Ellen Hartman

Last year, I started using Scrivener as my primary writing software. I wrote this blog before the new version of Scrivener came out. I have the new version and it's great. Most of what I said here is still applicable. Scrivener is a robust, powerful software program designed specifically for writers. Sounds great, right? Even better? It's cheap. Only $40.00. You can download a test copy or buy it direct from the website . Here are some things I like about Scrivener. 1. The main window includes (from left to right) a working outline, a writing area, and labeling tools all in one view.     The outline is on the left. You can change the titles of sections, move things, and expand or collapse the outline all while you have your manuscript open in the main window. I create a file for each scene because that provides more flexibility when reorganizing. Here's a closer look. (The outline is really just notes to myself about the scene. They wouldn't make much sense to...

I write because it’s tidy. No, not the process. The process sucks. The writing process is a horrendous disaster involving way too many stimulants (all unhealthy although not, in my case, illegal), way too little sleep, and way too much self-doubt and bad temper. (Plus a little euphoria but I’m on a woe-is-me kick here so I won’t be admitting to that.) The tidiness comes in when I take life--big scrambles of human emotion and chaos--and sort it out on paper. I write romances, so my books have happy endings. The villains get theirs, the hero and heroine get some, and my psyche is at peace knowing that these people, the fictional ones, will do what I tell them when I tell them to do it. Non-fictional people do not respond to me in this way. They persist in leading their own messy lives, making bad decisions, living with ambiguity, and even, at times, settling for settling instead of striving for their Happily Ever After. Blech. Who wants to spend their time with people like that? (Note: ...

One Night Changed His Life Forever Mason Star spent his teens living the fast life on the road with his band. Tragedy struck one rainy night when his tour bus crashed and a young fan was killed. Fifteen years later, Mason is struggling with his own teenage son who wants to quit high school and with the local zoning board that wants to take his home. Anna Walsh may be able to save his bacon but she just might ruin his life in the process. Mason went back toward where he’d parked his black Pontiac Firebird. It was the last thing remaining of his rough living Jersey boy days—he’d never been able to trade it in for a Subaru. He rested the poster display on the hood while he leaned on the car, patting the pockets of the suit jacket he’d worn in the hopes it would make him seem trustworthy. He might as well have worn camo. Just when he pulled out a pack of Marlboros and his silver lighter, a breeze kicked up and he turned his shoulder as he put a cigarette in his mouth and flicked the lig...

A funny thing happens when you tell someone you've written a romance novel. (Well, any number of funny things can happen, but we're only talking about one right now.) Scenario 1: Tell it to a Woman Me: I just turned in my newest novel, His Secret Past . Woman: Really, what's it about? Conversation ensues. Scenario 2: Tell it to a Man Me: I just turned in my newest novel, His Secret Past . Man: Am I on the cover? ...???!... Before you ask, no, I don't hang out with men who should logically be expecting to grace the cover of a romance. They're nice enough looking, but I think if you can model for a living, you probably do model for a living. (Full disclosure: I write technical documentation for a living. You do the math.) That's beside the point anyway. If they want to be cover models, by all means, they should go for it. The thing I think is funny is it's always the men who make this joke. Never the women. Not once. I, of course, have many theories about t...