L.S. Engler

Are you a Scrivener?

L.S. Engler

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I know it’s a day late, but I hope everyone had a truly Happy Christmas! Mine was pretty darn good; I didn’t get a chance to get home to spend it with my family, but I spent it with my boyfriend’s family, which is practically my family now, too. As much as I love the holidays, it’s definitely a crazy, topsy-turvy time, and I find a certain satisfaction in things getting back to their normal rhythm after so long of bouncing from one thing to the other and nothing seeming to go on schedule. I like things to go regularly and comfortably unsurprisingly most of the time (and hopefully that means posting on this blog more regularly, too!).

One of the gifts I received from my boyfriend was a copy of Scrivener, writing software du jour, which was pretty damn cool of him. I’ve heard a little bit about the program bandied around amongst my fellow authors and never looked into it much because I wasn’t sure if it was a good fit for me. After reading through the tutorial, though, I can see how it would be pretty useful once I hit the editing stages of my novels, but it’s inundated with so many features that I started to wonder if I would ever really be able to use it to its greatest potential.

So, fellow Scriveners out there, what’s your favorite feature of Scrivener? What do you find absolutely indispensable? What do you find a little annoying and not so helpful? What helpful tips would you share to a fledgling writer taking her first steps in?

Last but not least, in case you missed it, I’m happy to announce that the debut volume of World Unknown Review is now available! Only 99 centers on Kindle and around 8 bucks on CreateSpace. Come discover some great new authors with this all-new anthology of diverse and lovely stories.

Happy writing!

2 responses to “Are you a Scrivener?”

  1. Lauralynn Elliott Avatar
    Lauralynn Elliott

    I fought against plotting for a long time, but I finally broke down and bought Scrivener because I knew it would help me do it. I like the feature where you can make index cards with your outline, then you click on one and open up a new document and write that scene according to that index card. If you feel like a scene should go somewhere else, you can go to the index cards and drag it to where you want it to be. That’s probably my favorite feature. Also, it has a good character template and place template. I also like the research area. I can copy/paste things into that. Right now, I have a picture of the model I have my main character based on in the research area.

    The thing is, you don’t have to use all the bells and whistles. Only the ones you need. Later, you might want to try other features out, but I would start with the basics.

    The downsides? I don’t like the thesaurus as well as I do the one in Word. I also like the autocorrect in Word, and Scrivener doesn’t seem to have that.

    Bottom line…Scrivener works best when you need stricter plotting, like mysteries and things with a twist, or where you need to remember things. Or if you’re a serious plotter. I’m not sure I’m going to use it for the simple, straightforward novella I’m writing. I’m using it in my mystery WIP, though.

    Reply
    1. L.S. Engler Avatar
      L.S. Engler

      That’s kind of the conclusion I came to, as well. For something like The Slayer Saga, it isn’t much use because it’s pretty straightforward, but it’s going to be an absolute dream for my Aryneth pieces. I think it might be the final missing piece to finally get Serpent in a Cage prepped and out the door. I’m really eager to give it a try and see how I can use it to finally get that book right!

      I’m looking forward to the split-screen feature the most.

      Reply

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