Writing the Next Big Thing in novel-world? Need a better planning and organizational system than those six thousand index cards thumb-tacked to the wall? NovelPlanner offers a centralized Idea Sketch Library (sbtm) for your literary endeavors, enabling you to save a bundle on thumbtacks!

NovelPlanner was designed to replace the stacks of index cards I was coming up with when trying to sketch out a plan for my novel. My hands were getting tired, and I was having problems keeping my cards shuffled correctly. Being the absent-minded yet courageous programmer-sort that I am, my first thought was, "Ah! If only the world held something which gave me the flexibility and simplicity of index cards, that allowed me to organize and edit them, without forcing me into someone else's story writing formula, and all this was easily accessible through my home computer!"
Having thought that, I purposed in my heart to create such a product, and here it is.

My main goals when writing NovelPlanner were to create something that wouldn't force me to use someone else's idea of 'how to plan a novel.' I don't find it useful or helpful to have to fill out ten thousand boxes every time I want to sketch out a character, with vital and gripping information such as 'Height,' 'Weight,' 'Favorite animal,' and 'Strongest Personality Trait.' Yeah, that's all great and good, but filling that out rarely does anything for my creativity, other than force me to make up numbers. ("Um... weight. Seven-hundred annnnd... eighty-two pounds. And four ounces.") I find that I'm better able to think creatively when given the freedom to jot down whatever comes to mind, instead of forcing my thoughts into a structure someone else made up. That's why I usually write stuff on index cards.

But I'm also a computer programmer by hobby, so I like things electronic and cool. So I wrote NovelPlanner. It's really a pretty cool way to take that index-card freedom to the computer, if I say so myself. You can create lots of notes on characters, scenes, or whatever, and then drag 'em around to lay out the flow of your story. I wrote it so I could use it, first and foremost, and since I doubt I'm the only one who likes to work on the computer but doesn't like write-by-numbers, I've put it up for your use. Because I'm nice. And since I want to keep working on it, so I can give free future upgrades to everybody who buys this version (bribery), please support NovelPlanner development by trying the demo, and if you like it, buy it! It's only $24.99, and it's really easy to buy through eSellerate.

Features include:

• The power to plot how YOU want to - no constraining forms to fill in with your character's eyebrow color and favorite hockey team
• Simple, easy-to-learn interface
• Flexible enough for any story-writing project
• Add scene descriptions, character sketches, or other story notes with the click of a button
• Define chapters and drag-and-drop your scenes to lay out the flow of your novel
• Ready to write? Click a button to go to reference mode, and keep your NovelPlanner notes visible when writing your actual story

	NovelPlanner interface (expand) The main work window. Simple, intuitive, and happy in its lack of boring forms to fill out.
	Add a Chapter (expand) Chapter, section, break, whatever. Call it what you will, it's how you organize your story, if you want to do such a thing at all.
	Reference mode (expand) Switch modes when you want to go write your story (in Word or Writer or whatever you use), and your notes will float above your other windows for easy reference.

System requirements:

• Windows-based PC
• .NET framework 2.0 (free download from Microsoft)

The trial version includes all the functionality of the full version, except that you're limited to eight (8) cards in each category (scenes, characters, other notes). It also lacks the warm feeling that comes from supporting shareware development and taking a giant leap towards writing your best-selling novel. Not many things can promise that sort of buzz. Buy NovelPlanner now.

Click here to download the trial version (~220 KB)

Click here to purchase NovelPlanner for only $24.99 USD, through eSellerate.