Do Authors need Story Development Tools?

Yes and No

Authors who don’t need Story Development Tools

The following sets of Authors don’t need Story Development Tools

1. A small percentage of authors who can keep everything in their head, and still keep it all straight
2. Authors writing in very specific niches where stories are almost always quite straightforward
3. Authors writing novels that don’t have complicated stories
4. A small percentage of Non Fiction authors don’t need any Story Development Tools because they are basically writing on a narrow topic and don’t need much structure
5. Authors who have lots of problems with technology and using a Story Development Software or App would impede them, rather than benefit them. Please Note: We do recommend using a notebook or journal as your Story Development Tool if technology doesn’t work for you

As you can see, these are some rather special cases

The majority of Authors do need Story Development Tools

Authors that do require Story Development Tools

1. Pretty much every author writing in genres that require keeping the story straight and keeping the reader involved. Mystery, Thriller, Historical Fiction, and Biographical Fiction are some of the genres where a story development tool is a necessity if you want the story to flow smoothly and make sense to the reader
2. Every author writing a longer book. With a longer book there is no way you can keep everything in your head
3. Every author writing a series or a particular book in a series. When writing one book out of a series, you need to be able to refer to every other part of the series and make sure the book you are currently writing is congruent with the rest of the series
4. Every author writing a book that has multiple story lines – whether running in parallel, or at different points of time in History, or in parallel universes
5. Any author who wants to use open loops and multiple threads and get the reader deeper and deeper into the book. You cannot keep open loops and multiple threads in your head – you have to have it written down somewhere
6. Any author who wants to keep their imagination and mind free for creative ideas
   1. David Ogilvy of Ogilvy & Ogilvy, one of the best advertisers of all time, says that he notes down everything and keeps his head totally free. This encourages the best ideas. There is certainly a case to be made for not cluttering your brain with details
7. Any author who has a weak memory and keeps forgetting story details and how everything fits together
8. Authors who want to do major rewrites. A story development tool is priceless because when doing a rewrite it will let you see how everything fits together

In most cases, you do want to use a Story Development Tool

If you’re a brainiac with a super power memory, then it’s fine to keep the entire story in your Memory Castle. If you are writing an exceedingly simple and linear story, then it is fine to do it all mentally

In all other cases, it is best to use a Story Development Tool or a Notepad or a Journal

Major Benefits of Story Development Tools

Story Development Tools have the following major benefits

1. They free up your mind to focus on writing the best possible story
2. They encourage your creativity – instead of your mind being cluttered with little details, it is free to focus on the bigger picture
3. They are a very good reference for rewrites and future expansions. When you want to rewrite the book, or expand it into a series, having everything noted in a Story Development App is priceless
4. Story Development Tools have features that go well beyond what the basics. There are features such as Character Flash Cards and Indices
5. They help you to write a story that flows smoothly, gets the reader immersed deeply, and really makes an impression
   1. The clearer the story is in your Story Development App, the clearer it would be to the reader
6. Many of them integrate in other useful features such as brainstorming and distraction free writing and plot generators
7. There are a wide variety of story development tools and you can pick the tool that best suits your writing style
8. Story Development Tools are available for Windows, Mac, and even Linux if you work on your Desktop. They are available for iPhone, iPad and Android if you prefer working on a phone or a tablet

If you peruse the below links, you will find a delightfully varied selection of Story Development Tools and can pick something that really works well for your needs

WriteZero Recommendations for Story Development Tools

You can visit the Review0 Story Development Software Tools List for a list of good Software for story development. It covers Windows and Mac

These are all good tools. We were most impressed by SmartEdit Writer, Shaxpir, and Storyist

You can also visit the Review0 Story Development Apps List for a list of good Apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android

Our Favorites were Story Tracker for iPhone, Manuskript for Windows and Mac and Linux, The Brainstormer for iPhone and Android, and Contour for iPhone and iPad and Windows and Mac

All the tools on that page are worth a dekko

Remember – pick the one that YOU are most comfortable with and will most enjoy using