“The Daisy Gate” Project – Update #2

A New Writing Suite

I’m always looking for way to sharpen this craft. I subscribe to several blogs by/for writers and authors. Some of them are very helpful, others not so much. I am also interested in trying new tools or writing systems. I’ve found that the more I experiment with this and that, it helps refine my efforts. I am well aware of the constant need to improve.

Recently, an ad for a new complete suite of writing apps showed up on Facebook. I thought it looked interesting, but didn’t respond right away. The program is called “Papyrus Author.” After seeing the ad several times I decided to check it out more closely.

There is a free, fully functional version which can be downloaded, and a “Pro” version with a subscription price of $15/month. I’m not generally very excited about using subscription-based software. I would much rather pay a larger sum up front to have permanent access, even if it costs to update in a year.

But, after exploring the website quite thoroughly, I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet for the monthly subscription. The company will let you cancel at any time, so I figured I could play with the Pro version for a month or two, and if I didn’t like it I could cancel. No harm, no foul.

Okay, so I bought in and downloaded the program. I figured the best way to learn to use it was to experiment with an current writing project. The Daisy Gate is my current big writing project, so I’m using the TDG manuscript to learn Papyrus Author.

So far, I have copied all the previously written material from Scrivener over to Papyrus Author. Little-by-little I am becoming more comfortable with the new software. At this point, I think I’m going to like it–and probably end up continuing the $15/month subscription. But, that remains to be seen.

As I worked on copying and pasting each chapter, I was also able to spend some good quality time doing editing and rewriting. There’s a lot of work to do yet on that side, plus about 2/3 of the story has not even been plotted yet, let alone written.

Bottom line tonight: I’m getting immense pleasure out of this process. It is hard work, but oh, so satisfying when it comes together. It’s just like all of life: enjoy the trip cause that’s the real destination.

More to come. LLF