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I'm using yWriter7 now to do some work on the story I declared open for proofing and editing and discovering things I really like about the program. I write by the seat of my pants, and yWriter is actually a program designed for a more disciplined writer. However taking my 'finished' work and putting it into the yWriter format is helping me with the next phase of the project, which is breaking up long chapters. I have a chapter that currently would qualify as a novella on its own as it weighs in at somewhere near 25,000 words.
NotebookLM will track my word count for a chapter too, but it doesn't really break things into scenes nor can it differentiate things like me taking a moment to add a few hundred words to the mishmash that I'm calling the 'legend' of the story from the chapter I'm writing. I'm still mostly for most of the story on draft 1.0 and some of it is almost just an outline still. Since I haven't designated it otherwise that is how yWriter lists what I've put into it.
The main thing is that I can create a comprehensive (I hope) character list for the story with yWriter and NotebookLM refuses on any circumstances to actually cough up a comprehensive character list or cast if you will. Sure it is more work but I'm of the opinion that the two systems do sort of produce a symmetry for me. NotebookLM makes a good 'research' assistant. It can search my text and the web for information. Sometimes it takes me several queries to get the answer I'm looking for from my text if I've not quite used the definition that I put into the question in my text. But I can usually reword the question and get an answer back from my entered text which helps keep me from having to search my text essentially manually by rereading it since I didn't remember enough to use the WP search function!
I've sat down and at least learned to use yWriter 7 somewhat clumsily. Why? Because I want to have an exhaustive cast of characters for my story. In part this is due to the fact that the story is a 'road' adventure, which means that some people might be mentioned for the first time in chapter two or three and not become truly active until near the end of the first volume.
I really like the notebookLM, even though I consider it a bit too apt to hare off on wild tangents and to 'approve' of almost anything I write. I'd had a sort of forward in my novel and various people have been saying it is not necessary. I actually created chapters that I fed to the LM without that 'forward' then later added it to the LM as part of my random notes document that I've taken to calling the 'legend' which contains character sketches and passages that I may or may not work in that I've fed at various times to the LM which definitely has problems not adding any bits I feed it as if it was next in the story.
As a writing assistant or research assistant the LM is acceptable. But it absolutely refuses to create what I'm attempting by using yWriter, which is an exhaustive character roll.
Over all due to the fact that it is a perpetual brownnoser and yet will not provide the character list, nor will it refrain from essentially rewriting the 'story' I give the LM no more than a four out of ten rating.
I'm going to highly recommend the short story I just read called The Silent Supper of Hetty Vail By Wesley Doyle posted here at SOL today as near as I can tell. I think that this is one of the most powerful and well written short stories I've read in a long time and proof positive that a moving story doesn't need 1,000,000 words to clutter up the simple and heart-wrenching story that can be told in so few words as Mr. Doyle has provided to pull us through his very haunting bit of fiction!
https://storiesonline.net/s/63221/the-silent-supper
And other assorted tasks. I've recently announced that Volume one of an at least two Volume set of stories is open for editing and proofing to the Swarm Cycle Writers' Guild. I have one other person working on the story now and I'm considering the best way to publish it and the best title as I'm not at all sure that my working title is a reasonable or good title. Now I'll keep asking for other people who want to read a Swords and Sorcery story that has very little on screen sex and hope that I get at least one more person who will be willing to take a look at the story. Maybe someone who is able to do some cartography as well so that the vague descriptions I've given in my story can be converted to a map...
Any way, thank you for your kind attention to my rambling, though know the story will be published under my other Pen Name as I'm going to reserve this one for poetry, and Swarm Cycle stories if I write any more.
I was trying to figure out how to post an editing request. I'll need other help too I expect, but that will be a start. I declared Jakob's Tale, a Swords and Sorcery story with almost no onscreen sex open for editing and proofing to the Swarm Authors' group, but I'd like at least a couple more people to look at the story. As it stands it is about 80,000 words. When I have agreement with the team, it will be posted under the name Tori Jones.
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