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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.
This gives you time to recover anything moved there by
mistake or that you later realize you want to keep.
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.
"Do your thing" is the philosophy that runs through every aspect of NovelForge. We recognize that creativity is
deeply personal and unique to each writer. That's why we've provided a diverse array of tools to support your
individual process.
Some writers outline meticulously before writing a single word, while others discover their story as they write.
Some organize chronologically, others by character arcs or thematic elements.
