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Project Oriented
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Style and Thematic Vocabulary Assistants
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Open Dictionaries
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Snapshots and auto-versioning
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Smart Tags
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User Dictionaries
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Doesn’t need Internet, all necessary parts are off-line
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Uses txt files, not proprietary format
At a glance
Project
NovelForge is a project-based application
designed around the idea of working with a
large number of documents and keeping them
organized in one place.
All the documents in a project are physically
stored in the project folder on your
computer—nothing is left outside. There are no
scattered files across your drives. If you need to
move, copy, or back up the project, you’ll know
exactly where ALL the files are.
Inside the project, you can organize your files
however you prefer. Sort them neatly, or
embrace your own controlled chaos. It’s entirely
up to you.
Snapshots and Auto-Versioning
Let’s face it, creating backups only works if it’s super easy. If it
takes more than one click, you probably won’t do it when Lady
Muse is knocking on your laptop screen.
In your project, there’s a Snapshot Archive folder. Simply drag or
send any of your files there, and a new physical copy will be
created and automatically versioned. That’s it.
You don’t want your files locked in a proprietary format that only some
weird application called NovelForge can read.
That’s why all your writings are saved as pure TXT files in the project folder,
with an accompanying text file that describes the order of the files (because
you might rearrange things, like moving Chapter 3 before Chapter 2, and it’s
good to have that noted just in case).
You can also export Plot Boards, Image Walls, and Timelines as *.jpg files,
which is handy if you want to publish them online or share them with people
who don’t use NovelForge.
Worksheets can be exported as CSV files so anyone with Excel or Google
Docs can access them. (You can even export them as jpg files—because who
wouldn’t want to post a snapshot of their spreadsheet on their blog?)
And finally, your entire manuscript can be exported as a single text file,
complete with formatting tags.
No ‘delete’ quick fingers
To prevent accidents and changes of heart, we’ve made sure
you can’t accidentally delete your documents.
If you want to get rid of something, simply move it into the
project Bin. Just like in your office, it stays there until you decide
it’s time to "shred the evidence" because, you know, someone
might be at the door.
No proprietary format
Having all your eggs in one basket?
When writing in a word processor, everything ends up in one big
file, no matter how many chapters you have.
We’ve been around the block enough times to know that’s a recipe
for disaster.
In NovelForge, every item you see in the project is a separate file. A
chapter is a file, as is a note, character card, or image wall.
This approach greatly minimizes the chance of disaster and makes
organizing your work much easier.
No cloud, no Internet, no problem
More and more companies want your files on their cloud for “your”
convenience, which really means you have to keep paying, or you’ll lose access
to files that are suddenly less yours than you thought. It’s a clever scheme, we
agree, but not for you.
NovelForge doesn’t rely on the cloud. All the files are YOURS and stored on
your computer, including all the dictionaries. Thematic Dictionaries? Yep, all
right there.
You can disconnect from the internet or even move to a remote island
(hopefully with electricity,unless you’re back to typewriters, quills, or chisels),
and NovelForge will still run smoothly on all cylinders (or however many it
has).
Open Dictionaries
Does the dictionary or thesaurus give you results you don’t like?
Change it. All the dictionaries in NovelForge are open for editing, and the
application includes both an editor and a merge function.
Our dictionaries are powered by our in-house developed ultra-search
algorithm, ensuring that results are instant, no matter the size of the dictionary
Smart Tags
Think of a tag as a keyword you can attach to your writing. It could
be a list of characters in a scene, a location, or even your own
personal note. These tags can link directly to actual documents. For
example, a tag with a character name would link to the document
that describes that character.
As your project grows, linked tags became a huge time saver.
The Tags are smart because they can do other tricks as well, not just
link to other documents.
They could type words or sentences in your text, they could link to
the outside world (opening some other application, opening
browser, and search for words on the web - for example rhymes...)
But they can also open your custom dictionary in a word cloud.
If you need a dictionary for slang or language you just invented you
can create a mini dictionary that can be recalled from within the
document tags.
When you select a word in your text and click the Smart Tag, the
mini dictionary will open with the suggestions.
Think of other uses, names, family trees, often used descriptions,
words you keep forgetting...
User Dictionaries and Word Clouds
Smart tag can pickup your selected word, open your mini dictionary and
then replace it with your new pick.
You’ll see the idea of “do your thing” woven throughout every part of NovelForge. We don’t know how you like to dream up and create stories, and
maybe you’re still figuring that out yourself. That’s why we’ve given you MANY great tools.
Maybe you prefer using Plot Boards to sketch out your novel, or perhaps you like to organize your ideas in a spreadsheet or timeline. Or maybe you’re
the type to pin things and ideas haphazardly on a wall. There’s no one right way to be creative, just your way.
