Completely Distracted

I’ve been completely distracted for the past several days with some new software that I’ve found. It’s called Writer’s Café and it’s a database designed to help writers get themselves organized and develop their storylines. I have downloaded the trial package and will probably make the purchase once the freebie is over. I think that once I get really comfortable using the database, it will seriously come in handy.

For example, there are lots of times when I just work on character development. Until now, I’ve done that on notebook paper. In case you’re wondering, that gets really messy. With Writer’s Café I can keep all those notes in one place – sort of like an electronic corkboard with sticky notes all over it. It’s wonderful! I can do the same thing with different scenes without having to worry about trying to string them together. When I’m ready to do that, I just drag and drop them into whatever order I want. How awesome is that?

I tried using Family Secrets as my trial project for WC – to try and learn my way around. That didn’t work out very well. I guess I’m just too far into Family Secrets at this point. There is another story, though, that’s been tugging at my brain recently. Right now I’m calling it Broken. It’s quite a bit different from Family Secrets, but that’s turned out to be a good thing. It has forced my brain to think about writing from a different perspective.

I’ve spent the past few days working on some character development and a few random scenes for Broken. At first, I felt a bit guilty. I really do need to finish Family Secrets before I jump head first into another project. Broken just wouldn’t leave me alone, though. I think being distracted with that for a few days has actually helped. Now I’ve got Family Secrets nudging me again. It’s like a little kid going “mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy” while you are on the phone with someone.

Maybe toggling back and forth is the secret to finally getting Family Secrets finished and ‘out there’. We’ll see . . . . . . .