StoryMill 4+

Storymill has some nice features and is easy to get started with. The idea of splitting chapters into scenes isn't a bad idea (although I don't really use this feature all that much myself) but because all the scenes appear in a big list instead of being able to file them into folders, it can get a little overwhelming when you have dozens of scenes on the sidebar.

The ability to add pictures, notes, links, etc. to scenes and chapters is appreciated, but not revolutionary, as most writing applications have this feature anyway. However, Storymill is fairly intuitive with its click and drag approach, which I liked. The overall presentation of Storymill is visually pleasing and functional. You can colour-code chapters, characters, scenes, and so on to indicate whether they are first drafts, need work or are complete.

The timeline feature is something I was looking forward to getting the most out of, but I was disappointed to find it was clunky to use and not very customisable. Whichever timeframe you choose (i.e. hours, days, weeks, months, etc.) must be applied to the whole timeline, which I didn't like. Dragging events in and trying to align them on the scale is rather irritating as they don't stick to where you move them.

Another thing which struck me was the apparent bugginess of the program. Within two hours of using it, it had crashed five times on me. I did not lose any work (not that I had done all that much in that length of time anyway), but I have read about other people who have lost scenes and chapters through the program quitting, which would make me wary of using it.

Although it's an acceptable enough program, fairly intuitive and easy to use, I really wouldn't recommend Storymill for the price that it is (€39.99). There are better, more reliable word programs out there for cheaper.

I've tried my best to like this app and I have the latest revision, but it is a complete PAIN to use. Even with the latest revision, it's no better than before. Take a simple task, rename your chapter tasks. Right click on the chapter name perhaps? no. click on it? no that opens it up in a new window. No, you need to click it once to switch into it, then click it again to edit the name, simple eh? How about a quick search and replace for a paragraph or two, that should be simple right? no, yet again another bizarre Project Find and Replace option that scans the entire project rather a piece of text you have highlighted. To cap it all, it has just deleted an entire chapter when I entered some keystroke accidentally (and no, Undo doesn't bring it back) and when I close without saving and open again, it's gone! Brilliant, thanks a lot. My recommendation is to stick to the tried and tested Word Processors out there. Even the free ones are better than this.