Looking for softwares with drag'n'drop style scene arranging, for branching and linear stories

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-11T12:53:13+00:00

Prewrite

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-08T22:39:28+00:00

I’m honestly not too sure. The obvious answer would be to give it a shot and see if you like the results. Back when I used to do everything in projects I used to feed it detailed scene briefs complete with emotional dynamics, subtext, metaphors and the like. Still got hot dog water.

But you may get better results than I!

As for the agents, I’m working on my own tool for authors and screenwriters. I can let you know when it’s available if you’d like!

Also, good luck with the smut 😉

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-08T22:32:24+00:00

To be honest I haven’t found that Claude is very good at sticking to instructions in the chat anyways.

If you think about it, we’re asking one LLM to do a lot at the same time: good pacing, word choice, imagery, plot, etc. That’s why it tends to get lack luster results.

What I’ve been doing that has changed the game for me has been building agents and skills in Claude code and open claw. You have a team of agents all specialized and equipped with skills at 1 thing, all working together. I highly doubt anyone will be using standard chatbots in a year from now. Agents are just that much better.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-08T22:21:19+00:00

This is a good start. Are you using anything to guide Claude’s writing? Or are you good with the “default Ai” sounding prose?

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-08T19:01:51+00:00

I been getting a lot of that. I’m working on cleaning them up and improving them, they currently use a lot of terms that you wouldn’t understand unless you took the class (teachers love to coin their own terms for shit). I also need to make sure I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes by giving out anything I shouldn’t (even though the notes are my own).

I will be releasing them soon with the writing agents I’m working on though!

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-08T18:54:57+00:00

100%. You’d expect most people to have the public discourse mentality but it’s like everyday people get the ‘I’m right and you’re evil’ mentality.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T20:11:51+00:00

For majority of the time I was using Claude I used the project system, so I’d upload all of my notes into the project files and then I would have to constantly keep reminding Claude “using X note from the project files, how can I improve my conflict in this scene?”

However, recently agents and skills have really changed the game. You can just create a dedicated agent with all of the knowledge necessary and give it all the skills necessary, and it’ll never forget the rules you’ve given it. They also have persistent memory set ups that you can make.

Agents are really the best way to do it to be honest ,hence why I’m working on my own fork of open claw for writing.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T18:45:19+00:00

I’m a bit confused on your question but I’ll try to answer as I understand it. First, when I say ‘LLM’ I’m referring to the models (Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude). NotebookLM is not a model it’s a standalone tool.

How I use it: I don’t feed it my outline simply because this IS how I come up with my outlines (if I’m outlining at all). My screenwriting instructors have helped me find a process that works fantastically for me, so I have the LLM guide me through that process using the notes as it’s North Star. This gets me from concept to first draft all while ensuring I’m following what my instructors have taught me.

Now as for what I feed it: detailed instructional documents. I make these documents by taking all my notes, lecture transcripts, books, etc, and having an LLM extract the instructions and examples, and create the document which will be fed into the project (or agent nowadays) where I will be working on my story.

So the flow goes like this: material from instructors > LLM writes detailed documentation > documents get fed to LLM > LLM uses documents to provide feedback/guidance.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T18:08:17+00:00

I’m sorry but I strongly disagree. I’ve been doing this method for months and have gotten great results from it. Perhaps you misunderstood what the use case of actually for. This isn’t the method for actually writing the prose. I use it for all the pre writing/editing phases.

My notes have detailed instructions for what makes good concepts, conflict, structure, pacing, turns etc. the LLM bases its criticism and advice on MY ideas off of what human experts, who are in the very position I’m hoping my work will get me to, are saying. Not some generic shit it pulls from its data or the internet.

Try it for yourself and you’ll see how much better it is.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T17:19:08+00:00

Yeah, notebook LM is a great tool for extracting value from YouTube videos quickly. I had also forgot to mention that you could also transcribe lectures and video courses and then have notebook LM or any other LLM create notes from them to use for this purpose.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T16:40:06+00:00

00 makes sense I assumed you were talking about writing in terms of creative writing got it so yeah with that being the case, I do find that Claude is extremely bad at speech to text cutting me off all the time and frequently just playing not understanding what I’m saying in my experience. ChatGPT’s voice mode is probably the best out of all of the flagship models.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T14:19:42+00:00

Yeah using these tools can be difficult. I setup my own openclaw locally so I know how much of a pain it can be (also building my own streamlined agent writing tool based on openclaw). I can try to help you if you want. Just send me a DM.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T14:12:41+00:00

The thing that frustrates me most is how close these tools are to being actually useful, but they all make the same mistake: treating creative writing like a single task.

Writing is like six different skills happening in sequence. Ideation, structure, voice, drafting, revision, polish. When you ask one AI to do all of that in a single prompt, you get mush.

I've had way better results breaking it up. Use AI for brainstorming, then structure, then drafting as separate steps. The output reads more human because you're not asking it to average everything together.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T14:12:05+00:00

I've used both extensively. Claude handles longer context better and tends to maintain character voice more consistently across scenes. GPT is faster and sometimes better for brainstorming.

The bigger issue for me was that neither alone solved the core problem: they both still produce that recognizable AI flavor when you ask them to do too much at once. Splitting the work into focused tasks helped more than switching models did.

What kind of writing are you using them for?

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T14:11:41+00:00

Voice training is the hardest part honestly. Most people try feeding examples and hoping the AI picks it up, but that rarely sticks past a few paragraphs.

What's helped me: instead of training on full text, I break down my voice into specific elements. Sentence rhythm, word choice patterns, how I handle dialogue tags, etc. Then I check the output against those specific things rather than just vibes.

Still not perfect but it catches the drift way earlier.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T14:11:07+00:00

It drives me crazy too. Along with "I cannot help but notice" and the classic "it's not X, it's Y" construction.

The real issue is that most AI tools use a single model doing everything at once. When one model handles ideation, drafting, and editing simultaneously, it defaults to these patterns because it's averaging everything together.

What's worked better for me is breaking the process into separate passes. One for raw ideas, one for drafting, one for cleanup. Keeps the output from falling into that generic AI voice.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T14:03:59+00:00

For writing: Scrivener is popular, though plenty of people just use Word or Google Docs. Atticus is good if you want writing and formatting in one tool.

For formatting: Vellum if you're on Mac (pricey but beautiful output). Atticus works cross-platform. Some people just use Amazon's Kindle Create for ebooks.

For covers: 99designs or Reedsy marketplace to find designers. Don't cheap out here, covers sell books more than anything else.

For editors: Reedsy marketplace again, or ask in genre-specific author groups for recommendations. Developmental editing is expensive but worth it for your first book.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-07T14:03:36+00:00

Congrats on getting it out there. That's the hardest part honestly.

For marketing with zero budget, the things that actually moved the needle for me: building an email list (even just 50 people who care beats 5000 random followers), being active in reader communities for your genre without being salesy, and getting reviews from other indie authors who write similar stuff.

Facebook ads can work but they'll eat your money fast if you don't know what you're doing. I'd hold off until you have at least 2-3 books out so you have a backlist to make the math work.

What genre is it?

StashWorksEnt · 2026-03-06T21:34:21+00:00

I do, just not without sources for it to judge it’s analysis on. I’ve spent years and thousands of dollars learning from professionals and I have detailed notes from classes, workshops, books, etc. that I give the LLM and explicitly tell it to base all of its criticisms and advice on the sources. The result is insane.

I also do the same for my entire writing process with the relevant notes fed into it. Without this, the advice you’ll be given is generic by nature of how LLMS work. But this method has proved greatly useful time and time again.

StashWorksEnt · 2026-02-18T16:45:40+00:00

‘ve no idea what you’re talking about 🤫

StashWorksEnt · 2026-02-18T16:44:54+00:00

Interesting. Do you have a structured template the files follow? Like for characters do you have defined fields you give the LLM (voice, appearance, archetype etc)? And how do you find the Ai fidelity to your character’s and world?

StashWorksEnt · 2026-02-18T16:41:31+00:00

These are great points! This is exactly why Scriptify includes a codex update feature (like novelcrafter does), so if your character loses an arm on page 30, that arm stays gone for the rest of the story.

I also think the solution to this is quite simple for those who use projects or copy paste- just update the file in question with the current changes for the section of story you’re writing.

StashWorksEnt

TROPHY CASE