Plottr Reviews

Summary: I've loved using Plottr for the ease of seeing all my scenes laid out, and being able to see problems with my plot that I might not otherwise have seen without Plottr's features.

Positive: Plottr is helpful in so many different ways! I bought Plottr for the main benefit of seeing my story mapped out and being able to easily rearrange scenes, and that is incredibly useful. However, what I've found even more helpful is being able to isolate scenes in the timeline based on characters, locations, POV, etc., so I can notice things I wouldn't have otherwise. For example, I realized that my main character's best friend didn't appear until the middle of the story, that five scenes in a row took place in the same room (not exactly dynamic), and that alternating POV simply did not make sense.

I also love the "Notes" section, being able to include pictures in the tags, and the fact that it can export so easily to Scrivener!

Negative: No cons with Plottr itself. The only thing I would like to see is an option to see all the media associated with a particular tag. For example, being able to see all the scenes, notes, and locations associated with a character in one place.

Summary: A very well crafted tool and a must have for Plotters and Plansters. Very easy to use and can run in the background when you're writing so you can glance at where you are in the story. Can easily be edited at any time.

Positive: * Easy to use
* A lot of different templates are available
* Ability to create your own template
* Different options to view your plot outline
* Easy to read and lay out
* Tabs with templates available for character and location planning
* Can be exported to Scriviner
* Can break the plot down into Acts, Chapters, Scenes/Beats, or custom.
* Very easy to add new points/scenes/chapters, even halfway through the story

Negative: * Sometimes it errors when saving
*Character and Location guides didn't export to Scrivener properly

Summary: It's easy to use, organizes characters and helps keep the pace moving ahead appropriately. easy to customize to the writer's style needs.

Positive: Plotter gives the writer the options of writing templates to keep the pace and story line on track. Also keeps an easily accessible record of characters when writing a series. Is easy to use for those of us who are a bit techno challenged. It's clear and the color options for the screen items makes it easy to find what you're looking for. I'm impressed.
Plotter let me make my own writing template.

Negative: I like to use Romancing the Beat and Save the Cat writing templates and the version I have does not have Save the Cat so I had to make my own template.

Summary: My overall experience has been very positive. Even my one experience with customer service that ended up being user error was addressed quickly.

Positive: With Plottr, as simple as it may seem, my favorite feature is the color-coded plot timeline. I have used many applications, and while they are all good at what they and benefit you, none have benefitted me personally as much as the versatility of Plottr's timeline and its ability to be altered, rearranged, and personalized with templates. When I first started using it a few months ago, it helped me locate and fix three plot holes I didn't know existed until I saw each plot point laid bare before me. I am more confident in my writing as a result.

My second favorite part is the ever growing list of templates for characters, locations and story structure. These have allowed me to practice with a few different varieties and find the style that allows me to be the most productive. I am extremely grateful for these tools.

Negative: My only concern with Plottr is not always understanding how to use a feature as Im a very literal person. However, they do address a lot of these features with occasional guides and live videos for new features. As I'm still new to Plottr, I'm sure there are even more tools to help users learn the ropes, and I'm just still discovering them. So this may not be an actual con, but user error as I learn the ropes.

Summary: I'm a visual learner so having all these tools in one program make for productive plotting sessions and also keep me on track throughout the book. The export to Scrivener feature ties my primary writing program to this plotting tool with ease.

Plottr is a powerhouse of a program that stays in its lane. Every upgrade that has been developed has enhanced my ability to work with a PLOTTING tool rather than this tool trying to expand and take the place of another program. I love that!

Positive: I love how Plottr offers a wide variety of well-known method templates to choose from when creating my inspirational romance novels. Each template includes an "expectation description" in the topmost box so I know exactly where my characters are in their journey by chapter and the information I need to reveal or conceal.

Also, the Character development templates are wonderful! Each character page allows a photo and description. The sidebar of each page also allows me to add other characters in the book and the relationship they have with the character in the template.

The "Tags" feature offers color coding for characters, scenes, plot points, etc. I create the tag for my needs, they are not pre-prepared, generic tags. All the color codes appear in the Outline section so I can see at a glance where I might need to bring in a character or conflict.

Negative: The only issue I have with Plottr is finding my way between the file I'm working on and the "home" page of my projects. I find my way around, but it's not a very intuitive journey.

Summary: I’ve unlocked the power of my stories with the Plottr Plotting App! A revolutionary storytelling platform assistant designed to create and edit story structure. View your story in three different view modes, or focus in on one chapter at a time. Plottr extends the capability to revise or create from a plethora of story structure templates in various genres. The story building and character building features are abundant, but revise them to suit your style. It boasts capabilities of helping you discover and fill-in plot holes, export to Scrivener, and eBook exporting. This software is rife with useful bells, whistles, and features that even pansters could use. Maintain your writing autonomy and check out this software. You owe it to your story!

Positive: The story structure templates and ability to revise, or develop my own templates;
The three view modes;
The ability to view everything exactly the way I write a story;
Once learned, it's smooth sailing!!

Negative: I only have two concerns:
1. It was a little difficult to begin using when first starting out. Needs clearer instructions.
2. Offline mode needs to be offered with both pricing plans.

Summary: I love it and wouldn't know what to do without it. Love the helpful videos when new functions launch.

Positive: All my plot is in one easy place. I use it daily and am so glad I moved away from an Excel sheet.

Negative: Doesn't automatically save all the time. If I cut and paste, it freezes and won't let me paste. Not all issues have been sorted for Mac.

Summary: Overall, Plottr is the best software I’ve bought to date. It’s actually helpful. It’s easy to use and does everything it promises to do.

Positive: My absolutely favorite thing about Plottr is the timeline. As a dedicated pantser, I find the timeline really helpful in my outlining process. The fact that I can customize the box colors is a bonus. I also really love that the series view where I can list all books on one place.

Negative: One thing I’ve not been able to figure out is the character sheets. I’d like to be able to specify which characters are in which book or if they’re the main character or side characters.

Summary: My journey of finding the perfect plotting method stopped when I discovered Plottr. It's easy to use and versatile so I can use it to plan my newsletters and anything else I need to plan. Highly recommend!

Positive: I'm an independently published author of 10 books. I was a discovery writer for half of those and for the past 5, I've tried various methods of outlining as recommended by other writers. But none of them clicked for me. Until now. Plottr has me completely hooked and I don't ever see myself changing (hence, buying the lifetime membership). I'd always thought of plotting to be as exciting as marketing, but Plottr changed that!

Negative: So far, I cannot say I've found a single thing I don't like.

Summary: I'm really pleased with the possibilities of using Plottr. It helps me plan the overall structure of my novel, and I really like the various templates available.

Positive: I've only used Plottr a little, but I can tell it will be really helpful for writing my historical novels. I'm especially excited about the Timeline, which I've used to create an actual timeline of key events related to my next novel. I plan to add my plot structure and will be able to see at a glance what world events might affect my characters at each point in the novel.

Negative: No complaints at this time. My biggest struggle is choosing which template to use for plotting my novel.

Summary: If you’re a plotter, this platform is for you. If you’re a pantser, this platform is also for you. I really think it offers something for everyone.

Positive: I absolutely love the Plottr platform. It has everything that I need to keep all of the details of a standalone novel or a series in one place. It’s not overwhelming with a lot of graphics and work sheets. It’s to the point and you can make it as complex for minimal as you want to. I’ve always largely been a pantser, but to be honest with you, the key for me to getting anything done is having a decent roadmap from beginning to end. This platform speaks to that part of me that doesn’t want to be working on an eternal outline, I just want to nail down my major plot points, and then go. And it’s great to have a place to park everything along the way to keep track of it. Love it and recommend it to all my MFA alumni family.

Negative: I really don’t have anything negative to say about the platform. I really love it and it’s been my saving grace when trying to get back into my book after taking a hiatus due to grief.

Summary: Very easy to use with a lot of helpful videos to unlock new features. A lot of care has been taken to provide educational support to make best use of the product.

Positive: I have been using this program for a few years to plot my novels. There are lots of great features, including the ability to create a book bible for series. What I love about it is that you can use it in many different ways. I'm a plotter, but I don't plot in super great depth. This program has all that I need and, should I decide to plot in even greater depth in the future, then I know I can continue to use Plottr and exploit additional features.

Negative: The only complaint I had was the inability to change main characters within a series but this has since been addressed.

Summary: Really helps get your thoughts together early in either the writing process or the editing process. Usable on all devices but limited visuals on the smaller screens.

Positive: This is great tool to organize your thoughts and get them setup for writing! The timeline feature on a computer work well to show a lot of information all together.

Negative: The timeline does not work on the phone app as well due to the small screen size.

Summary: You may need just a few minutes to poke around the tool or watch one of their many tutorial videos to get a feel for how it works, but in very little time you'll be cranking out an outline with your desired level of detail, and faster than you might expect.

Plottr can do the barest of bare bones outlines, or can house a tremendous amount of detailed info. If you make use of tags, and link characters/locations/etc to scenes (which you are not pushed into doing) it's very easy to search/filter on those things.

I am not a natural outliner, and have struggled with every other approach I've tried. Plottr makes it reasonably simple to create an outline flexible enough to capture timeline, non-scene backstory, flashbacks, and related details for all scenes, characters, and locations, in such an easy to reference and edit manner, without becoming a giant mess.

Positive: The interface is simple yet featureful, has attractive and functional use of color, is very flexible, and has been fast and reliable during all the time I've used it.

It does not force you into a particular workflow. I have several "plotline" elements added, but one of them is just dates, another is for indication of structural beats, etc. You can utilize adding a new plotline in any way you can think of, or base it off one of the (customizable) template.

There are numerous ways to visualize your timeline\outline, each of which seems like it would appeal to folks who have different types of workflows.

Once the general approach of the tool "clicks" for you it becomes second nature very quickly.

As a Linux user, very happy to see it packaged unofficially as an appimage.

Negative: I wish the appimage was a first class citizen.

I also wish the tool was set up to encourage doing all my writing inside Plottr. Everything it *does* do is done so well - would be great to have this be a one-stop tool.

Summary: I love this software! I am in love with their customer support. Emails are answered within 3 days or less. Most problems get solved quickly. Suggestions for new features are easy to submit and discussion is open. I have never had an experience like this in any software I've ever used. I feel like the developers listen to me and my ideas are important to them.
The software is very easy to learn and use. I was up and running within an hour or two. I love how creative I can be with customization. I use Plottr for projects other than writing as well, when I need to lay out a series of steps. It's really fun for me to use!

Positive: I love being about to put details about my characters with pictures! Love being able to tag everything with my custom tags and emotes to represent my categories. Forms for Snowflake Method and other structuring forms help me with whatever level of detail I need for each character. I actually bought Plottr because of Randy Ingersenman's endorsement because I am a fan of the Snowflake Method. The outline can be as detailed as I need and the new Acts feature is awesome! Easy to move my chapters and scenes into the act needed. The Settings let me lay out all my places. I love the color coding, the forms provided and the ability to make and share my own! And, I can print it to .docx format and have a ready document to refer to for each project. Versatile and useful! I highly recommend this software! And, there is usually a nice discount for those of us who participate in National Novel Writing Month!

Negative: I wish I could save my custom tags across projects without having to delete stuff. That's really the only thing I don't like, but it's easy to save an existing project under a new name, so not much hassle to do.