novelWriter/README.md

novelWriter

This is a reboot of my novelWriter application using Qt5 after abandoning the Gtk3 version now renamed novelWriterGtk. The first usable version is under initial development.

The application is written with Python3 and PyQt5, and developed on Linux. I will try to make sure it works on Windows as well.

Note: This application is designed specifically for my own needs as I work on my projects. I will only add features as I need them. I am trying to make the application as general as possible within that limitation.

Features

The file format for the written text is plain html as generated by the Qt5 text editor. Meta data is stored as XML.

Here is an overview of the core features I want to implement as a starting point:

• A simple rich text editor with a minimal set uf text decoration features.
• The structure of the novel is broken down into individual scene files within chapters.
• A non-sorted tree view for easy navigation between the scene files. The elements of the tree reflect the order they appear in the chapters.
• Scene meta data including POV, character, location, plot and timeline information in a tag-style manner.
• Basic visualisation tools for the novel meta data.
• The file format should be such that version control software can be used for the projects. That is, no binary files.

Future features that will be added:

• Export options for HTML, open document format and PDF (probably via LaTeX or Pandoc).

Dependencies

• python3-pyqt5
• python3-appdirs
• python3-lxml