Start a New Template With One Click

1. To begin, click "Start a New Template" at the top of the screen.

2. The program first displays a "default" novel: untitled, 50,000 words long, with two viewpoint characters -- the lead and the romantic involvement. You can either develop this novel, or customize it to suit your specific project.

3. To start customizing, just click the "Story Idea" tab. The program helps you decide the gender and age of your lead character by using the "Suppose" function. Then you will set a story goal for your lead and, finally, create your novel's overarching story idea, with the "Generate/Refresh Story Idea" function.

4. The next decision to make is your novel's genre. Click the "Genre/Length" tab and choose from hundreds of possible genres and subgenres for your story. After deciding on your genre and subgenre, you determine the perfect word length for your novel by doing research.

In this example, you have chosen Mystery/traditional (mystery genre, traditional subgenre).

The Program Automates Tedious Steps
You Previously Had To Do By Hand.

5. After you have entered a word length, the program takes over, structuring a customized template for you to start developing into a full-blown novel. Let's say your research shows that books published in the mystery/traditional genre are 75,000 words long. 

The Marshall Plan® for Novel Writing Software automates all the steps that were done by hand and with worksheets in The Marshall Plan® for Novel Writing and The Marshall Plan® Workbook. The program determines, based on your novel's length, the correct number of viewpoint characters and sections; the correct number of sections for each viewpoint character; and the ideal order for these sections.

You will see that there are also separate sections for your lead's main story line, as well as your lead's subplot . . .

6. To further develop your story, click on the "Lead" tab. You will be guided through the process of deciding on aspects of this character's background and personality (the aspects shown in the screenshot are childhood, family, and education/vocation).

Do the same for your other major characters by clicking the "Opposition," "Confidant," "Romantic Involvement," and "Other Characters" tabs (these screens not shown).

7. In some novels, for example, a mystery, the Opposition, or antagonist, is "invisible," or working behind the scenes to prevent your lead from reaching his or her goal.

If your novel's genre requires an invisible opposition, simply uncheck the box at the top of the screen. The program will automatically adjust, removing the Opposition as a viewpoint character and substituting another suitable character.

8. You will also want to decide, based on your novel's genre and subgenre, whether your novel should have a romantic involvement, or romantic interest, for your lead. To remove the romantic involvement from your story, simply uncheck the box at the top of the screen. As with the opposition, the program automatically adjusts, substituting another suitable character.

As you create your novel, you may decide to make changes to your story idea; genre; word length; characters, backgrounds, personalities, and names; and title.

Feel free to try out different ideas.
The program adjusts automatically!

9. To learn how to weave subplots into your novel, click on the "Subplots" tab (not shown). Then click on the "Names" tab and find advice on naming your characters, along with an international name directory of more than 7,000 names, with their meanings. As you name each of your characters, the program inserts all of these names where appropriate.

10. For advice on creating a title for your novel, click the "Title" tab, then enter your choice.

11. The main Template screen is where you will develop the structure the program has created. The central feature of the screen is the Template Workspace, where you actually plot your story.

12. To develop a section, simply click on its node in the Sections Tree; then follow the prompts to each side of the Template Workspace. You will also find customized plotting advice in the "Plot Tips" sidebar to the right of the screen - for example, directions on plotting the beginning of your novel, creating "Surprises" or turning points, or structuring the novel's climactic scenes.

13. The "Template Workspace" helps you make decisions about your story. For example, when you need to decide which character to feature in a section, you will be given a list to choose from (now shown). On the "Sections" page you will have learned how to plot Action and Reaction sections. The Template Workspace helps you easily switch back and forth from one format to the other (not shown). When appropriate, the Template Workspace will carry over appropriate information from previous sections, further automating the plotting process so that you are free to create your story.

14. As you plot a section, you may need to remind yourself of the decisions you've made about a character's background and personality. Simply click on the "Character Profile" sidebar and you will find a handy summary to work from. As you work, you will also probably want to jot notes and reminders about your sections. Simply click on the "Notes" sidebar, record your thoughts, and continue. All of your work is automatically saved.

15. The purpose of this program, of course, is to create a template for a novel. Click on the "Manuscript View" tab to watch your template develop. You can print out your template at any time.

16. Once your template is completed, simply click File/ Save as Word File to save it as a file for your word processing program.

Your template can now be used as an outline or synopsis of your novel, either for your own use or to submit to literary agents and editors. Or you can begin to develop the template into the novel itself. As a bonus, the program contains lots of advice on writing out your template, as well as on professionally self-editing your book. Click on the "Writing" tab to find this information:

17. You will undoubtedly create your template over numerous sessions at the computer. It's easy to save your template in progress. To open it later, simply click on "Open a Template" and all of your saved templates appear.