Whether you are writing a novel, eBook or regular blog, there are a number of great tools for bloggers and writers available to help you along your way to coherent, highly readable content. In today’s tools, tips and resources article, we take a peek at Scrivener – a tool to assist with all manner of writing needs.
How does it work?
Scrivener is a software program that you purchase with a one-time fee. It is available for Mac and PC and is a content-generation tool designed to help writers compose and structure documents for the whole end-to-end writing process, including working as a project manager tool to organise your research.
What are the features?
While Scrivener seems to have originally been designed with long-form writers in mind, many writers of all types are using it to help structure their writing and reduce ‘noise’ when they are trying to get through a piece. Here are some of the features;
- Corkboard – an easy way to create a storyboard! A synopsis of every document you create is stored on virtual index cards which you can rearrange.
- Outlining – this feature is great for keeping structure in your writing. You could either develop an initial outline using this tool and follow the plan with your writing afterwards, or use the tool once you have already written something to help make sense of your first-draft structure. If you prefer thinking in outlines and lists, this tool will keep a hierarchical file structure for you.
- Distraction-free composition mode – for all those times you just need to sit and write, but other alerts or tabs on your computer keep getting in the way!
- Edit multiple documents at one time – this means if you are writing a longer text or manuscript, you can temporarily combine individual documents to edit different parts at the same time.
- Statistical tools – you can keep track of word counts if necessary (perfect for anyone who sets daily goals).
- Split screen – for example you could have you main body open in one part and footnotes in another.
- Binders to keep related documents together.
- Snapshots – allow you to edit a document but restore an earlier version if necessary.
Overall Assessment?
If a large part of your everyday work involves creating written content (or if you dream of writing a novel), Scrivener can replace a whole lot of individual tools ( for example Word, Pages and OmniOutliner) and keep everything in one spot. It is a very robust tool for heavy-duty writing (anyone out there got a few digital products on the go?), and allows you to successfully manage the whole project from within one space. Other cool features include different modes for different types of writing – for example, if you are script writing you can select that mode for automatic formatting. If you only write or blog occasionally, you probably don’t really need this software, but it is inexpensive for a one-time cost, versatile and will produce every type of writing you may need.
