developed a straightforward plotting model that I've used successfully
to write several novels. I often talk about it at writers' conferences
and I described it in "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Christian
Fiction" that's published by Penguin.
I use SuperNoteCard to "mechanize" my model.
I use the Categories to identify the four or five plots (one main; four
sub). Thus, when I "scatter" different plot "elements" throughout the
various chapters, I can keep track of what's where by clicking on a
Category line.
I use Factor to identify the different plot elements (for example, plot
points). And so, each plot element is "cross linked" as a specific
factor that's part of a specific category (plot).
As you can see, I didn't use any of the standard categories or factors.
Ron
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Ron Benrey
Benrey+Benrey
www.benrey.com