October Novel Prep Challenge

This feels like an ever-evolving conversation: Where do you compose / organize / compile your writing?

A lot of people swear by Scrivener for organizing scenes and chapters and character notes and miscellany (MontyB is a regular user.) The pros: built-in organization of all your notes and in-progress novel, the ability to move scenes around with ease, and, from what I understand, the ability to "compile" a novel in one step. It's essentially a database for novel projects. The bummers: (1) it's not cloud-based, so you either have to do all your work on the same device or Dropbox it, (2) you have to pay for it, and (3) it's still only available for Mac and Windows. Sorry, but the days of Mac and Windows as the bullies on the block are over. Chrome and Android are serious players. I personally use Chrome and Android devices almost exclusively, even at work, and Scrivener has no plans to develop an online version  , so Scrivener is out for me.

Google Drive and OneDrive are cloud-based, available on all devices, and free, but they're missing one key element: the file linking that's inherent in Scrivener. It's not a database, it's just a web-based word processor. I have to use folders and file naming strategies to gain any sort of organization of my files. Other cons: files tends to get very, very slow and hard to edit over, say, 20k words. Realistically, I have to write my novel in some sort of smaller chunks - scenes, chapters, or just 20k sections - and then compile them manually later, which is tedious. To re-order scenes, I need to cut/paste chunks of text, or keep every scene in its own file and rename the files so they sort alphabetically into the order I want. On the plus side, Google Drive / OneDrive files can be shared with beta readers (it's SUPER easy to share), and those beta readers can leave comments, make suggestions, etc. right there on the document, without having to insert that comment into the novel text. Every comment shows who said it, when they said it, and to which passage of text in your draft the commenter was referring. You can also add your own comments.

Evernote isn't much better than Drive. It's cloud-based, available on all devices, free, shareable, and it's a little easier to use on a mobile device than the more cumbersome Drive files, but I still have to use folder (called "notebooks" in Evernote, but still the same idea) and file naming strategies to organize or change the order of things. Frankly, Evernote is worse than Drive for organization, because in Drive, I can create an infinite subdirectory tree, whereas Evernote only has one level of organization. Example: In Evernote, I can create a notebook called "NaNo 2019" and inside it, store files called "Protagonist Character Profile" and "Chapter 1" but the only way to organize the files the way I want is to name the files alphabetically. In Drive, I can create a folder called, "NaNo 2019," and inside that, folders called "Characters" and "Chapters" (or whatever suits your fancy), and inside those folders, create the actual files. It works okay, but it requires some setup time. It's hard to do on the fly and harder to do from a mobile device.

Sarah Rae swears by Lino (an interactive sticky-note app) because you can see your organization visually. You can group notes by color, drag scenes around to experiment with different orders, etc. (Since she's tagged, she may have more to add.)

I've heard of online applications that work similar to Scrivener, such as ywriter, but I haven't tried them. I'm curious to see if any of you can sell me on one.

I've downloaded a half dozen writing apps to my Android device but ended up deleting them because I really need something I can use from EITHER my laptop or my mobile device, interchangeably and with ease.

Novel writing takes so much organization. All this prep - characters, settings, outlines, random paragraphs of brainstorming - all needs a home, and so does the novel itself, both while you're writing it and later, while beta readers are reviewing it and you're revising drafts. Inspiration strikes all the time, whether you're conveniently sitting at a laptop with your fingers on the keys or you're on the bus or stuck in traffic. I have found that writing a novel requires some annoyingly tedious logistical tasks like transcribing verbal notes you left on your phone, typing up the chickenscratch on the napkin or back of an envelop, and dividing up your novel text into separate files because the file is getting too big and takes a long time to load.

#firstworldproblems, anyone? I get it. Hemingway had a ream of paper and a typewriter. So did Stephen King, who, at 72 years old, is still prolific, pumping out at least one new novel every year. Has he upgraded his novel writing technology? Or does he keep a notebook full ofo scribbled notes and write on a typewriter (or at best, a simple installed word processing app) like he (probably) always has?

So what's your process? Where do you compose your Prep assignments? Do you then move them somewhere else? How do you keep those notes at your fingertips during the novel writing process? Where do you compose your novel? Do you compose scenes separately or always add new words to the master novel document? How do you share your draft with beta readers? When you edit, do you revise the rough draft or make a new copy? How do you keep track of your editing notes?

If you love your process and the apps you use to achieve it, sell us on it. If you're unhappy with your process and apps, tell us why. Because I feel like this is a serious business opportunity for some enterprising developer, and also, I'm just curious.

Cheers,
Michelle