Christopher di Armani Interview - 7/7/2006

Christopher di Armani is the creator of The Working Writer and owner of Dolphin Software Solutions.

Carl Hose: I’ve followed The Working Writer for a few years now, and even in its early stages, the program was at the top of its class. I’ve just started looking at the most recent version and comparing it to other manuscript-tracking software, and The Working Writer is still at the top of its class. What’s kept you at it for so long?

Christopher di Armani: Given the nature of computers and programming, you can never have a "perfect program", so there is always a bug to fix, always a new feature to add or upgrade. And of course there are the people who have bought and supported The Working Writer every step of the way. That's who drives the continuing development of the software. I also use the software for tracking my own writing, so continuing the development is a natural. Being a programmer by day and a writer by night, the natural thing for me was to design and build a tool that would be useful to me. If someone else finds the software solves a problem for them too, hey, that's a great bonus.

Carl Hose: The Working Writer is a comprehensive set of writing tools designed for the business end of writing, but it also includes a couple of components aimed at sparking creativity. Did you start this project with a complete vision in mind, or were the various components (some not seen in other programs) ideas that cropped up along the way?

Christopher di Armani: Hardly! No, the software started back in about 1995 as a tool to track my own writing projects. While being a brilliant programmer (LOL) I can hardly lay claim to every idea incorporated in The Working Writer. Some ideas were mine obviously, but most of the really neat things were suggestions from customers who needed the program to do a specific task. One of my customers in Britain was particularly inspired, and over the course of a few months he came up with probably a dozen ideas that are now in the software. The "ideas" file was something that someone suggested and I'd been struggling with finding the correct way to implement. Once they told me what their vision of that was, incorporating it was a snap.

CH: You’re very much in tune with the needs of writers. Do you have a background in writing or as an editor/publisher?

CDA: I've been writing since I was a kid in school, have been published all over North America in one form or another and even have a few writing contest winners. My first novel (a piece of crap) was completed at age 16 so I've always written, whether it be articles for newspapers, short stories, novels or screenplays. I love writing. As most writers will tell you, I'm happiest when pounding the keyboard at 3am, muse on my shoulder, and everything just works. I'm a nighthawk. For me there's no more creative time than after the sun's gone down.

CH: Is there a feature in The Working Writer you’re most proud of accomplishing?

CDA: The reminders function is one of my favourites, but what I'm proudest of is not a single function, but the underlying structure of the software. I built a completely data-driven platform for The Working Writer, which allows me to add new functions very quickly and easily. This also made the current version quite difficult to build initially, but once all the grunt work was done, revisions, bug fixes, etc are really quite simple. To give a simplistic view of what this means, say you want to access a particular function from a particular screen. I can add that in about three minutes by making changes to the data tables that drive the software.

CH: I believe all working writers, whether they write novels, short stories, screenplays, or poetry, should buy some sort of submission-tracking software, but I also believe this type of software often takes a backseat to word processors and story-development tools. Give us your take on why The Working Writer is as essential a tool for writers as any of the other types of software I mentioned.

CDA: The word processor will always be the writer's primary tool. Period. We need some way of getting our thoughts down on the screen, and everything after that is, at least initially, inconsequential. But the business of writing is anything but simple and has so many delays built into it that keeping track of what we've done, who we sent it to, when they're telling us if they're publishing it, and when we're getting paid is flatly impossible to keep track of without some kind of system in place. Some writers are content with a notebook, others use simple spreadsheets, and others require a solution like The Working Writer offers. I don't care what you write or who you write for, if you don't have some system in place for ensuring you get paid for your work, there will come a day where you'll discover there's no food in the fridge and you'll stop writing. I hate seeing anyone who loves writing quit for any reason, especially one that can be solved so easily.

CH: Software piracy is a big problem, so much so that it’s forced some software creators to impose registration procedures to protect their product that can be annoying for legitimate registered users. Tell us a little bit about the time and money that goes into developing a program like The Working Writer and why it’s so important that people pay for the product, besides the fact that it’s illegal to steal software.

CDA: Software will always be "pirated", for a variety of reasons. That's just a fact of life. As a developer, I can't be bothered to lose sleep over it. That being said, let me offer a slightly different viewpoint. If I expect to be paid for the article I've written but I haven't paid for the word processor I use to write that article, do I deserve to get paid? For me personally, the answer is no, I don't. Other's mileage will, of course, vary. My belief is that the universe will only give me what I deserve if I'm giving others what they deserve. As best I can, that's the integrity standard I attempt to live up to.

As for the registration thing, that's a tool to encourage people to support the continued development of quality software. One of the things I despise is time-based evaluation periods because it seems that by the time I get around to actually testing the demo software I've installed, the evaluation period has expired. That drives me crazy. That's why I've always based The Working Writer's evaluation period on usage, not time. On a usage-based system you can take as long as you like to evaluate the software, so if you don't get around to actually testing the software for two months, who cares. You still have the opportunity to use the software long enough to make an informed decision about purchasing it.

As far as the money that goes into developing a program like The Working Writer, my last development computer cost me $4,000 alone, and there's been probably four new computers purchased over the development of The Working Writer. The programming language costs roughly $700 per year for each upgrade, so that's another $7,000. As for the time, it's impossible to give you an accurate estimate, but my best guess would be probably 5,000-7,000 hours for development, testing and implementation. That's not a small committment in either time or dollars.

CH: What other products does Dolphin Software Solutions offer, and are there any products currently in progress that may be of interest to writers?

CDA: Dolphin Software has created a small libary program designed to help people keep track of their books. It's used primarily by individuals, but many businesses who loan books to clients use it for keeping tabs on their inventory. Every writer I know is also an avid reader, and I'm no exception. As with The Working Writer, Personal Librarian was developed to meet my own needs of keeping track of my books.

CH: Thanks for talking to me, Christopher. I wish you continued success with The Working Writer and all your other projects.

CDA: Thank you Carl. And thank you for the opportunity to talk a little about the software and "the life". :)