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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/838
56 MacDirectory
PROFILE
MASTERWRITER > WRITER'S BLOCK IS A THING OF THE PAST
Everyone who writes knows the supreme
frustration that can come with knowing
exactly what you want to say, but not how
to say it. Barry DeVorzon, CEO of
MasterWriter, experienced that frustration
more than most in his 30-plus year career
as a successful songwriter.
Never one to let a problem go unsolved,
however, DeVorzon eventually channeled
his frustration with writer's block into
MasterWriter. MasterWriter was originally
a songwriting tool that combined a
collection of reference dictionaries with an
audio feature. Introduced at the 2003
MacWorld Expo, MasterWriter was an
immediate hit, taking home the coveted
Best of Show prize.
Never one to rest on his laurels, and
realizing that songwriters "were a small
niche in the market," DeVorzon decided to
expand MasterWriter, evolving it into what
he describes as " the ultimate tool for
creative writers." He got the idea when he
noticed that, "Society is becoming more
and more visual and people do not read
the way they used to. The result is a very
limited vocabulary of descriptive words
since all they are exposed to is dialogue."
Descriptive words are no problem for
MasterWriter. An example of this is out-
lined in MasterWriter's brochure, which
explains, "If a writer is looking for a dif-
ferent way to describe a hot sun, obvious
choices might be blazing, blistering, fiery
or burning. The "Word Families" feature of
MasterWriter will include all those, but will
take it to a more creative level by sug-
gesting an angry sun, a punishing sun, a
merciless or glaring sun. A phrase like "The
angry sun had no mercy" will never come
from a traditional thesaurus."
"Parts of Speech," meanwhile, enables
users to search for descriptive words using
various filters, such as moderate or
intense, positive or negative. There is even
a filter for alliterations.
Going far beyond songwriting, however,
MasterWriter serves all writers.
"Scriptwriters, journalists, advertising
executives – anyone who writes can use
this," emphasized DeVorzon, "This is a
unique, useful software tool."
Compatible with both Mac and PC,
MasterWriter is currently available at