Ho. Lee. She-it. Finally, software that allows me to continue my compulsive need to cork-board everything without the wall in my room becoming a “murder board” or an “I’m really obsessed with someone wall shrine.” Seriously, about a month ago I was two steps away from being Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory, and my kid sister thought I was planning some sort of assassination plot. Part of my problem stems from the fact that I’m always thinking, analyzing, and asking, “What If…?” and the other is I’m always working on something. Whether it’s my current game setting, a new article for Pyramid, some blog post, or bit of fiction I’m writing – I’m alwaysworking. That’s just how my brain functions, and I don’t think I’d turn it off if I could, because, then I would get bored. And believe me, you don’t want to see me bored. It ain’t pretty. I start shooting things or sorting things…and really I’m not sure, which is worse. Or gawd help me. I’ll start cleaning. This software allows me to carry my board with me everywhere and work on it on the wherever, whenever. Combined with EverNote (which is another miracle program), and I can work on the go. Scapple lets you add text, pictures, and make connections like traditional clustering methods or mind-mapping software. The only thing I wish it would do that it doesn’t is allow you to add audio or video files and make connections between those (so hey, Literature & Latte guys – get on that!). Overall, it’s very useful and I highly recommend it for anyone who does any sort of creative planning. From an RPG designer perspective, I can’t help but wonder how useful this would be in the forward creation of a game book. You can purchase Scapple directly from the Literature & Latte site and for a mere $15, you have your own copy of this handy software.
