CNET Editors' review
Scrivener is an excellent, idiosyncratic app for creating and managing complex writing projects, whether you're trying to write a novel, play, TV show, or magazine feature. No simple word processor, Scrivener is a full authoring tool, using a metaphorical "three-ring binder" interface that helps you organize draft text and research documents into a simple system for writing, revising, and rearranging text.
While the basics of Scrivener's interface are intuitive--the system of folders, documents, and index cards on a virtual corkboard--you'll need to invest some time and effort to fully understand all of its features, including flexible output options, "snapshots" for handling revisions, a potent outlining tool, full-screen editing mode, and an exhaustive system for keywords, labels, and the like. Thankfully, Scrivener has a feature-summary video, a built-in tutorial, a responsive developer, and an active and enthusiastic user community. Scrivener also now supports a couple of new formats--Final Draft's FDX and Write Room's WS--so you can easily move files from those applications. The price tag might seem steep given the ubiquity of free and cheap text editors, but Scrivener is an exceptional tool built for a particular task.
Publisher's Description
From Literature & Latte:
Scrivener is a project management and writing tool for writers of all kinds that stays with you from that first, unformed idea all the way through to the first - or even final - draft. Outline and structure your ideas; take notes; storyboard your masterpiece using a powerful virtual corkboard; view research while you write; track themes using keywords; dynamically combine multiple scenes into a single text. Scrivener has already been enthusiastically adopted by best-selling novelists and novices alike. Outline. Edit. Storyboard. Write.
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All versions:
5.0 starsout of 42 votes
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Current version:
5.0 starsout of 3 votes
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My rating:
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Results 1-3 of 3
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"complete writing toolkit"
Version: Scrivener 2.0b
Pros
Puts many useful tools in your hands. Revising, restructuring, creating visual representations, and accessing your research become easy rather than tedious. Version 2 has many improvements.
Cons
Nothing (and this is after more than 2 years with V 1, and a month with 2.0.
Summary
Its usefulness increases exponentially with project size. For a 2000 word piece of short fiction, well, maybe it doesn't give you much you can't get with an ordinary word processor. But when your project starts to grow, or to have chapters . . . then Scrivener lets you do things easily that would be an enormous headache with any other tool.
My first published fiction was written on a DEC VMS editor, then I moved to dedicated word processors and then to Scrivener. So I've tried writing with tools not really meant for creative writing, moved to those that did it OK, and ended up with one that does it superbly. -
"Thoughtful, practical, versatile, one-of-a-kind"
Version: Scrivener 2.0b
Pros
This is created by writers and it's for writers. It's remarkably versatile. It works for a vey wide variety of writing: novels, long books or legal briefs, or even structuring presentations. Or loosely drafting half-cooked ideas.
Cons
I cannot think of a single negative. Even the price is a steal for all that this offers.
Summary
It doesn't get much better than this. How often do you find software that has carefully considered every aspect of its purpose and has found creative solutions? That's what you get with Scrivener. Plus, the nicest developers. This is a joy to use.
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"No better software for complex writing projects."
Version: Scrivener 2.0b
Pros
Extremely flexible, very powerful, extremely convenient to use. Unusually pleasant to use as well.
Cons
Just complex enough to be a bit unsettling at first glance, though a bit of study handles this nicely.
Summary
As I wrote above, it's very flexible, powerful, convenient, and pleasant to use. For some it will simply be the writer's best friend.
Results 1-3 of 3
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