One of my resolutions for 2016 is to finish a preliminary draft of my fantasy novel, titled (for now, at least) Raven Grey and the Relics. To help hold myself accountable, I’m publishing monthly updates on my progress.
This month, I’m pleased to announce I’m finally giving Scrivener a try. Well, at least for the free 30 day trial!
Some authors I know swear by software like Scrivener, others simply stick to Microsoft Word, others still stick to pen and paper or dictation. I’m still trying to figure out what method(s) work best for me. So tonight I downloaded the free Scrivener trial and am giving it a whirl.
Initial thoughts: That Scrivener learning curve I keep hearing about is for sure a real thing. I whizzed through the tutorial but absorbed little. Trial and error and Googling when needed, I find, will be a better tutor.
My preliminary goal with using Scrivener is to type out and save the beginnings of my manuscript from this humble little composition notebook:
I’m really liking the software so far. It’s certainly way better than a big fat blank Word document with that darned cursor blinking back in your face.
Look, it gives you a cute little cork board to pin virtual index cards with all your parts, chapters, scenes, characters, places, doodles, etc.
Which reminds me, I wonder if work would mind terribly if I used the office scanner to make a PDF version of the world map I’ve drawn on a Starbucks napkin…Hmmm 😉
Happy blogging everyone, and please do comment below with your thoughts on software such as Scrivener. Or really just any thoughts you may be having, related to writing or not!
P.S. It helps very much if you download the correct version of Scrivener for your OS. I accidentally clicked on the Mac OS version instead of the Windows version, and spent a good half an hour figuring out what the heck format the dang software was in. 🙂
As Homer Simpson would say, d’oh.
mosaicca.blog 
I’ve never heard of Scrivener but it looks like a really useful tool. I hope it proves helpful.
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What it requires in the learning curve is allegedly made up for in its organizational strengths. So far, I see a lot of potential with it, but the price tag is steeper than I’d like once the 30 day trial is over. We’ll see! 🙂
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Maybe you could take what you have leanrt and try and organise something similar just using Google drive or something.
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That’s a really good idea, thank you! I’ll definitely devote the next 30 days to it as much as possible, and if it’s not worth the price tag in the end, I really like your suggestion.
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I’ve heard of Scrivener but never been tempted to try it. It actually looks pretty handy (namely the ability to have notes along the sidebar) would save me from having to jump between documents. Update on how you like it after a few weeks and I might be tempted to try it out.
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Will do! So far I’m impressed, if a bit overwhelmed at all the bells and whistles. But those are really what I find appealing about it. As you say, toggling between Word documents can get cumbersome.
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I’ve grown so used to the blinking cursor that I would feel lost without it. I’ve heard of that program as well but keep reminding myself that, “Kurt Vonnegut would never have needed that.” It’s a dumb maxim to live by as I will never be that man, but I try and remind myself that the determination and organization need to come from myself as well.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and comment! You make a really excellent point — I really appreciate the perspective. And you are so right that ultimately the will power has to be internally driven. Happy writing!
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You are welcome and you are welcome. Look forward to reading this novel or the process of it as you go along.
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Hey! I’ve nominated you for the 3 day-quote challenge. For further info, please check out –
http://whyme31.wordpress.com
From- me ! 🙂
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Thank you! I’ll look forward to checking it out!
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🙂
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never heard of this app/programme before, which is really strange, anyway, make sure to tell us if it is any good
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Will do! 🙂
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I haven’t heard of this either! Thanks for posting about it. Do you mind me asking how much it is once the trial expires? I may give it a go too.
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Good luck and congrats on writing a novel!! Way to go! I can’t wait to hear more about it!
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Thank you thank you thank you! 🙂
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You’re welcome! And as for the cost, I appear to have initially misread the website. It says $45, and I had assumed that was a monthly, or perhaps yearly license fee, but so far I can’t find anything to suggest that it’s a recurring cost. I had assumed it would be priced in the hundreds of dollars per year, like a lot of good quality software is. But if the lifetime fee is truly only $45 (which I’d be shocked if that were all), then so far it seems very reasonable!
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[…] I downloaded the free trial of Scrivener the other night, and as much as it definitely does have a not-so-user-friendly learning curve, I’m already in love. For a while — and by “a while,” I mean months and months — my novel’s story line development and world building has really stagnated. […]
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[…] As I was writing to the beats of one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Natasha Bedingfield, the other day, I suddenly felt like the lyrics of one song in particular were spoken just for me as I painfully squeeze out this fantasy novel. […]
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