Scrivener Writing Software Review
Scrivener (pronounced in three syllables) Writing Software offers a neat way of solving the quantity vs. quality problem experienced by most NaNoWriMo participants. The volume of words produced inevitably leads to large sections that will never be worthy of publication. Scrivener’s “Dust Bin” file function lets you select offending text and save it to a Dust Bin document located below your draft where it will remain a part of your total word count.
Ease of Movement
The program’s Scrivenings mode lets you move between a part of your document to the whole for drafting and editing. The font and style you like for drafting and editing can be changed when the project is compiled for submission or publication. And everything you need is in the Binder at the left of the screen: Each scene or chapter document, all of your research, and templates about characters, settings, and more.
For planning and organizing there is a Corkboard and an Outliner. Both let you see the overview and detail of your writing project and make it easy to move parts around. Scrivener also provides the standard scriptwriting features and lets you export the script to Final Draft upon completion. The software even lets you use MathType equations and LaTeX documents with MultiMarkdown.
Word and Character Count
At the bottom of every screen is a live word and character count. You can set session targets for your writing as well as track overall progress toward the finish line. Every hour or before making major edits, you can take a “Snapshot” and use a split-screen view to compare before and after versions. And Scrivener offers a customizable full-screen environment to remove every distraction.
Scrivener’s feature set puts this writing software at the top of most lists for Mac and Windows. Normally priced at $59.99, it is available for National Novel Writing Month (NaNo) for 20-50%off. Be sure to check out the Nanowrimo “offers” to see current promotions.
This writing software offers everything the writer could desire. I have used Scrivener for years and have never been disappointed.
Learn more from the Literature and Latte website.
Don Cram and his wife, Carol, live in a suburb of Albuquerque, New Mexico near their four adult children and grandchildren. Don and Carol teach in neighborhood schools where they are known as educational innovators. Carol with iPad use in the classroom and Don with multimedia iBooks for his students to use. Don has written articles for education journals and has been a popular speaker. He is currently writing a series of fiction books based on the adventures of three sisters: the oldest in Romantic Adventures, the middle sister in Paranormal Romance, and the youngest in Young Adult Speculative Fiction. Don has degrees in science, theology, and education.
This article first appeared in 10/31/2013 on the Book-in-a-Week website.
This was very helpful. I have heard about Scrivener before but wanted more information. Also this I didn’t know about the free month long trial. thank you Don.