don't let software get in your way

Today I got round to starting my new short story - this is an accomplishment in itself. I'm often guilty when it comes to my writing to put more effort into the process, than the actual writing. A case in point was my efforts this morning.

I've been browsing through the nanowrimo.org message boards recently (I've made a commitment to taking part this year after a 4 year gap). One of the threads was discussing the various software available to writers, and from a post I followed a link to a piece of software called ywriter. I thought I'd have a play with it and see if it would help me organise myself enough for plotting a short story.

After ten minutes I stopped and realised what I was doing. Sure, I'd made the effort to start another short story, but I'd made it that little bit more complicated than it needed to be. I already have Word 2010 on my laptop and I love using it. I already have Onenote and I love using that too. Why then was I so keen to try another tool? When I recognised I was asking these questions I paused and considered what I was doing and why that particular piece of software might not be a good thing for me:

• Ywriter like a lot of writing software is geared towards writing novels not short stories. I'm not sure I'd get much benefit from the organisational features of the tool.

• It introduced another writing environment into the mix. As I've said, I'm using Word 2010 for most things and loving it.

• Due to installation restrictions I wouldn't be able to install it on my work laptop. This restrict me working with it to my home laptop only.


• Learning software, no matter how good it is, can be a distraction from the practice of writing. And writing's what it's all about for me.

So my next steps shouldn't surprise you. I uninstalled it.

Sure, the next time someone recommends some software, I'll be eager to see what it's like, but unless it simplifies the writing process for me, I won't be using it.