Liquid Story Binder version 3.01

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Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 4539

Posted by stephenz
2005-11-03 09:53:39

We often speak of the ultimate writing tool in this forum. One of the few applications that I’ve seen that actually tries to achieve this goal is Liquid Story Binder. It is now out in version 3.01, with significant updates and even philosophical changes from the previous version. Learn more here:

http://www.blackobelisksoftware.com/Features.htm

What the developer, Jesse Wall, has done here is really very ambitious. Here is essentially how it works: You are allowed to create several different types of items to manage your writing project. These are:

1. Chapters or articles - full RTF documents that you compose in a very nimble editor.

2. Outlines - really just lists of items, which you can indent to create a hierarchical structure. Each outline resides in its own window. They do not include labeling, but you can color code each item in the outline. As of now there is not integration with the chapters. The outline simply serves as a handy way to work on structure, or provide yourself with a list of things to remember while creating your work. You can add as many outlines to your project as you like, so you can create one for each chapter. Or use one to list topics, another to list themes, another for a list of sources… whatever.

3. Notes - Add as many notes as you want to your work in smaller pop up windows.

4. Images repository

All of these elements are organized in a chapter tree, which is very similar to most of the tree-based information managers we’re familiar with. You create headings under which you can store the various elements of your project. So you can have a heading for your drafts, with sub-headings for each chapter. Under the chapter sub-heading, store your chapter document, notes for that chapter, an outline of what you want to cover for that chapter and a place to store your images.

The program also provides automatic backups, so you can revert to previous drafts if you choose.

All in all, it is very ambitious, and, for the most part, works very well. It could stand some refinements. As I said, the outlines are separate and not connected to documents or notes. Clipping information into the notes could also be facilitated somehow—now you just have to rely on cut and paste the old fashioned way.

But these quibbles aside, I find LSB to be a very intriguing writing tool. At $45, it is a bargin, too. If you checked it out in version 2 and were not that impressed, I think you might like to check it out again.

Steve Z.

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