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story/idea note keeper

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nudone:
the DC GTD experiment has finally made me go through all my old note books and scrap bits of paper i've been keeping for story ideas (kept about 50%, burnt the rest).

i'd like a bit of advice on what software to use to store all this information - i'm sure there are DCers out there that already have a method of keeping this sort of thing organised.

it seemed obvious to me, at first, to use something like ms word but then i thought that i'd have a hard time moving the ideas about and keeping check on them. so, it then seemed obvious to use a notetaker (see superboyac's great review https://www.donationcoder.com/Reviews/Archive/NoteTakers1/ ) but then i'm not sure if i'll just have to export all these notes to word when trying to flesh out the story. so is there any software in between that keeps notes and acts like a word processor - or does even more, as i'm sure i don't fully appreciate what is involved when working on this kind of material.

any tips from all you authors out there - for software or just methods of making sense of all the cross referencing between notes that i expect will be invovled?

mitzevo:
burnt huh?  ;D can't be too careful..  :)

nudone:
ha, well, i admit i didn't burn it because of its great value - i was burning loads of old stuff that i had been keeping for no good reason, but mainly cardboard boxes and other general rubbish.

rjbull:
Some of the notekeepers use RTF, so you shouldn't have trouble exporting from them to Word.  SuperboyAC seemed to think that the RTF editor in Black Hole Organizer was quite good.  And all of them use text...

Alternatively, Notebox Disorganizer IIe: a spreadsheet-style note collection program.


When it comes to keeping notes in a tidy and organized fashion on your computer, you've got your pick of dozens of programs -- most of which involve a tree-view layout, into which you're expected to tuck everything neatly away.

ND2e, on the other hand, is for people who like to keep all their mess splattered across the screen right where they can see it.
[...]
This program was written to help me write novels, which may explain a few things. It's called Notebox, and for that matter Disorganizer, on the grounds that my basic unit of order is the mess, which for the sake of tidiness I keep in a box. When I come across some new information of interest or utility, I make a note of it and add the note to the box. Sometimes I put the box in order. Sometimes I sort it into categorized boxes. Mostly I don't. This is all only approximately true.


--- End quote ---

You should probably look at some of the sites devoted to creative writing.  One link I happened to have is The 2005 WD Guide to Writing Software  (meaning software for authors, not programmers).

Perry Mowbray:
For bits and pieces I've used KeyNote for years (and years it seems): for simplicity and functionality nothing beats it, as superboyac says,

KeyNote is the George Washington of notetaking software; it is the father of the genre and the one that started it all (in the modern format).  It is discontinued and not supported anymore, but it is still one of the best, and that is saying something.  It would be in the Big Three but other programs have built on it's core features since its time.  That being said, it is still awesome and great for the simple user, and is probably better than some of the average programs in this genre that are not free.  You can work with multiple databases at once, it has a clean interface, and it has some interesting and useful plug-ins.  Still has very good import/export capabilities.
--- End quote ---

There have been a couple of people say they were going to pick up the batton (but I've lost touch and interest) so don't know where any of that is up to? I still have KeyNote files that I have old bits and pieces that I use! KeyNote exports well to RichText.

At the moment though I'm a SurfuLater true believer: it's fantastic for research work, and is more than adequate for keeping notes, etc.

But if you're wanting actual story related software, the couple of applications that I'm acquainted with (though not necessarily used for an extensive period):

* SLang
* yWriter
- Perry

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