Scribbling Away with Scrivener

1078 days ago in Articles by John Fuller | No Comments

If you’re a student, or writer you’ll probably find yourself trying out new word processors and workflows to finally perfect the craft. Often, it’ll include a series of Finder folders and word documents to create an entire piece.  Luckily, a program entitled Scrivener has created a virtual “binder” to organize and simplify the writing process.

When writing a research paper, column, or article, the process will include finding and saving tidbits of research, outlining, writing, and editing. Scrivener makes this process easier and contained within one central application.  There are also many built-in templates and designs for screenplays, comic scripts, manuscripts, taped dramas, and stage plays.

For starters, there are two main sections, “Research” and “Draft”. The “Research” tab allows you to drop images, audio, and documents into it for later reference. You can view this documents later on during the writing process.

The “Draft” portion of the application allows you to outline and begin writing. The way that Scrivener works is genius. First off, you can create sub sections of the draft used for organizing and outlining, and then more nodes off those. From here, you can view the sections in outline form, or by index cards on a cork board. The sub sections are also visible off to the sidebar under “Draft”.

Once you’ve completed the outlining process, to start writing, you select the first section and begin. Each node on your outline is a different page. Once you’ve completed your draft, Scrivener allows you to compile and export the entire document into a Word, .txt, HTML, or web archive file.

There are many other powerful features to Scrivener, including the ability to add references, notes, edit in full screen, and assign keywords. One particularly cool feature is in which you can assign sections as drafts, to-do’s, and multiple labels. Scrivener also acts like Mac OS X, because when deleting sections, it is moved to an internal “Trash”, instead of being completely obliterated.

For anybody that finds themselves writing, Scrivener is a great tool. Scrivener isn’t my only word processor, but it’s the first tool in my tool belt for any writing project.  It has helped me to organize, sort, and plan miscellaneous writing pieces. The research tool, outlining function, and storyboard functionality is something that I couldn’t live without. Scrivener has become an essential part of my writing workflow, and I’d recommend it to anybody who needs it, especially students.

Scrivener is produced by Literature and Latte, and costs $40. There is a free 30-day trial  available for download on their website.