I’m talking at CraftFest today, the teaching arm of that great annual convention Thrillerfest, and promised students I’d put up a list of the software mentioned in the talk here for their benefit. You’ll find the list below. For the record my current portfolio of writing tools is Scrivener for the main work, Word for submission, Together for data storage and iPhoto for keeping photo records. All or most of these programs have demo versions. I suggest you find what works best for you, then stick with it and get on with the real job of producing a novel.<strong></strong>

<strong>Programs for storing and cataloguing information</strong>

Mac
<a href="http://www.reinventedsoftware.com" target="_blank">Together</a> My current personal favourite - can store anything very easily.
<a href="http://www.journler.com" target="_blank">Journler</a> An interesting alternative, though not so great if you use multiple computers.
<a href="http://www.devon-technologies.com" target="_blank">Devonthink</a> Heavyweight data storage for lots and lots of stuff - quite hard to learn for me.

Windows
<a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/onenote/default.aspx" target="_blank">OneNote</a> Part of Microsoft Office
<a href="http://www.macropool.com" target="_blank">WebResearch </a>

Photo storage. For keeping pictures organised

Mac
<a href="http://www.apple.com" target="_blank">iPhoto</a>

Windows
<a href="http://picasa.google.com" target="_blank">Picasa</a>

<strong>Journal software</strong>

Mac
<a href="http://www.marinersoftware.com" target="_blank">MacJournal</a>

Windows
<a href="http://www.marinersoftware.com" target="_blank">WinJournal</a>

<strong>Word processors aimed at authors</strong>

Mac
<a href="http://www.literatureandlatte.com" target="_blank">Scrivener</a>
<a href="http://www.storyist.com" target="_blank">Storyist </a>
<a href="http://www.marinersoftware.com" target="_blank">Storymill</a>

Windows
<a href="http://www.blackobelisksoftware.com" target="_blank">Liquid Story Binder </a>
<a href="http://www.write-brain.com" target="_blank">Power Writer </a>
<a href="http://www.softwareforwriting.com" target="_blank">PageFour </a>
<a href="http://www.pindersoft.com">Writers Project Organizer </a>
Book Writer (www.yadudigital.com)