Writing.Com General Discussion

I personally use Scrivener. There is a fantastic full screen mode which is just a black (or faded black) screen with a white page in the centre for you to write. No distractions. Just you and the page. But it is also really powerful. You can arrange things in folders and sub-folders which can be easily rearranged with the side navigation bar. By default there are folders for your manuscript (broken down into chapters), characters, places, research and a few others.

The most useful aspect is the corkboard. Here you can view the folders as cards on a pin board. You can write a brief description on each one and rearrange as you see fit. I use this for bashing out a quick plot outline. You can then give each card its own board so you can plot individual chapters, etc...

You can import images into the software, which is useful if you have found some inspirational prompt or some image useful for your story. It also comes with templates for characters and settings if you want a bit of guidance in creating those. There are all sorts of extra function included which I haven't used much yet. You can add keywords to files, create connections between parts and add meta-data (and much more).

Some may say you can do the same with Word (or other writing program) and the folder structure in Windows/Mac/Linux. You can even get free corkboard software. What Scrivener does though is bring all that together in a simple cohesive file. Load the software up and it autocaitcally loads your most recent file right where you left it.


I've not used MasterWriter, but I think it looks a bit over done but without the functionality of Scrivener. I tired Write It Now before Scrivener. In many ways they are similar (similar interface and basic functions). For me Scrivener was simply more professional in its design and felt better to me. I don't remember much about WiN.


You can get 20% of Scrivener with the promo code NANOWRIMO. If you complete NaNo you can get 50% off. Get the trial here  .

I use it for novels. For short stories I just use Word as I don't need all the organisational features as I don't plan my shorts.


Thanks,
Matt

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