MVS Fiction Web-based Outlining Tool
Over at MVS Fiction, Matt created a Web-based Outlining Tool for fanfiction author's to use in outlining their stories for continuity, plot, characters, spells/potions used, etc.
Below is the post on his website - www.mvsfiction.com/Default.aspx
Posted by mvanspankeren on 1/30/2011 23:06:24
Several months back I had an idea to create a web-based outlining tool. The idea came to me because I’ve been wanting a complete outline for Taking Control as I have made a couple slips recently in contradicting things I had written previously. Having a complete outline to reference would help alleviate such issues. Being the lazy man I am, I didn’t want to do it myself and had been trying to convince Maggie to do it for me. She had started and stopped the process a few times, but it was always just too tedious and counter-intuitive for her to keep it up.
Enter my fancy, new outlining tool. Not only is it designed to make the process easier, it was also meant to be a cool new toy that would make the process somewhat interesting for Maggie, at least for a little bit, as she got to play with the new toy. This was great in theory, but there were a few flaws in the design that halted progress. I’ve only just now finally gotten back into the project and fixed things up, and they appear to be working much better now.
Now that the core functionality is built out, I’ve found myself wondering what others would think about it. Would they find it useful? If I built a site around the tool, allowing users to upload their own content to create their own outlines, even offering the options to share the content and outlines with other users of their choice, would people use it?
Which brings us to the present. I’m looking for opinions on the tool, and you are just the people for it. I’ve setup a test chapter with public access to the outline for you all to play with it, try it out, and see what you think about it. Any comments or criticisms you have can be shared either in the comments here or the reviews for the test chapter. Now, before you get started, you’ll need to know how it all works.
You can find instructions on how to use the outline tool at http://mvsfiction.com/outline_instructions/outline_instructions.html .
You can access the outline test chapter in the normal navigation under Read, or use the following link: http://www.mvsfiction.com/default.aspx?page=read&action=readChapter&StoryID=11&ChapterID=62 .
Please check it out and let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Matt
Below is the post on his website - www.mvsfiction.com/Default.aspx
Posted by mvanspankeren on 1/30/2011 23:06:24
Several months back I had an idea to create a web-based outlining tool. The idea came to me because I’ve been wanting a complete outline for Taking Control as I have made a couple slips recently in contradicting things I had written previously. Having a complete outline to reference would help alleviate such issues. Being the lazy man I am, I didn’t want to do it myself and had been trying to convince Maggie to do it for me. She had started and stopped the process a few times, but it was always just too tedious and counter-intuitive for her to keep it up.
Enter my fancy, new outlining tool. Not only is it designed to make the process easier, it was also meant to be a cool new toy that would make the process somewhat interesting for Maggie, at least for a little bit, as she got to play with the new toy. This was great in theory, but there were a few flaws in the design that halted progress. I’ve only just now finally gotten back into the project and fixed things up, and they appear to be working much better now.
Now that the core functionality is built out, I’ve found myself wondering what others would think about it. Would they find it useful? If I built a site around the tool, allowing users to upload their own content to create their own outlines, even offering the options to share the content and outlines with other users of their choice, would people use it?
Which brings us to the present. I’m looking for opinions on the tool, and you are just the people for it. I’ve setup a test chapter with public access to the outline for you all to play with it, try it out, and see what you think about it. Any comments or criticisms you have can be shared either in the comments here or the reviews for the test chapter. Now, before you get started, you’ll need to know how it all works.
You can find instructions on how to use the outline tool at http://mvsfiction.com/outline_instructions/outline_instructions.html .
You can access the outline test chapter in the normal navigation under Read, or use the following link: http://www.mvsfiction.com/default.aspx?page=read&action=readChapter&StoryID=11&ChapterID=62 .
Please check it out and let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Matt