Scrivener, for those who don’t know, is a fantastic bit of software that helps writers to write. It is designed, as far as I am able to tell, for ease of use and for all types of writers from novelists and short story writers to essayists and scriptwriters.

One reason I love Scrivener so much is that it allows you to see everything all in one place. Notes, character and setting outlines (of which there are templates to help you out), as well as pictures and research, can all be viewed in the binder which runs down the left-hand side of the program.

With Scrivener, you are also able to write your scenes individually. This is something of a revelation to me. I’ve always used Microsoft Word (and still do sometimes) where, having written a few scenes out of order, you have to cut and paste to rearrange your work. This isn’t too much of a hassle, I grant you, but using Scrivener, I only need to drag an individual scene card and then drop it wherever I want it to go.

Once you have written and then edited your work, you can use the compile function which takes all of your individual scenes and puts them all together in the form of a manuscript. You are also able to compile your work straight into a Kindle or ePub format by simply changing the ‘compile for’ setting.

Another great feature of Scrivener is the cork board component, which I love because I’m a very visual person who likes to see colour and order and you can use the cork board to view your scenes as index cards which can be colour-coded. This is particularly useful if you’re using the software to outline your story or book.

Scrivener takes up your whole screen which can help those of us (me) who find themselves easily distracted to stay focussed. It also has a feature that allows you to set yourself targets for words written in the whole project and also in each individual writing session, which is perfect for staying motivated.

Another plus, for me, is that you don’t need to worry about remembering to save your work, as every few minutes, Scrivener does it for you. Of course, it is always a good idea to save as you go so that there won’t be any teary meltdowns later when you lose the best scene you’ve ever written.

It will take a little bit of time to figure out exactly what you’re doing when you first start using the software but compared to some applications the learning curve here is not bad at all.

There is a free 30-day trial available for Scrivener should you like to try it and the good thing about this is that it actually lasts for 30 days. If you install the program and work all day and then close it and open it again two weeks later, it will still say that you have 29 days left of your free trial.

I can’t imagine writing without this software now. I never knew it even existed a year ago, but since I’ve been using it, it’s been life-changing as far as writing is concerned.

Anyway, I think I’ve gone on long enough! Thank you for your time if you’ve read this post, I very much appreciate it.

Until next time,

George

© 2017 GL

Categories: Outlines

Tags: creative, creativity, Fiction, life, outline, people, Plot, scrivener, story, tips, writing