Power Writer (Novel and Fiction Writing Software)

by Power Writer

Product Features

• Reorganize an entire novel via drag'n'drop in the Outline mode.
• Examine any text with the search engine of your choice.
• Customize the program to work the way you write.
• Real-time spell check with (optional) auto-correction and auto-spacing
• Powerful thesaurus with definition dictionary.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 2.1 ounces
• ASIN: B0009DXCD0
• Item model number: 2005 edition
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 12, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,738 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)

Product Description

A Story Processor for Creative Writers? What a NOVEL idea! Imagine a word processing software console integrated with formatting, outlining and story development tools designed specifically for fiction writers. Imagine having every plot point, note, research, story idea, character info, AND your main text right there at your finger tips. Or, if you want to just be alone with your main text you can do that too, but it's all there, ready and waiting. You'll be amazed how Power Writer can manage the diverse elements of a monumental project with simplicity and ease of use.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One-Stop writing, April 25, 2005

By 

Mark E. Rhodes "writer/guitarist" (Greenacres, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Power Writer (Novel and Fiction Writing Software) (CD-ROM)

Power Writer is my favorite piece of writing software. It's a word processor for fiction writers. Formatting is a breeze and the Outline View allows you to move chapters of text with a couple clicks. It also makes it easy to find the section you want to work on. (Especially helpful during revisions.) My favorite feature is headers for Plot Points. The titles (-Joe loses wallet, Sally attends funeral, whatever) appear on the screen in grey type but do not print (unless you want them to) or add to the word count. You can shuffle them (and the accompanying text) at will. There's also a screen for notes (Story Tools). The main categories are General Story, Acts, Chapters, Plot Points, and Notes/Research. All your character descriptions, backstory, Must Accomplish Items and so forth are at your fingertips while working on your story or novel) If the Outline and Story Tools windows distract you, just hide them and view only the word processor.

Power Writer doesn't tell you how or what to write. It formats, outlines, and keeps all your notes in one convenient spot so that you never have to scrounge your desk for the Post-It note with a character's middle name or an inspired line of dialogue scrawled on it.

It's a snap to use too.

Highly recommended.

46 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fatally flawed, November 15, 2006

By 

Osaka Natto (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Power Writer (Novel and Fiction Writing Software) (CD-ROM)

I thought Power Writer was exactly what I was looking for, and while it was a bit confusing at first, not a bad product over all. At the time bought it, I didn't know about the "three times and you're dead" rule. That is a killer for me. I don't how many times I have had a virus that forced me to reinstall my software, and most of the time I wouldn't have the opportunity to do a uninstall. This is the stingiest piece of software I have ever come across. I assume that if you try to install it a fourth time, there is a way of translating your work-in-progress from a Power Writer file to some sort of a text file without having to buy another copy.

Many EULA agreements, if you read the fine print, licence you to install a program both on a deskstop and a notebook, honoring most users' needs these days. Amen.

There are a number of irritations involving files and other external factors that make it seem that the person who did the specs didn't use computers very much. Worse, I lost some work, apparently because Power Writer wants to put the documents in its program file instead of where I want to store it. Any program that can't remember from one session to the next where the user stores his files is poorly designed in other ways. AND YOU DON'T PUT DOCUMENTS OF ANY KIND IN THE PROGRAMS FOLDER -- YOU PUT THEM IN THE USER'S DOCUMENTS FOLDER! If the user wants elsewhere, he'll move them elsewhere.

Sometimes you watch a movie that should have won an Oscar but ended being a stinker because of one or two bad decisions -- usually coming from the top. Power Writer is the software equivalent of that. I'm also returning it and going back to Word.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy Easy Easy, July 29, 2005

By 

Ernest in Georgia "Love books, movies, and tr... (Augusta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Power Writer (Novel and Fiction Writing Software) (CD-ROM)

I write historical type fiction and so notes and research are really important to me. If you write Civil War era fiction then you learn that writing about the wrong buttons on the uniform makes you a fraud. Power Writer makes it very easy for me to keep all my notes in one place and easily refer to them when I am writing. I also like Power Structure from the same company. It's more organizing software but they're both fantastic.