Scrivener
p/scrivener
My favorite writing tool
Ben K. Ellis
Scrivener 3.0 — The go-to app for writers of all kinds.
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16

Scrivener 3 is a major update to Scrivener that not only brings some very cool new features but also improves and simplifies what was already there

Replies
Kiki Schirr
It's a feature-packed behemoth of a writing software--similar to Adobe Creative Suite in that it can be overwhelming, it's also capable of EVERYTHING
Barce

I've been using Scrivener for two projects: a novel, and a photo book. It is helping me with these projects very well. Unlike Word, I can create a section where I can put research notes. Who knows? Maybe Word does have this function but it is a pain to use Word, and you have to pay the Microsoft tax. One thing I really like is being able to synch across multiple devices. I can edit on my desktop, laptop, and mobile phone. If you're working on a novel or a photo book, this is for you.

Pros:

Great templates, places for research notes, footnotes

Cons:

The only other alternative is MS Word which sucks

David Domingues
Why does word sucks in your opinion? It is widely used by everybody.
Ross Currie
"The new and improved Scrivener is available now for MacOS, and is “on its way” for Windows." Damn. I'm pretty sure they skipped V2 for Windows, also.
Jon Moore
@rossdcurrie seriously. Also, not having sync using Drive or Dropbox, and an Android client is also woefully archaic in 2017
kleerkoat
interested to see the “simpler” compile settings. scrivener is almost too powerful, it can be overwhelming to a new user.
Michael Bouso
If we purchase the bundle (macOS & Windows) today, do we get an automatic update to V3 for Windows when it's released?
gerasim_sergey
and when will the Scapple update?
nishith shetty
Look to be great
Avihu Turzion
Looks awesome! But why isn’t the iOS app available at the Israeli App Store?
Anna Winterstein

I live and die by Scrivener since I first started using it years ago. It doesn't lag, doesn't bug, and does exactly what you need it for: provide a space where everything is taken care of and you can just write.

I use it for everything, from corporate communication to personal projects. It's probably one of my top 10 tools that I've ever used.

Pros:

Easy to use, great to organise writing, focuses on the experience

Cons:

None

flyinsaucier
Configuring Scrivener for the first time is like the movie Inception, it may seem complex but once you break it down it's fairly straightforward and easy to navigate.
joshua
Scrivener, despite being amazing and my primary application for planning stories, has always looked dated. That's been my only real complaint, and this update seems to fix it. I'm excited to try it out!
Krystal Marie Nymann

Being a lover of writing I am drawn to experience this pemium new writers epic experience.

Pros:

Its itriguing to me. Im enthused about it and excited for the opportunity of checking it

Cons:

Can something be to engaging?

Henry Fraser

I completed a PhD using older versions of Scrivener, using it every day for 5 years. It is an incredible tool for writing, especially for longer pieces where structure is difficult and important.

Being able to see the overall flow of a piece both in the 'binder' list and in cork board/card format was invaluable. Scrivener's thoughtful and sophisticated UI freed me to write more fluently as and when ideas came, without being distracted by second order thoughts about how to piece the ideas together. I knew I would be able to move what I had written around within the structure of a larger piece very easily and effectively later on.

I rewrote and restructured a number of chapters, and indeed the whole structure of the thesis, many times. Again the cork board, binder and 'snapshot' tools made the work of keeping track of changes and movements an absolute pleasure.

The screen set up with binder on the left, the actual text you're working on in the middle, and the 'inspector' with comments, footnotes and snapshots on the right hand side of the screen is FAR superior to what you get with more basic word processing tools, because it allows you to see and edit footnotes, comments, and the entire structure of your piece while you are working. No more annoying scrolling and hovering with the mouse.

The newest version seems to have a few nice little improvements, the most notable of which appears to be the improvement in interoperability of 'styles' with other word processors.

I can't recommend Scrivener highly enough for anyone who is serious about writing.

Pros:

Customisable UI and use of screen space, interoperability with citation tools, amazing version control, easy to compile to word

Cons:

Selecting a block of text and then creating a comment overrides existing footnotes to the text: not optimal for academic writing.

PC Drew

I wrote my thesis in Scrivener 2 and have written some other documents in Scrivener 3...great improvements! I am spending hours right now setting up my workflow from Scrivener -> Pandoc MMD -> LaTeX so that I don't have to think about it in my future writing projects. It is still a lengthy process to export my technical writing papers (equations, figures, tables, etc) to Pandoc MMD and on to LaTex. It's gotten easier, but I wish it felt like a first class citizen.

Pros:

I love it for helping me structure my writing

Cons:

I still hate that it is still so difficult to convert Scrivener to LaTeX/PDF