I’ve added a new tool to my writing tool box: Scrivener. After spending decades using WordPerfect and then Word, it was a pleasant surprise to discover a computer application that gives me a big leap forward in my writing.

What is Scrivener?

Scrivener is word processing software for writers. It includes the ability to store research results and organize your story. It works for fiction, non-fiction and screenplays; probably more than that, but I haven’t explored all its capabilities. It is available for Windows and for Mac.

What I Like About Scrivener

First, the aspect I like the most is the cork board feature. Visually, it looks like a cork board with index cards on it. Your chapter headings or scenes are typed onto virtual index cards, which appear on the cork board. Need to rearrange your cards? No problem, just slide the card to a new location.

Second, by switching from cork board to outline, with no effort at all, you have an outline for your manuscript. For plotters, this is a thing of beauty!

Third, when you type your manuscript it appears in a section linked to the index card. So if you rearrange the index cards, the text moves automatically. No copy and past needed with Scrivener.

Finally, the manuscript can be compiled and exported to Word or other programs. Scrivener asks you how you want it formatted and it does the changes automatically, setting up your manuscript with headers, page numbers, chapters, and desired margins. You can print from Scrivener, but most agents/editors are expecting your document to be a Word file, so you will want to export your writing to Word.

What I Don’t Like About Scrivener

There isn’t anything I don’t like at this point. It is a powerful tool, and I’m still learning how to use it. There are multiple features that I haven’t tapped into yet.

It will track your daily word count if you set a goal. I have a feeling I may come to dislike this feature if I don’t meet my daily goal. It also will track you progress toward your projected final word count. Again, this might get to be depressing if progress is slow. These are optional features and don’t need to be used if it creates too much pressure.

Try It

Scrivener offers a free 30 day trail; no credit card information needed. Best of all, the 30 day trail is actual days used, not calendar days. If you start using Scrivener and then don’t go on it for a week, you have not lost a week of your trail, just the one day you used it.

If you decide to go beyond the trial, there is a one-time licensing fee of $49. I probably spent that much on index cards, boxes for storing index cards, and markers for index cards. Now my only questions is: what do I do with the pile of index cards I own?

A word of warning: once you use Scrivener, you won’t want to stop. I started a new project on Scrivener as an experiment. Once I became comfortable with the most commonly used features, I was hooked.

There are many element of Scrivener I still need to explore. For instance, you can create index cards for each of your fictional characters or settings. Put your character’s physical description on an index card and when you need to check what color his/her eyes are, go to that character’s index card. I haven’t used this feature yet, but it seems like a great resource.

Scrivener is software for writers, recommended by writers. Scrivener gets five starts from me!