Discovering Scrivener

TECHNOLOGY AND I HAVE A TORTURED HISTORY.  I’m old enough to not only remember the computer revolution of the 70’s, but worked in the messy heart of it in Silicone Valley during those tumultuous years.

I am totally old school. I went from using a Selectric typewriter and going to the library if I wanted to look something up, to becoming a software trainer and course developer. I’m last night’s low-tech Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics in Rio, not Japan’s 2020, high-tech, man-made meteor shower. I have to be dragged over every new, technology hurdle, from Windows to the iPhone.

In short, I’d rather use software than learn it.  I scrupulously cull everything in my life that steals my writing time.

So, when I started hearing people rave about Scrivener online, I smugly assured myself that between Word and Excel, I had it covered. I had separate file folders on my desk for each new book, storing all notes and drafts within each. For big picture thinking, I’d tape up some poster paper on a wall and use Sharpies, index cards, and colored Post-It notes to track plot and characters. Word and Excel were my two best buddies – partners in crime! I could outline, organize, work through drafts and rewrites with my editor and zip the final file off to my publisher.

All was good in my world.

But then….last week…I got a wild hair and Downloaded a Free Trial. My little world was hit by an asteroid and wobbled a bit on its axis. OMG! Where has this program been all my life?

After the download, I took a couple hours to go through the tutorial, and spent another hour watching a free Joseph Michael webinar recommended by JJ Gow of OC Writers. Joseph Michaels is the guru for Learning Scrivener Fast. I now know just enough to be dangerous.

Uploading my existing manuscript from Word, I separated it into chapters and scenes, and away I flew! I can track POV scenes while storyboarding on my cork board. I can outline, compose and rearrange as needed, without having to scroll up and down a long, linear Word doc, cutting and pasting until my eyes blur, hoping I have renumbered my Chapters correctly. Research, Character Backstories, Images, and synopsis are all at my fingertips.

And I love the nitty-gritty data you can pull up, assigning a status to each scene, First Draft to Done, and as many steps as I want to create in-between. I set goals and watch the little green bar fill up the box as I complete each session. You plug in a target for number of words, say 80,000 for a novel. Then, enter the completion date you’re shooting for, how many days a week you want to write, and it will give you a target number of words per session. So awesome! Keeps you motivated!

You can also sort by the status of various scenes. If you only have thirty minutes, go right in to one of those incomplete scenes and get to work. More time writing, less time hunting for your place.

The best is yet to come, or so I’m told. I’m only about half-way through my first draft of Book 3 of my Logan McKenna series, Compiling is when the fun begins. It looks like it will be a snap – to any format I choose: movie, epub, pdf, print. I’m just going to have it compile to a Word doc to send to my  beta readers and editor, but if you are self-publishing, you can do it directly from Scrivener – it gives you a whole slew of minute specifications (non of which I am familiar with) for anyone wanting to customize the way their end product looks.

Just like every other technology hurdle I’ve reluctantly jumped, clearing this one has been worth the risk of a few hours time. I’m not an expert by any means, but I’m up and using it productively in less than four hours. It got me through a road block, thinking in scenes vs linear chapters. I can jump in and write anywhere in the timeline I want, without worrying about messing up my manuscript.

I still use Excel to keep track of my timeline, but everything else works better in Scrivener.

Still reluctant to try yet another new software program? I understand, you’d rather be writing than learning menus and displays. I hear you! A full-time teacher and a mother of a blended family with six kids and three grandkids, I have a tough time finding time to write, let alone learn new software. But for me – this one has been worth it. So far, it’s living up to its promise of saving time in the long run.

So, in the spirit of the Olympics, jump that hurdle, and go for Writing Gold!