My New Best Friend: Scrivener Writing Software
As I’m finishing up the wonderful writing project I’ve had the privilege to be involved with over the last month, I feel I must share my saving grace:
SCRIVENER
This word processor/project management software for Macs from Literature and Latte is an amazing tool for any writer, but specifically for those who have ever had trouble organizing all the research and background info they have collected for a big writing project.
One of my favorite features is that Scrivener gives me the ability to open up an audio file right next to a word processor file. I had so many interviews I conducted for this project, so it was especially helpful when I needed to go back through the audio files of an interview and take notes or transcribe the entire interview. It really streamlines that whole process, making it less of a hassle.
I had a number of articles on this project that were 2200-3000 words, and consisted of many parts. For example, one story focused on future city developments. I needed an intro and then had four different development projects to break down.
Scrivener’s outline function allows you to not only effectively organize all the parts that go to that one piece of writing, it allows to get a visual layout of all information as well. You can set up your own labeling system for classifying what each file contains. You can easily edit the label categories to whatever works for you. There’s also a place for you to write a synopsis of each file - or even auto-generate a synopsis.
Essentially, the idea for Scrivener is based on an index card system, so that’s what each new file or separate piece of information you enter becomes when you enter it - it’s own index card. The Corkboard view allow you to get a complete snapshot of all the “index cards” you have within a certain folder. Once again, it’s an invaluable visual view that’s hard to put together when you’ve got so many pieces to the puzzle.
The other way that Scrivener was so helpful was the fact that I was able to have the draft I was writing and any interview transcripts/notes side-by-side as I wrote. If I needed to pull an exact quote while compsing my draft, it was right there, all in the same window.
I’ve still got some more exploring to do in the program to utilize it to its fullest extent, but I absolutely recommend it if you are looking for a way to organize research needed for any writing project, or a way to organize all the random thoughts and writings you can seem to line up right.
Literature and Latte offers a 30-day free trial and to purchase the license after the 30 days are up is just $39.95.
43 Folders has a great review of the program as well.
