Jer's Novel Writer, More Than Just a Tool

Text editing programs and word processing programs are usually regarded as the tools for anything related to text on computers. They serve all kinds of purposes from making sure the text is free of spelling and grammatical errors to laying it out in a manner that is pleasing to the eye, they have hundreds of options and features that fill the menus from left to right and any others hidden in tabs. There is just one small problem with all these applications: all those options and features deal with text that has already been written, but the fact that, when it comes to the actual writing itself, they are absolutely useless is not actually a hindrance.

There are few programs out there that are especially designed and made to help you do the writing itself, such as Jer's Novel Writer.

What it does
Jer's Novel Writer is a program designed to help you write. Despite the name, the program is perfect for any sort of writing, not just novels. Unlike traditional text editors and word processors, Jer's focuses less on those options that deal with text that already exists - although those options are present - and emphasizes the writing process itself, so that no matter what you are writing, you can actually focus on the writing and not get distracted by anything else.

Working with it
Working with Jer's Novel Writer can be a bit strange at first, especially if you have never used such a program before. It looks and acts similar to a traditional word processor, but the focus is totally different.

The first thing that you notice is the drawer on the right hand of the window. This is an integral part of working with Jer's Novel Writer and while it is not important when you are actually writing, it is very important to the writing process itself.

The outline tab holds the outline of your work. Unlike traditional word processors, in Jer's everything is broken up into parts. How you name the parts is not important, but their functionality is. You can have Books - that are split into Chapters - that are split into Scenes, or you can have Research Papers that are split into Sections that are split into anything else you might need. You can define how each such part of the document is to be named and whether or not it should be named, or titled and how.

This is very important, because it allows you to break up what is otherwise a huge document into little parts and work on them separately without ever having to actually do any separating. Furthermore, each of these parts can be freely arranged via drag and drop, making it a snap to make adjustments or take out a part you no longer need, without actually having to delete it.

The second tab is the database. This allows you instant access to items in the database of the document, and is linked to the database manager that lets you add, delete and modify entries. This is perhaps the most important aspects of Jer's. You can use the database to keep each and every piece of information you need and have it placed under categories and instantly available when you need it. Whether you keep a database full of characters or locations or descriptions, or a database full of theories and quotes and references, this tool is the cornerstone of a productive workflow. You can add information to the database at any time, whenever you have an idea or you come across an important piece of information, and have it there, when you actually need it during writing.

The last tab contains the notes. These are little bits of text that you can take down, while writing that does not actually belong to the database. Whether you use it to take down notes for yourself, or to keep a record of who called while you were busy, it can take any number of notes.

The writing itself
While all the features mentioned above are quite important to the writing process as a whole, when it comes down to hitting the key on the keyboard, Jer's Novel Writer is great.

At any time you wish, you can enter full screen mode where there is nothing except the text you are working on. There are no interface elements, except the scrollbar and there is nothing that can ever distract you. While this feature is not exactly new and many other programs have it, it is in fact another small feature that makes it all the better.
Most often, when writing in full screen mode, you get an idea, or need to note down something and thus have to leave the full screen mode. In Jer's you can write down notes right on the 'edge of the paper.' The space on the left side of the virtual sheet of paper is designated to such notes, and simply clicking it will create a new note and focus on it so that you can start typing right away. This feature is superb. You can use it to note down general ideas, or use it to point at areas of your work that you need to come back later to revise, or you can use it to leave feedback on somebody else's work without actually having to butcher their text.

The Good

Made for writing, with all those options and features that are actually useful to the writing process.

The Bad

The only bad thing about this program is that I haven't been using it for many years already. The only thing that it is missing is support for multiple versions of a part of the text so that you can rewrite and keep the originals.

The Truth

For text that already exists, there are many programs out there, but for text that has yet to be written, Jer's is an excellent application that should be really looked at.

Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge: