YWriter is an excellent one, and I recommend it. Very user friendly too.
Here are the three that I've personally used and am most familiar with. There are other world building programs that were featured in Writer's Magazine that looked interesting to me. I will have to hunt it down and post the links.
yWriter
Description from CNet.com:
Quote:
| yWriter 5 is an unusual but interesting bit of freeware that takes a coder's approach to writing a novel. Simon Haynes, a bestselling novelist and programmer, developed it to help the aspiring author by automating many of the tasks common to fiction writing. It's basically a specialized word processor that breaks down the elements of a writing project into discrete pieces that can be refined individually and then strung together, much the way a coder approaches a large programming job. Chapters, scenes, characters, and plot elements can be defined, developed, edited, and automatically integrated into the project. You can even drag and drop elements such as new or altered characters or locations into the narrative. It won't suggest plot twists or offer creative suggestions, but it does help the writer focus on the creative process by looking after the housekeeping. |
Link to Cnet article along with link to download the program:
http://download.cnet.com/yWriter-5/3...9_4-77524.html
Here's a really good one that was created for short stories, but works well for other assignments:
Sonar
Description from Spacejock.com
Quote:
| Sonar is a manuscript submission tracking program, and I wrote it because I was going nuts keeping track of short story submissions. This program tells me which market has each story, whether a story has been sold or rejected and which stories are gathering dust instead of earning their keep. If you decide to use it, you will be able to view a list of all your stories and then filter them in various ways (e.g. only show stories which are available to send out). You can add markets, stories and submissions and best of all it's completely free! |
Link to download:
http://www.spacejock.com/Sonar3.html
Here's a more traditional writing and world building software, as it uses the "bubble" concept. It was a little difficult for me to use, but I have friends who swear by it.
Freemind Mapping Software
Description from Wikipedia:
Quote:
| As with other mind mapping software packages, FreeMind allows the user to edit a hierarchical set of ideas around a central concept. The non-linear approach assists in brainstorming new outlines and projects as ideas are added around the mind map.[1] As a Java application, FreeMind is portable across multiple platforms and retains its same user interface, causing some amount of variation from the common interface in each platform. Mac users may notice the most difference from their traditional user interface, but a MacWorld reviewer says the software's features should still appeal to the segment of users who accept function over form.[4] |
Link to download:
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Download
