A novel writing application using markdown.
This is a variant of the novelibre novel writing application.
This program is intended only as a proof of concept. It is still in Alpha status.
See the development details in the mdnovel features project.
- With mdnovel, extensive novels can be broken down into parts, chapters, and sections.
- You can store data on characters, locations, and items that are important for the story. This includes the optional definition of a viewpoint character for each section.
- All of this appears as a clear and editable tree structure with listed information.
- Summaries can be entered at all these levels, from which synopses and lists can be generated.
- If you choose a narrative structure, mdnovel can display stages (e.g. acts or steps) in the tree. When plotting, descriptions of these stages can be entered, from which mdnovel can generate its own documentation. Prefabricated structural models can also be imported from templates.
- mdnovel also allows you to create and document an underlying structure of plot lines (e.g. subplots or character arcs) apart from the chapters and sections. This can then be linked to the sections of the novel text.
- mdnovel provides a plot grid with plot line notes for each section. This allows you to see the big picture and keep track of multiple subplots.
- To keep track of progress, the word count and the completion status of the sections are displayed.
- Individual chapters and sections can be flagged as "unused" to exclude them from document export.
- You can add information about the narrative time and duration to each section. If you enter a date, the day of the week is displayed. You can also call up the age of characters that are assigned to a section. The date and time information can be synchronised with dedicated timeline software.
- For printing, mdnovel exports a neatly designed novel manuscript that can be converted with pandoc into several document and ebook formats.
- mdnovel saves its data in a single, easy-to-understand Markdown/YAML-formatted text file.
- mdnovel is written in Python and should run on several operating systems, like Windows and Linux.
- The application is ready for internationalization with GNU gettext. German translations are provided.
- All section content in mdnovel is Markdown-formatted.
- mdnovel comes with a Markdown section editor. The user is not supposed to export the text for editing.
- mdnovel saves the project in a YAML/Markdown based file format instead of the XML based .novx format.
- There is no connection with OpenOffice/LibreOffice.
- Document export is in Markdown or csv format.
- New project can be created from Markdown-formatted Work-in-progress or outline.
- Windows or Linux. Mac OS support is experimental.
- Python version 3.6+.
- For current Windows versions, use version 3.9.10 or above.
- For Vista and Windows 7, use version 3.7.2.
- Linux users: Make sure you have the python3-tk package installed. To see the tooltips, make sure that you have the idle3 package installed.
- Users may want to install pandoc for processing the exported documents.
Download the latest release mdnovel_v0.3.1.pyzw
- Launch mdnovel_v0.3.1.pyzw by double-clicking (Windows/Linux desktop),
- or execute
python mdnovel_v0.3.1.pyzw(Windows), resp.python3 mdnovel_v0.3.1.pyzw(Linux) on the command line.
Many web browsers recognize the download as an executable file and offer to open it immediately. This starts the installation.
However, depending on your security settings, your browser may initially refuse to download the executable file. In this case, your confirmation or an additional action is required. If this is not possible, you have the option of downloading the zip file.
The package is also available in zip format: mdnovel_v0.3.1.zip
- Extract the mdnovel_v0.3.1 folder from the downloaded zipfile "mdnovel_v0.3.1.zip".
- Move into this new folder and launch setup.pyw by double-clicking (Windows/Linux desktop),
- or execute
python setup.pyw(Windows), resp.python3 setup.pyw(Linux) on the command line.
See the help pages
- The logo is made using the free Pusab font by Ryoichi Tsunekawa, Flat-it.
This is Open Source software, and mdnovel is licensed under GPLv3. See the GNU General Public License website for more details, or consult the LICENSE file.