Scrivener is amazing, but I would love to see cloud capabilities so I can use it on my phone or on my PC separately. There is a $10 app for the iPhone but it is getting mixed reviews. Without Scrivener we would be lost!
I don't think it's bizarre at all. Yes, I can spell well enough but there are always certain words that I don't use often that may have a complicated or 'illogical' spelling. When I write I prefer not to take my hands of the keyboard and go looking up a word in a dictionary is certainly out of the question. Of course, you could just write, ignore the spelling mistakes and fix everything later, but since I usually don't edit anything until after the first draft is complete (in my case at least), there's no way I'm gonna remember exactly where those spelling mistakes were, especially if they aren't marked by the program in any way. Anyway, here's one of my favorite features of Scrivener: The compose window and how you can edit it and make it look almost anyway you want. Change the background, font color, page width - you name it Below is just an example I used when trying my hands on a fantasy story, but I change it up depending on the scene, setting and/or mood. I have a great background picture of New York at night for those dark, urban stories and sometimes I'll go all Doogie Howser with a blue screen with white text Great feature!
I've been using Scrivener for a short while and have to say that I love it. Well worth the price. Now I just need to get on and actually do some writing work. I have an idea but now I just need to sit down and churn it out. Wish me luck .
I have bought Scrivner after reading reviews, and the prompts from many writing friends who say it is awesome. Thing is, I have been using MS Word for so long, that I am used to it. Trying to get into Scrivner intimidates me, there is this massive barrier to entry for me. Are there too many toys? Character portraits, pin board, etc etc. How do I learn a New Trick, when I am an old dog? Reassure me that it is real simple to use?
It is simple to use once you get organised. The trick with Scrivener is to use the binder well, the column on the left. What I do is use a new folder for each chapter and a new document for each scene in that chapter. If you start like that you will have the base of your project right. You can then begin to use the other bits as you discover them.
Alternatively - it may not work for you. I spent... not that long, but probably a couple weeks trying to use it, and I think I figured it out pretty well, but it just wasn't useful for the way I write. I don't keep massive files of all the details of my characters, I don't zip around with time lines and writing out of order and outlines and the rest of it... so the extra stuff Scrivener offers isn't useful, for the way I write. Now, maybe the way I write needs an overhaul, but...maybe not.
Don't forget that you're never forced to use all the features Scrivener has. Start out simple with the binder (the thing on the left where you can organize your chapters/scenes/etc.) and the text editing window, and write as you would do it in Word. Then slowly start taking a look at the other features, one at a time, without rush, and see what you find helps you in your writing. When I use Scriv I never use the corkboard or outliner, or many of the other features. I do, however, use the binder to organise my writing, labels/tags to mark scenes as drafts/finished, and the fullscreen mode for distraction-free writing. Take it easy, only use the features you actually like, and have fun exploring.
Scrivener is wonderful for me. The compiler features are great. I also love the extensive note features - I make tons of notes in my manuscript. The snapshot feature is useful, scene and chapter version control is excellent, and it just generally kicks Word's ass.
I made this a while back, and there are certainly better vids out there made by those much more knowledgable than myself, but I did make this, so if you have any questions about anything I mention... As @BayView has mentioned in the past, those who like Scrivener LOVE Scrivener, and as she mentions above, it doesn't fit every person's process. My video doesn't really go too in depth on the many tools Scrivener has for the writer because I have a pretty simple writing process. My video is more tuned to that initial shock of "what the heck is all this on the screen" that sometimes happens upon first engaging the application.
Anyone knows how to adjust the automatic table of content which gets included if I compile in epub to include a document before chapter 1? Any way I try I end up with this document numbered as 'chapter 1' - which it shouldn't be (should be a custom title). The proper chapter numbers are then all wrong by one. Scriv on Mac.
I have to give Scrivener credit for rewakening my interest in writing. It was a program that suited my spontaneous style well, as it allows the writer to organize in any way possible. Around version 1.5, however, I thought the program began suffering from project creep and got a little too unwieldy, especially when it came to exporting. Since then, I looked for a simpler program and found one. I still have to give credit to Scrivener's developer--he's a writer also--for creating a program better suited to fiction writers than Word. The problem with these dedicated writing programs--and it's true of the one I currently use--is that you need to go to Word eventually, which means you have to keep converting back and forth between your program and Word. It's tedious and can introduce additional problems that you wouldn't experience with a single program. It's worth it, IMO, but I wait for the day when a program can quickly and efficiently import Word with track changes, comments, proper formatting, etc.
You asked just a few minutes late! Wreybies, our Scrivener-on-a-Mac expert, has gone on holiday for a couple of days.
After reading many nice things about Scrivener I decided to give a try. However, I have to say that it was far from being a love at first use type of encounter. I was quickly troubled by the lack of the many useful functions available on Word such as the dictionaries. Scrivener sure has some nice features as it allows you to quickly visualize your characters and your outline, but it doesn't come dangerously close to how thorough Word is as a text editor. I think it can be useful for those folks writing SF or Heroic Fantasy with large numbers of characters and complex plots. I personally write "literature" and not exclusively in English therefore Scrivener doesn't really make it for me.
As far as I can recall the dictionaries on Scrivener where not as readily available and thorough (synonyms, antonyms etc)as on Word. Also, there were no dictionaries for Portuguese nor French, and the system wouldn't let me use accents through short-cuts when typing with an American keyboard. It was running on Windows.
I can download dictionaries for both French and Portuguese in my Scrivener, but they don't offer much more than spelling checks (no grammar). As for accents marks it sounds weird, can't explain that.
Why do people keep saying that Scrivener is a word processor? Just because you can put text into a program doesn't make it a word processor. A word processor is a program with one function: to compose documents. Scrivener, on the other hand, is an extensive working environment. Yes, it does provide a word processor, but it also has several other functions like organisational tools (e.g. the binder and the corkboard) and research tools (the scratch pad, support for opening websites, PDFs, etc.).
But then Word isn't really a word processor any more, either, right? Because it does a lot more than just compose documents. Are there any pure word processors left by your definition?
I've never given Scrivener a go. I saw on Youtube a published writer use it, and someone from an old writing course recommended it as brilliant to organise your work in, however I never went to it, and I think I might have actually been put off it by someone on the forum I'm good with using Word to write in and another Word to plot/make notes in
Its not toooooo bad. Can you use Scrivener just to store random plot ideas in a sort of... holding area? For example, I know you'd have one area per story for research, plot etc, but can you use it to just hold loads of different ideas too, ideas that aren't part of the same story?
