Plottr Review – Best Plotting Software Of 2021
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Plottr Review for the year 2021 What is the best plotting software?
Using plots to enhance their productivity or plan out their narratives is common practice for authors, but outlining a novel can be a time-consuming and difficult task. Regardless of whether you’re a pantser (a writer who loves to write without a plot) or a plotter, it’s worth checking at Plottr outlining software and determining whether it’s suited for your writing style and needs.
What exactly is Plottr?
Plottr is a downloadable piece of software that is compatible with both Windows and Mac computers, and it is used by authors to plot out their books. The fact that it allows authors to map out their novels with many subplots makes it a very adaptable tool. Plottr assists authors in completing their plots, downloading them, and incorporating them into their stories for writing. The Plottr Knowledge Base is an excellent resource if you’re looking for additional in-depth information about the software on a technical level, or if you have a specific query that wasn’t addressed in this review.
Outlining is one of my favorite aspects of the writing process, and discovering a new method of plotting that is different from my regular one is quite thrilling. Lots of authors are seeking for strategies to produce more books and better novels, and a sound plotting process is one of the most important parts of this. So, let’s have a look at what Plottr has to offer you! We should first point out that you may download the program for either Mac or PC and use it for free for 30 days, taking use of all of its capabilities. That’s excellent if you want to trial anything before you buy it.
Plottr Tutorial
The tour teaches you the fundamentals of how to use the plotting program and the options available to you that you can utilize, and plottr also provides templates for authors to employ. Consider the plotting procedure as it is carried out utilizing templates in more detail.
Using Templates to Create a Plot
In Plottr, creating a plot from a template is a straightforward process. To get started, simply go to ‘File’ and select ‘New from Template.’ This will bring up a variety of plot templates that you can use to start building your plot from scratch.
This is beneficial since it might be intimidating (even with a guided tour) to start a fresh plot from scratch if you have no idea what you’re doing or if it’s your first time writing a novel if you don’t know what you’re doing. There are other widely used plotting procedures that may be used to build templates, such as the methodology employed by Libbie Hawker and Blake Snyder in their books Take Off Your Pants! and Save the Cat, among others. Writers will be familiar with standard story frameworks such as the Hero’s Journey, which allow for straightforward structuring as well as recognizable layouts.
When using Plottr, you may pick from one of the plot templates listed below:
- Action Adventure Plot
- Jami Gold Romance
- Take Off Your Pants
- Victor Pineiro Screenplay
- 8 Sequences Method
- Billy Mernit Romance Seven Beats
- Hero’s Journey
- 7 Point Plot Structure
- 12 Chapter Mystery Formula
- Dan Harmon’s Story Circle
- Michael Hauge Six Stage
- Shonen Battle Manga Formula
- Save the Cat by Blake Snyder
For every genre, there is a plotting template available, and those who want something more adaptable or who wish to construct their own storyline are also catered to.
Plotting Without the Use of Templates
Plottr allows you to customize your plot in any way you see suitable. You have the ability to build complete story lines and subplots, and then arrange them throughout the course of your chapters. Even better, you have the option of dragging and dropping any of the cards, chapters, or story lines. You may also change the color of your plot lines and the location of certain elements. Everything is just a few mouse clicks away. To add a card, simply click on it; to relocate a subplot or a chapter, simply click on it again. It’s entertaining and simple to use.
It’s also simple to add more information to each chapter and card. When you just click on one of the cards, a page appears that allows you to enter text, photographs, connections to research papers, and even links to other publications that you have available online. Add tags to the card, characters, or locations so that you know exactly who is engaged in the action, where they are, and what they’re doing at any given time. You may also see your outline in a variety of other modes, so if the timeline view isn’t your favorite, you can easily switch to the outline view.
Another interesting function may be found on the Series tab of Plottr. You may use this section to specify which series the narrative for this book is set in, note that it is the title, that it is the premise, and that you can include a book cover image if you so wish. You may also make a connection between it and the other novels in the series. It is possible to travel quickly between all of the storylines in your series, to tag them, to include certain people and locations in your novels, and to add tags to your books. And after you’re through with your plan, you can export it to Google Docs or Word, or even Scrivener, and having that plot on hand is quite convenient.
The Process of Creating Characters
Creating characters in Plottr is a straightforward and effective process. Simply going to the Characters page and creating a new character is all that is required to play a character. You can provide information about who they are, as well as a name and a thumbnail of their character. There is a true stroke of genius in the flexibility to include qualities that you want to track in this system. Flaws, personality quirks, and exceptional skills are examples of such characteristics. Any characteristic you can conceive of can be assigned to a character’s attribute and tracked across all of his or her characters. In addition, if you don’t want to create your own traits, you may utilize a character template to create your character instead. You can select one of the following templates from the list below:
- Character Bio
- Birth Order
- Myers-Briggs Type
- Goal, Motivation, Conflict
- Cognitive Distortions
- Enneagram
Creating Worlds
In outlining software, one of Plottr’s features is the ability to tag objects, which is a critical component of the world design process. Plottr allows you to build places and attribute them in a similar fashion to how you may do so in the Characters tab of the game. Navigate to the timeline, choose a card, and then add a tag of your choosing, as well as a character or location to the card.
Story Writing
Plottr does not have a section dedicated to story writing. You will have to export your plot and utilize it independently from the program, which will be time-consuming. You may write in Word, Google Docs, Scrivener, or any other word processing program that you like.
Getting Around in Plottr
With Plottr, navigation is a breeze. You may easily navigate through your document by scrolling through the beginning, middle, and end. When plotting, you have the option to change your point of view. This is a useful tip since it allows you to align your timeline either vertically or horizontally and obtain a new perspective on your blueprint. You can simply locate what you’re searching for by filtering your results based on keywords and characters. When putting together your outline, it’s simple to select the chapters based on who or what you’re searching for in each chapter. Notes are accessible for your convenience. The notes area is quite simple to use, and you can categorize and filter your notes to make it easy to keep track of what you’ve recorded.
Is Plottr Is the Right Tool for You?
The Plottr outlining tool is a wonderful choice if you want a plotting tool that is very configurable while still providing you with templates for reference. Every outlining tool has its advantages and disadvantages, but when it comes to simplicity and convenience of usage, Plottr distinguishes out from the competition. Plottr is another another fantastic outlining tool that will make your plotting experience a lot more enjoyable and efficient. For authors who want to increase their productivity (which is something that many authors desire), this is the appropriate tool for them.