Scrivener – The Only Writing App I Need

When I started on my journey, to be published, I discovered a package called Scrivener. This is not a sponsored post, I get nothing from recommending Scrivener. I recommend it because it has been the single program which has launched my writing career.

Many blogs talk about Scrivener and how it takes the stress out of organisation your writing. I have to agree. The package is not cheap, so it was a bit of a commitment for me to pay out the money. Occasionally, the company will offer free trials, I went straight into purchasing it.

My initial reaction was, what have I wasted my money on?

Three weeks on and I loved it. I joined the many voices that recommend it.

It takes a lot of work to set it up and learn about the features that are available. I tried watching the tutorials, but to be honest there is nothing better than playing with it. I thought about revisiting the tutorial later, but I can work the package for what I want. I don’t use half of the features, but it works for me.

No matter what system you set up it is important to find a method that works for you.

Read all the advice, but at the end of the day, you have the only opinion that matters.

The application has so many features, here are a few I use regularly:

• Layout your novel;
• Detail your characters and scenes;
• Generally, keep all your writing and research in one handy place.
• Set yourself a daily writing goal.
• Compile manuscripts for many different formats.

I sync my writing to my Dropbox account which is seamless and means I always have a safe copy. Not only that but I can transfer work from my phone to my Mac with no problems.

This year I have started not only writing my novels on Scrivener but using it for my blog posts as well. I was attracted by the facility of storing all my research in one place. It also means that my computer is free from bulky files as they are all on a cloud.

Every month I make sure I back all this up to a pen drive just in case.

Data is never completely saved unless you have it stored in multiple places.

There are many applications that provide a similar experience to Scrivener. For me, Scrivener has provided a professional platform to grow my writing. I would urge any of you looking to change your existing writing platform to look into it.

Which applications do you use to write?