And right now, it’s free for download, so why not grab it while you can?

Get Writing Fiction For Dummies from Amazon here. And happy writing!

Imagine a 30-50 page document full of bits and pieces, a brainstorm here, an idea there, a few lines down maybe some links to some research sites. Add to it a stack of printed out character charts scribbled and crossed out as I kept changing my mind. And then throw in sticky notes, additional files, a few index cards, and a little notebook in my purse. A mess? Yes!

After redoing my protagonist’s Goal, Motivation, and Conflict THREE times because I kept losing it in the abyss that was my writing notes, I realized something had to be done–or else I was going to go crazy and end up curled in a corner gnawing my laptop and singing “Mary Had A Little Lamb.”

Power Structure To The Rescue:

Power Structure is a writing organization and planning program designed by published novelists and screen writers to help fiction writers structure their stories and keep their information organized and filed all in one place.

With Power Structure, I can create individual articles about my story premise, pitch, timeline, backstory, and any other foundational topic for the story that I need. Then I can choose a story structure (my favorite is the Heroine’s Journey–a template I designed myself based on the Hero’s Journey), and plot out my entire book, down to each scene, if I want.

There are detailed frameworks for every character, including their personality, back story, personal info, character arc, strengths, weaknesses, etc. And then I can pull those characters into the scene view and even color code the scene descriptions based on which character’s story line is affected.

The software is laid out in a graphic format, including virtual index cards for each scene that can be rearranged on screen. Or there is the gestalt view that allows me to view everything from the act structure all the way to an individual scene description all in one glance.

What I like best about it is that all of this is completely customizable. I can add, rename, delete, and create almost any space for any information I need. And then I save it all, and it’s there, in one tidy, well-organized file.

Even for people who hate outlining and prefer to write on the fly, it is a good program to use to keep track of what you’ve already done, what characters you just created, or what plot twist you just threw in. The program helps you analyze the conflict and tension levels scene-by-scene so you can see where the flat places are in your story.

I’ve been using Power Structure for over a year now, and I’m very pleased with how easy it is to learn and how well it has functioned. I even switched from a PC to a Mac, and the program made the switch perfectly. I called customer service to make sure it would be okay, and I spoke with a real person who was kind and helpful.

If there’s one feature I wish it had, it would be the ability to import photos or other files or videos into the Power Structure file. I like to find stock photos that look like my characters, or photos or videos of the story’s setting. Even documents and PDF files of various research sites would be great. If we could upload these supporting files into Power Structure, it would be a completely self-contained file of all the material for my book.

But I can manage keeping track of photos. I highly recommend Power Structure to any writer who wants to become more organized. Check out the Power Structure website here.