Does anyone use Scrivener or other software for writing and if so do you find it useful? Are there better/worse ways? I like the idea of being able to break down a MS into bits.
Scrivener is very useful for exactly that purpose. It's a great program, and much more light-weight and responsive than programs like MSWord or LibreOffice. Worth checking out.
I tried the trial for Scrivener. It was so alien I immediately retreated back to Open Office. I think it just has too much for me. All I want and need is a program that looks like a piece of paper that allows me to see two pages at once. OO does just that. I don't need any more fancy bells or whistles than that.
I like scrivener, but it needs more. I'm using it now for the index card feature and skeletal work, but that's about all. Otherwise, I use Final Draft. You might also look into yWriter if you don't want to spend the $40. If you use a Mac, scrivener is probably better, but for the PC, yWriter may be better. As for organizational software, I use Freeplane for mind mapping, 4D outline for sketching plot points, scrivener for skeletal work and Final Draft for finalizing.
I'm a huge fan of Scrivener. If you're on a Mac, it's the app to have. You can find my complete opinion on Scrivener here in the Resource area of the forum.
I love Scrivener. Best writing software I've used. I used to be one of those Word purists, but after doing the Scrivener tutorial, I was hooked. Forty bucks isn't a lot of money for a tool that's flexible, full-featured, and never frustrates me. You just LOVE software, don't you? Wow!
Each serves a purpose. Brainstorming an idea usually isn't linear, so mind mapping works out for that. 4D Outline and Scrivener work more hand in hand. I do index cards on Scrivener and place them at certain points in the script's timeline with 4D outline. Final Draft is where I actually write because FD has really nice reporting. All the others are simply design tools. Oh, and I still have Open Office and steam with about 30 games or so.
