Powerpoint index cards

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I expect someone has already thought of this, but it's not often I dream about writing so I thought I'd post my idea...

I was dreaming about some software for writers that allowed you to import a picture and add a short caption on top of the image, then play them in sequence like a story book. When I woke up and thought it through, I realised "Powerpoint (or Keynote or OpenOffice) could do that!"

It then occurred to me that a presentation program would actually make a good cheap'n'cheerful substitute for index card programs like Scrivener or SuperNotecard. Admittedly these specialist programs have a lot of extra features, and I wouldn't give up Scrivener for anything, but for someone who can't afford extra software, OpenOffice Impress would be really useful.

You can quickly and easily type your scene descriptions into Outline mode, then play them back in Slideshow mode to decide if they tell a coherent story. And you can use Slide Sorter mode to rearrange the outline just as easily as in index card software.

Of course it's easy to get distracted by the extra features, like the ability to add image, fancy backgrounds and special effects - but that's true of most software.

Still, it's worth a try - I might give it a whirl myself when I have to revise my outline...

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