The Notebook
Overall rating: 4.5/5
Pros: Very organized, very detailed, nice UI
Cons: Random/strange things are Pro-only
Wish it had: Language feature
Wish it didn't have: Pro-only fullscreen/distraction-free
Website: LoreForge
Every day I open up my laptop, and every day I'm afraid that it will just flip me a digital middle finger and die. It's been resurrected a few times and I've been limping it along, but one of these days, it will finally ka-put. But I do have another laptop, one that is nice and fast and works. So, while I'm slowly migrating things over, I decided to look into some new writing software.
I have been using Manuskript for many years now. I really don't have any complaints. With The Chivalrous Welshman coming to a close and The Akari-Bearer and The Fifth Horseman both starting, I thought maybe it would be a good time to look into something new. I know that the best tools in the world can't rescue a crappy story, but I decided to just see what else was out there.
Enter, LoreForge. (Not a paid review.)
Manuskript has features that allow you to organize characters and worldbuilding and plots, and it is very easy to organize and rearrange your actual writing. LoreForge has similar features, then it takes them a step further. You can build more organized profiles of species, specific characters, locations, organizations, cultures, even specific items. If the built-in template is lacking some important detail, you can always add in your own fields. Then you can network all of the information together so you can visualize the many relationships and intrigue plots, and any changes you make automatically update across all references. Unlike Manuskript, you can also add images. And if something doesn't exist, the Notes can catch the rest of it.
LoreForge also has a plot building feature with helpful hints regarding the major plot structures (three-act, five-act, traditional hero's journey, etc.), or you can build your own. You can set up major events and smaller beats, and even assign characters to plots (in case you forget for some reason, I guess).
Regarding the organization of the writing, while there is nothing wrong with Manuskript's traditional folder and file system setup, the interface of LoreForge is much smoother and, I think, more organized. There is more metadata available per chapter and scene so you can more quickly locate plot points, characters, or other references. And while it is easy to rearrange scenes within a chapter or chapters within the book, it is not as easy to move a scene from one chapter to another, at least not as easy as it is in Manuskript.
The writing pad itself is very nice, as simple or as flashy as you decide, although there is no fullscreen/distraction-free mode that I have found [Edit: Pro-only feature, which I think is weird]. It's also really nice that you can click "Add Scene" at the bottom of the current scene, and it will create a new scene so you can just keep writing without having to go through the hassle of having to create a new scene in the proper folder and so on. That's also a bit of a first-world problem in terms of problems that are being solved.
If I could ask for anything, that neither program has, it's some kind of dedicated language feature. LoreForge sort of has that in the Cultures feature, but a dedicated module where alphabet, sounds, phrases, etc. could be listed and referenced would be nice. The Notes module is currently the only in-program option for such a thing. Again, more first-world problems.
Overall, I expect that I will be moving my work over to LoreForge when I finally have to admit defeat and give my loyal little laptop its last rites (for real this time).
