Writing Tools Review- How Scrivener Changed My Writing Life
by Ron Estrada
While Super G is off galavanting through New York, doing writerly things and hobnobbing with the big muckety mucks on Avenue of the Americas, she has given me the keys to WI. It is always satisfying when my relentless charm and Charlie Brown good looks lure yet another female into trusting me with her career.
So, we have two weeks to talk about whatever I feel like (unless Super G has internet access and puts the kabosh on this whole thing). Normally, I feel like talking about me. However, since I have discovered several new loves in my life, it would behoove me to pass them on to you. That way, you see, you can be more like me. It’s a win-win.
Recently, I downloaded Scrivener. For those of you who don’t keep up with these things because you waste all your time writing, Scrivener is a “content generation tool.” Apparently they have an attorney on staff because that just means it’s Writing Software. Not to be confused with a word processor, Scrivener allows you to write, arrange and re-arrange scenes, and keep note cards for each scene. There’s oh-so-much-more to it than that, but that alone made my life easier.
You’ll also find sections for character sheets, research material, setting, etc. You can, of course, modify any of these sections to suite your need. It’s also easy to back up and save off RTF format copies, which comes in handy for me, since I use my iPad at work to write during lunch. Literature and Latte, the creator of Scrivener, is currently working on a tablet and iPad version of the software. I don’t know if they’ll charge extra if you already own the desktop version, but if it automatically syncs between devices, I’ll pay whatever they ask.
If you’re like me, you’ve tried a number of writing software programs. All have fallen short for me, and I always revert to Word. This time, however, I’m sticking with Scrivener. It has greatly improved my productivity and made organizing my book much easier than I could have imagined with any other software. Scrivener does not claim to make you a better writer or generate ideas–I don’t trust any software that claims to take the place of talent–it just gives you great tools to keep you organized so that you can devote more time to your craft.
You can download a free trial copy or go ahead and buy it for $40. A steal as far as I’m concerned.
By the way, there is a Scrivener users community on Google +. Not on Google +? Ummm…we need to talk. Stick around.
