#SCRIVENER VS STORYMILL PC#
#SCRIVENER VS STORYMILL PROFESSIONAL#

I have found this the most effective way to write fiction now since my home office is orientated towards podcasts, interviews, videos, product creation and the business of The Creative Penn. * Write first draft scenes in Write Or Die or Pages app on the iPad which I use for writing in the library and out of the house. My own process for Prophecy has been as follows: Using Scrivener for my own novel, Crypt of Bone (previously published as Prophecy) It was great to be able to see it on the page as I wrote. One memorable image is the Escher print of angels and demons (shown right) which is on the wall of a character's study. I use a great deal of art history in my books so having the painting or image in the split screen is useful so I get the details right. You can also split the screen while you are writing so you can reference the notes at the same time as writing text. You can use these for research or for character sketches, for pictures and other associated media as well as pasting scenes you don't know what to do with (I do that a lot). There is one manuscript/draft folder within your Scrivener project and then there are other folders which aren't compiled into the final document. (3) Project Binders can also hold notes, research, pictures and more so you have one place for the whole ecosystem of your book

There are preset defaults but you can also customize, and there are lots of helpful videos and a forum in case you have trouble. Scrivener compiles them based on how you have structured your Parts/ Chapters/ Scenes and also by how you define the compile and export settings. The point behind Scrivener is that book length works can be complicated and easier to write in chunks, but when you want to submit them you need it in one document. You can also export to Doc and other formats including Latex if you want to format in more complicated ways. This is also great for providing files to beta-readers and for reviewing your book in the way many will now consume it.

#SCRIVENER VS STORYMILL PROFESSIONAL#

I still recommend using professional formatters if you have complicated books or lots of images, but for basic books, you can just use Scrivener.

You obviously need to check your created files carefully but for plain text novels with little complications, this is a no-brainer. You can now create your own ebooks by compiling and exporting from Scrivener which is under $50, which once paid you can use over and over again. If you use index cards, you'll be at home here! (2) Auto-create Kindle and ePub files. I also like the cork-board view of the scenes. There's no cutting and pasting and no huge Word files to manipulate. Scrivener makes it easy to drag and drop the scenes to re-order the scenes. So for the Prophecy work in progress I had all these scenes but it was only in the 2nd edit that I decided on the order they needed to go in. I'm already plotting novel #3 and have maybe 5 scenes I could set down right now, but I wouldn't have a clue where they go in the story yet. I write in sporadic scenes, not in a linear fashion so the final scene is often one of the first I write. If this was the only feature of Scrivener, it would still be enough for me! No, I'm not an affiliate but I truly do believe in the product! (1) You can write in scenes then drag and drop to re-order.

#SCRIVENER VS STORYMILL PC#

Here are 3 reasons you should be using Scrivener (which is on Mac and PC now so you have no excuse.) It's just US$49 and you can use it for all your books, fiction and non-fiction as well as academic publications and loads more. It will convert you and make your writing life a whole lot easier, I promise! I used Scrivener happily without reading the Help (because I hate reading the Help) but then I found David Hewson's ‘ Writing a Novel with Scrivener‘ which I highly recommend. I am now entirely converted and am also an evangelist for the product.

It's been a truly life-changing experience after the dreadful cutting and pasting process in MS Word that plagued my last novel, Pentecost. I used Scrivener for my latest book, Prophecy. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date.

Scrivener vs storymill