I found out through The Passive Guy's blog that Scrivener, a writing program long available for the Mac, is finally available in a Windows version. If, like me, you're not familiar with this program, you can learn more about it here.
It looks interesting, but it seems like it might be more useful for plotters instead of pansters like me. (I admit I'm a bit stuck with Scattered Seasons at the moment, so I spent the evening outlining what I've written so far to figure out where to go next. Maybe I'm only a semi-panster, which sounds even odder.) On the other hand, it looks like there's much more to Scrivener than a virtual corkboard.
So, does anyone out there have previous experience with Scrivener? What was your experience like? Would you recommend it to others?
7 comments:
I'm thinking about getting this, seems useful and quite cheap.
Ultimately I think we all have to have some outlining capability, otherwise you'd never be able to go the 2nd draft. The 1st draft is basically a very detailed outline to work from.
mood
Moody Writing
@mooderino
The Funnily Enough
I have been using it for about half a year now and LOVE IT! I don't think I would go back to Word.
Mood: I've been known to scrap my first drafts and start all over again. Of course, I was a less experienced writer when I did that, so I'd like to avoid doing that (and writing fewer drafts) now.
Clarissa: I've heard it's good for converting docs to Kindle format. How does it fare with Smashwords' Meatgrinder?
I've just started playing around with it, and it's kind of complicated to start with. BUT the capabilities seem AMAZING. I wish I had it during college when I wrote more papers!
I'm a pantser too, so I also feel like you do. It does seem more useful for plotters, but it is helping me to organize and visualize. I tried it out because I'm doing NaNoWriMo, and they're extending the trial version for a little longer than 30 days to accommodate the NaNo-ers. Plus, they're giving discounts to NaNo-ers who buy the program, which is something I might consider if I end up loving this thing.
I'm trying the NaNo trial. I love it! I'm not a complete pantser, I plan my key scenes but then pants my way to those scenes. I think for a pantser the best way to work with it would be to write up all your scenes under one chapter file. That way you could move the scenes around during your revision process. That what I do even with my limited planning because I don't create the chapters until the draft is done.
As to Smashwords -- I think you would have to import to word and strip the formatting before running it though the meatgrinder. As least that's what I get from Smashwords guide.
Good luck.
I typically pants toward the big scenes I've plotted, so I could see how a program like this might be useful for me. I might check out the trial. Thanks for the rec!
What a pity I'm not doing NaNo this year! I think I may have to check out Scrivener anyway.
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