Inspiration! Liquid Story Binder XE

I remember many years ago, I was reading Melissa Marr's blog (she was then just a simple struggling novelist like me). She was talking about her process while she was writing Wicked Lovely. I was mesmerised by her creativity. She would set a mood all around her with pictures taped to her monitor and desk so she could capture the scenes of her imaginary world. It was a familiar world in that it was city-scapes of today, but since she didn't live right in the heart of a major city, she needed to immerse herself in that world.

I also remember thinking that I'd love to do the same thing with my work, but I couldn't at the time. I was writing a middle grade novel set in the here and now and also set in the town I was living, but I never forgot the inspiration she shared and it followed me to my current WIP. This one needs mood because it is set in an imaginary world. And I have to be immersed in that world or I won't be able to write it very well.

I tried to use pictures in a notebook. Whenever I'd start writing, I'd open the book to the pictures I'd need, but there was always something missing when I'd get to writing on the page. It was blank. All I had was my mind to keep me there, but if I needed more inspiration, I'd stop writing and pull out the notebook. It was very cumbersome. And then someone suggested a new writing software program that has changed my writing life forever!

It's called Liquid Story Binder. And it's so modern and so inspiring that I've written over 7000 words this week. No longer do I have to stop writing and look at the pictures of inspiration--they're right there staring at me as I work. The picture to the left is an example of what my workspace looks like (although it's a sample from the product website--I couldn't take a pic of my workspace.) Black Obelisk software was kind enough to give me permission for the photos.
The features of this software are amazing and I can use it for any of my work--long or short. It has a story board feature, perfect for my picture books.

Here are my favorite features:

1. Get Organized fast! Everything is encompassed in chapters, so each chapter has its own gallery (pictures), outline, chapter writing (where you do the writing), goal word count, project stats, time it takes you to write in the session and more!

2. Outlining is easy! You can first create a folder for your book. Then you create how many working chapters you might have. In each chapter, you can write a synopsis outline for that chapter. As you write, you can refer to your notes to see if you're on the right path or you can modify what you want to happen as you go (or not use this at all if you don't like to outline.)

3. Writer's Tools at your fingertips! Every writer's feature from Microsoft Word is stepped up in this program.

• Word count: Every time you open a chapter to work on it, there will be word count stats at the bottom--it will show you the total word count, how much you've written for that session, time for the session and word count goals for the chapter. If you want to see the total word count for the book itself, you can hit a tab that will give you all stats for the book as well as visualize your progress for every chapter and whether you made your goals.
• Fancy thesaurus: Not only will it give you a huge thesaurus, but it will put every word in the sentence you've written for you (in a text box to the side) so you can instantly see if it's the right word.
• Repeated Word visualizer: Sometimes I think I may have used a word too much but would have to reread earlier sentences to see. With this feature, all you have to do is punch a tab at the side, highlight the word in question and it will automatically show you if you've repeated it. Amazing! I'm in love with this feature alone!

4. More features!

• character charts
• timeline
• mind mapping
• professional manuscript formatting into RTX, TXT, or ZIP files
• automatic backup
• universal search--search your entire document for a single word!
• record yourself reading your novel or picture book
• music playlist--create a specific audio mood for each chapter!

5. Ambiance is breathtaking! I bought this program if nothing else but to get the ambiance stepped up for me and this program has so many different settings that you can personalize the way you write. Whenever I start on a session, I open up LSB, and it saves the way it looks for me so that if I have any pictures out or galleries, chapters, outlines, it will have it all out there for me the way I left it. Sort of like my messy desk--no one better touch my desk because I like my stuff to remind me of things, but my hubby likes it neat. Now, I don't make him crazy. My binder can be as messy as I like. And I write as I normally do in Word--my writing is on a white page with Times New Roman as my font. You can make it any color, any font you like. It's easy! The difference is that the surrounding effects make the ambiance of writing very creative. I'm no longer staring at only a white page. It's surrounded by visual details that keep me in my WIP's world.

 Here are some other things I've really used that you may like as well:

• You can pull out pictures and keep them out while you write.
• Need to refer to several back chapters? You can pull them out and have them out while you're working on your current chapter and toggle between them at will.
• Minor character giving you trouble? Sometimes I forget what my minor characters look like or how they're supposed to act if they don't show up very much in my 80K novel, so I can pull out the character charts at any time and look them up.

6. The best feature? The price! It's only $45.99 and you can try it out for free for a month. I'm still on my free month, but you better believe I'll fork over the dough when it's time. It's changed my life and hopefully, I'll get this novel done by summer. With Liquid Story Binder, I don't feel a deadline. I feel the excitement of creating an imaginary, exciting world!

Have I convinced you yet? If so, go on over to the website and check it out for yourself: Liquid Story Binder XE

ETA: If you're having trouble using the program (it takes a while to get used to), hop on over to this site. It has a nice tutorial for you: LSB Tutorial

I know I haven't been here for a while (because I've been WRITING) But I want to THANK Katie M. Stout for bestowing a wonderful award on me:

That's quite an honor since I love blogs that are creative and like to nurture that spirit in others! So...without much further ado, I'm giving this award to Brian Kell because he's about the most creative writer I know (and I haven't read a stitch of his work but I can tell...trust me.) He's going to be a household name in the future...and I can say I knew him when! HA!

Happy writing, everyone!!!!