Scrivener is a powerful word processor with so many bells and whistles for writers. If you are a writer, you need to invest in this software. I will talk about its writer-tailored benefits and how it is worth every penny. As with all software, it is not perfect, but it is great for writers.
I recently evaluated some of the top word processors writers can use to get their words on the electronic page called The Best Word Processors for Writers. I ended that review by telling you I believe there is a better word processor out there specifically for writers. That’s what this review is all about.
Disclaimer: I’m using Scrivener 3 for Windows as I talk about its features.
There are a number of software programs writers can use for their craft. If you’re a fiction writer, I will be going through some of these great programs you can use for your characters, setting, plot, and a number of other things. Nonfiction writers would not find these programs so useful, but every writer can benefit from Scrivener.
Scrivener is not the only writing software of its kind, but it has the most features of anything I have ever used or seen. Some of these writing tools are online and I will talk about them in a later review. If the Internet is not working, you can still use Scrivener.
Introducing Scrivener
Scrivener is writing software made by writers for writers. It is produced by Literature & Latte. That’s important because they know the kinds of tools and features you can use and greatly benefit you. The best part is that it’s very affordable at only $60 for the program at the time of writing. It works on Windows, Mac, and iOS.
You can use it on multiple computers and iOS. That’s a steel! And if you have other writers in your family, they can use the same license. I recently found out this gem of an added deal. It not only has a place for writing but incorporates all your chapter files into one program.
It also has an auto save feature so you lose any of your writing. There are so many tools and features I can’t cover them all in one review. So, I will tell you my favorite features and why I like them and think they appeal especially to writers.
My Top 8 Useful Features
Why is Scrivener my favorite program for writing? Here are the top eight useful features I see tailored for writers, and there is plenty more where that comes from: they are in no certain order.
1. The Binder
The first reason I bought Scrivener was that I was having a hard time moving my content around with Microsoft Word. It required a lot of selecting text, copying, cutting, and pasting, and every time I did it, it might be moved again.
Not so with Scrivener. It has a binder on the left-hand side that you can turn on and off. This binder allows you to move your chapters and subsections of your chapters up and down according to where you want the material to fit the best in your writing project. The program is worth it for just this feature.
2. Session and Project Word Goals and Counts
If you want to keep tabs on the word count of your writing, Scrivener keeps records for you.. For me, whether it is a blog post or the whole size of my book and the chapters, I want to know how many words I am writing each day and how many words are in each chapter.
If you decide you want to write a 50,000 word book, you can input this information into scrivener and it will actually give you little blue bars at the top of your writing so you know how close you are to reaching your goal for each chapter or the whole book.
Even better than that, it keeps a record of how many words you write in each writing session. This is gold because you can find out how much you are writing, or you can target your goal for each session and chapter. Microsoft Word can tell you how many words are in your document but it cannot set targets.
3. The Inspector
The Inspector has a range of features and tools that are helpful for a writer. Snapshot, which I talk about next, I found on the inspector. You can turn it off for, but when it is on, it is on the left-hand side of the program. I will talk about its features so you can see how versatile it is.
The first icon on it has a Synopsis and place for taking Notes. The synopsis is the same index card as the index cards you see on the corkboard. You can give it a title for your chapter or section and then a brief description on the lower part of the card. This will show up in the corkboard view, which I talk about later. The Notes section below the Synopsis card is for notes local to the section you are working on.
With the second icon on the Inspector, you can place bookmarks throughout your document. The document only refers to the section you are on. If it is an exceptionally long section, you can make bookmarks to move quickly through the document.
Bookmarks also has a place where you can make project bookmarks. Here’s where you can make project notes. The easiest way I have found is to add an internal bookmark under Ideas and use the space in text to make project notes available everywhere.
The third icon allows you to edit your metadata for your document. I do not use this much, but it is available for it helps you to remember what all is happening in your project. You can put custom metadata here, but you can also add keywords to your document.
The fourth icon is for snapshots, which I talk about next. The last icon on the Inspector allows you to add comments and footnotes to your document. You can make a comment for use later and it will highlight the section of text you highlight. Or you can add footnotes to your document with the same area.
4. Snapshots
Here’s another amazing feature found on the Inspector. Let’s say you wrote a first draft and you are about to start a second draft. But what if you mess up everything you had already done? Enter snapshots.
Just make a snapshot of your whole project at the end of the chapter, and of the first draft, or whatever point you choose to save your work for good before moving on to the next major stage of writing.
When you take a snapshot of your project, if you really must set up or just want to go back to the way things were, you can recall the snapshots you have made in your project throughout the life of your writing.
5. Labels and Drafts
You can make your own color-coded labels, or use the ones by default in Scrivener. You can put these labels on each document so you can come back to it later. For instance, I use these color-coded labels to know if I need to come back and write more, edit something, or if I need to put citations.
The labels can show up in multiple parts of the program. You can put them on the binder as dots or to color the whole line of that binder. This makes it easy for even a person like me who is legally blind to see my progress.
Also, it actually has a feature written into it that allows you to designate between your first draft and about four other drafts. You will be able to see each time you have changed something between drafts.
6. The Corkboard and Other Views
Scrivener has four different ways to view your writing project. You have your normal writing mode you would see in any word processor. A nice thing about scrivener is that it has a Corkboard view in which you can click on the chapter and see all the subsections of the chapter as index cards. If you color code each section, you can see those there as well.
If you’re a fiction writer, you can color code your labels to match your characters. Then in the Corkboard view, you can put them on a timeline to see when each character interacts throughout your story. You can use a timeline view if you are a nonfiction writer, perhaps for a memoir or historical nonfiction book.
The other views include an outline view, which might appeal more to nonfiction writers. As with the binder and the corkboard, you can move these outline sections around. There are many ways to rearrange your material to your liking.
Another view I use a lot is the Composition View. It hides all the tools and features ur just looking at a page and writing on it. To the sides of the page, you can set a background or no background if it distracts you. This distraction-free mode of writing keeps you on task.
7. Program Color Themes
The newest version of Scrivener gives you multiple color themes for the program. I love that so many apps are making at least a light and dark mode. Scrivener has a total of nine windows themes. Click on “window” on the file menu and “themes” to see them all. Because I have a hard time seeing, this gives me options on how I can best see what I’m doing in Scrivener.
8. Split screen view
Scrivener has a split screen feature I really like to use when I’m writing a book. You can put any sections from your binder in either of the two panels (horizontal or vertical). I like to put my table of contents or research on the right, and then the chapter I am writing on the left.
Technically, you could open two Word documents and use Windows to make a split screen. But Scrivener does this without finangling windows around. No more juggling your writing section, research, notes, and table of contents.
What Scrivener Is Good at
If you just want to write, write, write, Scrivener will help you do that. But I love the fact that it keeps statistics on my writing, has different themes help me see the screen better, and many of the things I have already mentioned in my list.
The thing is, I am just scratching the surface of all that scrivener can do. It’s an amazing word processing tool for writers. Scrivener helps with more than just your writing. It shows you all kinds of features that would be as individual to each writer as you can customize Scrivener to suit your needs and desires. The best part is that you don’t have to use Scrivener only for writing books or novels.
What Scrivener Is Not Good at
It’s not that Scrivener has many weaknesses, but that it is not usually you’re only electronic writing tool. For instance, if you work with others like an editor, they most likely do not use Scrivener. It’s likely the people on your team use Microsoft Word instead.
Scrivener has a compiling tool that allows you to send your project into Microsoft Word or other word processors. The only problem is that any changes you make will have to be reprogrammed into Scrivener. Like other apps, it doesn’t necessarily play nice with word processors on bringing your changes back into it.
How I Use Scrivener
I use it for writing emails. These are the emails I sent out to my subscribers. It’s nice to have a record of what I have written and sent out people. I also use Scrivener like any other writer for writing books and short stories. It is awesome for that.
I have used it for blog series in the past. I really like the feature where you can move things around on the binder. It makes planning a blog series very easy. That is priceless to me.
There are other things I could do with Scrivener. The sky’s the limit. The most important part to realize is that if you want to keep your writings together, Scrivener does that the best.
Final Thoughts
I’m not trying to sell you on Scrivener. But I can tell you I use it for a lot of things and all of my books. I love tracking my progress and word counts. I like setting up a book and writing within Scrivener.
I didn’t mention it, but Grammarly and Prowritingaid can work right within the software now. Literature & Latte also has a lot of helpful videos that will help you see how to use the program.
If you write a lot, but don’t consider yourself to be an author, Scrivener is still a great option for you. For the money you pay for the software, it will pay off for you very quickly depending on how much you write. I highly recommend it, and it does a whole lot more than Microsoft Word.
Check Out My Other Book Writing Software Reviews
