[Return to the main Romanzo site]

Creative Freedom
Papel was built upon the observation that working creatively has little to do with how many features and functions your writing tool has. In fact, the more features there are in a program, the more likely it is that creativity will be hindered. The creative mind needs freedom to wander, and can be restricted when the rational side becomes concerned with logical tasks. In other words, all those 'power features' in most writing software make the rational mind take over, dulling and even halting creativity. If the creative mind is to stay active then it needs to be freed from continually switching to logical tasks.
Papel has powerful features, but they're used in subtle ways. The focus is on the easy organisation of your work by representing it visually, and on allowing you to change and arrange things in an intuitive and almost childlike way.
Papel removes as much of the logical work from a software tool as possible. You may not immediately see it, but you'll experience it when you use it for writing. Papel is completely free-form in use, and you're instantly reminded of your work in progress each time you return to it.
Powerful Simplicity
Everything is done with the mouse and Ctrl/Shift keys, or with a single key press. For example, Shift-clicking multiple papels selects and moves them, whilst Shift-clicking the workspace allows you to drag it around. Ctrl-clicking a papel then clicking another draws a link line from the first to the second, and you can even set whether the next is auto-selected ready for linking to another in succession. Linked papels can be manipulated as a group for compiling into a another file, doing a word count, or merging.
Some functions are multi-contextual, for example, you can do a word count on a single papel, a linked line of them, or a selected group. If you've set a target word count for your project, Papel will report what percentage of your target the current count comprises.
You need only spend a little time getting used to Papel to see how subtly powerful it is, and how much it allows you to relax and remain in a creative mood. One independent reviewer went so far as to say, "This is the most intelligent design for handling ongoing text projects I have seen in 25 years of computing".
Copyright ©2006 Michael. All rights reserved.