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JoAnn
Ross:
I have published
more than seventy novels with NAL/Penguin,
St. Martin's Press, Simon & Schuster,
and Harlequin over the past eighteen
years. Two of my hardcover novels
have been excerpted in Cosmopolitan
magazine, I've won numerous awards, and my
character-driven books routinely make the
Waldenbooks, B&N and USA Today Bestseller
lists. Instead of getting easier, the work
has been becoming more difficult with each
book and I finally came to the conclusion
that being an "instinctive,
fly-into-the-mist writer" just wasn't
cutting it anymore. Oh, I could
finish the books on deadline, and they
were turning out well (the strongest of my
career, actually) but the process was
filled with so many frustrating dead ends
and block walls it was driving me
crazy.
In desperation, and admittedly feeling a
little foolish (after all, after all those
books, shouldn't I know how to write a
story?) I ordered Story Craft last
week, received it yesterday and within an
hour my work in progress was coming
together. Two hours later, it was
clicking, and after three hours,
everything had fallen into place....
[StoryCraft] pulled all the things
I needed to know - and already did but
hadn't realized it - out of my balky
subconscious.
I thank you. My revitalized muse
thanks you. And my husband, who has
to live with me during the writing
process, definitely thanks you.
Despite having an honors education in
Literature, and having attended - and
given - bunches of writing workshops over
the years, I finally understand my
craft! I can even finally see how to
apply Campbell's hero's journey to my own
stories. I'm speaking at four
writers' conferences this spring and
intend to recommend the Jarvis method to
everyone.
Michael
Santiago:
You are to be
congratulated for a fine program! I have
given [competing software program]
the boot after working with it for more
than six years. I have accepted a job with
a production company as a story editor,
supervising numerous writers who I am
going to insist buy and use your software
so we will have the same frame of
reference
Mark
McElroy:
...Thanks again for the
response ... and for a great piece of
software. If I can be of assistance to
you, please let me know.
Rob
Gregory Browne, Screenplay
consultant:
...I decided to finally
give StoryCraft a shot in hopes it could
help me with a story I'd had brewing. Lo
and behold -- despite my initial
skepticism (after experiences with the
god-awful [competitor] and others)
-- I found that StoryCraft managed to help
me organize the idea and flesh it out into
a decent plot.... the software gave me the
kick in the ass I needed to keep going and
finish plotting the thing. It managed to
ask the right questions at the right time
and the story template was a good source
map to keep me on track. Be assured that I
will be using StoryCraft again, and I've
told people on several screenwriting
forums as much.... Congrats on StoryCraft.
You've managed to succeed where others
(IMHO) have failed.
Mari
Campbell:
It is great software. I
have never written a book before and this
software is very helpful.
John
Wasley:
...Until exploring
StoryCraft, I was woefully ignorant of the
Mythical structure. Now, I can see it
suits my story line like a glove. "Control
at last," he breathed, with a heavy sigh
of relief. ...In the meantime, I am still
able to use StoryCraft with no problems
and am thoroughly enjoying it - whilst, at
the same time, being helped immeasurably.
Again, very many thanks for your generous
help,
Skip
Press, author Insider's Guide to
Screenwriting Agents
in his email newsletter,
@HOLLYWOOD:
On writer¹s
newsgroups and via email to me, people ask
about software for writers all the time.
Recently, I¹ve had a few emails about
StoryCraft from John Jarvis. I said I like
it and part of the reason is the
incorporation of Joseph Campbell myth
structure material. But rather than
belabor the point, take a look at this
link --
http://www.screenwritersutopia.com/interviews/~jarvis.htm
It¹s an example of the Jarvis Method,
using Star Wars as an example, writing by
John Jarvis. You might also check out
http://www.writerspage.com for more
information. While Jarvis pays attention
to Hollywood, he¹s not in California
and I think not as *colored* by Hollywood
considerations, which to me is refreshing.
(This has been an unpaid, non-political
announcement.)
J. Paul
Barnett:
I am impressed. Not only
at your compassionate and, I feel, proper
business decision, but also your
expediency. This places you into the
category of the more professional software
vendors. ...Count me in as a reference to
the character of your company from this
day forward.
Larry
Brody, FOX TV writer, attesting to
StoryCraft's use even for television
writing:
Got the StoryCraft,
thanks, and am taking it out for a spin.
What I find very interesting is that
the approach is so similar to the way I
taught writing when I was hiding out from
Hollywood and teaching at the College of
Santa Fe. My forte even as a TV
writer is in structuring the stories
themselves, stepping out the scenes, and I
do it because I recognize the patterns in
each genre and know what elements are
inevitably called for in order to create
strong character and conflict. The
Jarvis Method seems to have consciously
refined what I instinctively do.
Bravo!
Irene
Weissman:
I also hope you won't
object but I'm so enthused about
StoryCraft that as the director of the
Writer's Sig at NYACC, at our next meeting
scheduled for October 6th, I plan to talk
about StoryCraft....
From Cynde
Gregory, Ph.D.*:
Well, I couldn't resist
opening the software just for a quick
look--WOW! I'm terrifically impressed.
I've been resistant to the idea of
writing-software, because so much
educational writing software dumbs
everything down to fill-in-the-blank, or
select one from column A and one from
B--in other words, requires no real
thought, no struggle, no creativity.
This software, on the other hand, is
brilliant. It requires active, energetic
participation, it makes the writer
struggle. Terrific.
I will take it to my conference, along
with the laptop....
[*
Dr. Gregory, who has written CHILDMADE:
AWAKENING CHILDREN TO CREATIVE WRITING and
LEARNING CENTERS K-3: WRITING (Scholastic
Professional Books), has also come to the
conclusion that StoryCraft is not only
useful for adults but also is an excellent
creative-writing teaching tool even for
persons as young as first graders. Her
most recent work, FROM BORED TO BRILLIANT:
20 CLASSROOM WRITING ACTIVITIES
(Scholastic Professional Books), is due
out soon. In addition, Dr. Gregory's own
fiction and poetry has appeared in many
literary and commercial magazines,
anthologies, and she's been featured on
National Public Radio. Her classroom work
recently appeared on
CNN.]
Carlos
Torres, referring to the special web-page
of writer's resources provided for all
StoryCraft users:
Just wanted to let you
know that I absolutely love this webpage.
It's been very helpful.
Elizabeth
Konogeris, software reviewer:
Thank you for allowing me
to use and review Story Craft. I truly
enjoyed it. It is an awesome program. I
wish I had more room on the review page,
anyone who has an idea for a story should
use this program. I even have a story of
my own started. ...Your program is
wonderful.
Wanda
Denny:
Thank you so much for your
prompt reply. Got everything loaded and
I'm up and running. WOW! Pretty cool
software....
Rita D.
Miller, on misc.writing
newsgroup:
To partly return all this
wonderful help I've been getting from all
of you, I want to recommend StoryCraft 3.0
to everyone here who has been asking about
plotting software. I also own
[competitor], but it seems too
complicated with all its theory and
character arc information. It's useful
enough but has a long learning curve.
Anyone can start working with StoryCraft
3.0 right away. The instructions are built
in and come up automatically, and it
builds one heck of a decent outline. It
won't do the writing for you, but it can
help a writer get a good grasp of even the
most complex projects. It takes about
three to four days to build an outline
using this, but it's time worth spending.
For anyone interested in this software,
the URL is http://www.writerspage.com/ The
program costs $79 (about 1/4 of the cost
of [competitor])....
G.:
I have been a StoryCraft
user for several months now, and it has
been immensely useful in helping me
develop the book for a musical I'm working
on (yes, a musical!), as well as a film
project I've been looking into.
Rev.
Morgan Lunsford:
...very great
program!
Bob
Burdick (in response to a reply from our
tech support):
Sir: You are a gentleman
and a scholar. Many thanks from this
lowly, fumble-fingered computer user. All
good wishes.
Jennifer
Harris:
Thank you for your time
and quick response to my problem. Your
company has great customer
service.
Bobby
Quimba:
I am totally satisfied
with the program and have been using it
all day for the most fun I have had in a
long time. My story is already shaping up
and I have visited the site and found it
fascinating. Thank you so
much!!
Diana
Kipka:
I have to say that I am
impressed with the support that Storycraft
provides even to pre-purchase questions.
It only serves to further my resolve to
order the course and program.
Will (aka
KF Oscar):
I'm very impressed with
your level of customer service. I wish all
e-sites were like you in your immediate
help and attention. All the others I've
had to deal with in the last week have
been like pulling teeth and those issues
are still not resolved and all I need to
do with you is ask you for help once and
you take care of it immediately. It's like
all the others have never heard of
customer support. Like I said I'm very
impressed and grateful.... Thank you very
much.
P.S.: I'll make sure and make all my future
writing software needs purchases from
you.
Dawn M.
Wood (she had lost her backup disk -- and
couldn't stand to be without her
StoryCraft):
Hello, I bought Story
Craft about a year ago. Since then I have
had to use the Startup disk on my computer
which erased all my files. I thought I had
downloaded everything onto a disk that I
needed to get my Story Craft back. Not so,
and i miss it dearly. Any chance you have
a record of my order and I can re-download
it??? PLEASSSSE!!
[Tech
support promptly sent her a new
disk.]
Albert
Smith:
...Excellent product, and
I hope to have others buy your
products.
Kenneth
Hankins:
I want to thank you for
the prompt service, and all the extra
things you and other helpers did, to make
sure I was satisfied. That will probably
result in more sales to this customer, and
I look forward to seeing your free
e-mails, to which I have
subscribed.
J.
Irby:
...It is a big help for
people like me. ...Thanks once again,
great product this is.
Joel
Hall:
The Storycraft program has
become a very important part of my
creative process. I want to thank you for
creating the program. It's been invaluable
to me.
C.T.
Atherton:
Thanks! I love it already
and I just downloaded it an hour
ago.
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