Save Your Money

There are hundreds of writing tools and applications out there. "Buy our product for $40!" they'll say. "We can help you write your novel with our flashy software and our character description files!" Young writers, beware. Do not be tempted to buy any of these products, as glamorous and helpful as they appear. They will get you no closer to finishing that novel, and you'll be out $40. Save it and buy yourself a couple of pizzas and some soda. Then, stay up late and write.

The latest "Writer's Smorgasbord" product that I just tried (I will not mention its name for fear of offending someone) is actually really neat. It can open multiple documents at once, put all of your ideas on a cool looking corkboard, and even import audio and video files. There's even a sidebar where you can track your themes and keywords.

"This is all great," I asked myself, "but how is this going to help me write my novel?"

Truth is, it won't. It would be wonderful if someone made a magical product that could take all of your neat ideas and smash them into a novel for you, but then that would take all the soul out of it. Trust me, if you want to get something done, just open up good ol' Microsoft word and start typing. Even better, lock yourself in a technology-less room with a nice notebook and pen. You'll be closer to finishing that novel.