Software for writers Skribisto. Good intentions and little else.

Skribisto is a program for creative writing

The supply of software for Linux is uneven. In some areas there is an abundance of supply that does not correspond to the demand and, in others, the shortage is desperate. The writing software category is an example of the former.

It is likely that if you are not interested in creative writing, you wonder about the need for specific programs when a word processor is enough. The point is that a novel is not written in the same way that it is read.  The author has to make sure that the narrative is coherent. As one of the great Russian writers said, if a revolver appears in the first chapter, he has to shoot himself before the last.

programs for creative writing are essentially a series of forms that allow you to enter information about the different elements of the novel (Characters, settings, temporary location) and make sure they are combined in a coherent way.

The promise of Skribisto writing software

At first glance Skribisto sounds like a great program.. It was born as a continuation of Plume Creator, a discontinued program aimed at novel writers. But, its objective is more ambitious since it intends to be useful for writers in general.

Each project is made up of items and folders. Each element corresponds to a page.

The available items are:

  • Texts: As its name indicates, it is where the creative writing task takes place. They can be linked to other existing elements or create new elements as you write.
  • Folders: It is where the elements are stored.
  • label usages.

When visiting the page web we find a lot of more features, but it is clarified that many of them are not implemented.

Installation and use of the program

The easiest way to install the program on Linux is by using the Flatpak package. We do it with the command:
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub org.kde.Sdk//6.4
flatpak install flathub org.kde.Platform//6.4
flatpack install flathub eu.skribisto.skribisto

When starting the program, things seem promising. It gives us the option of putting the user interface in Spanish and configuring a spell checker in our language. But, as we progress in the use of the program, it makes us want to return to the interface in English.

Skribisto's user interface is poorly translated.

The translation of the user interface is in many cases literal and is reminiscent of the instruction manuals of the cheapest Chinese products.

The second disappointment we have when we try to enter the user manual. The user manual web page does exist, but like many of the features promised on the project page, it is yet to be seen.

And the manual is a major flaw because the few functions that the program implements such as accessibility features, e-ink support or spell checking are not exactly intuitive, which leaves the program on the brink of unusability.

Other Program Alternatives for Writers

Cany word processor such as LibreOffice offers a much more complete way of structuring texts than that of Skribisto and, if you need something more specific, I reiterate the principle, it is not exactly an item where the offer is scarce.

Some options are:

  • Bishop: Program focused on the creation of novels with assistants for the creation of characters and their participation in the different parts of the novel. It has translation into our language.
  • Manuscript:  This other application is based on the so-called snowflake method (Based on the writing of the key parts of the novel and its expansion in successive stages) and emphasizes the structure, allowing you to easily see the degree of progress.

One of the worst applied concepts is the “minimum viable product”. In theory the idea of ​​not waiting to launch something until it's perfect and learning from the interaction with the public is not bad. But in practice, products that are not viable are released. My impression is that Skribisto is a bunch of good intentions that its creator doesn't have the skills to carry out. and, that it has little chance of finding collaborators capable of doing so.

I hope I'm wrong.


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