Scrivener
Introducing Scrivener!
An overview and introduction of the Scrivener app!
Introducing Scrivener! This introduction might make it sound like a newly released product, but it is, in fact, an extremely popular writing app. Likely, many Mac and iOS users are already using this software. Indeed, there is also a Windows version available, and they are currently developing an Android version as well. The Mac version got more updates than Windows because of development problems. When I first wrote this review, the PC version wasn’t very good, but the 3 Windows version came out and it got better. Actually, the Mac version is not updated as frequently as it used to be.
Table of Contents
- Introducing Scrivener!
- Scrivener has its own unique concept.
- The app offers a lot of freedom, but also a lot of hassle.
- Scrivener is an excellent software for writing long documents.
- The downside of Scrivener is that there are many substitutes and it is difficult to use.
- I recommend that you try out Scrivener and purchase it yourself.
Scrivener has its own unique concept.
The concept is so unique that you may regret buying it if you don’t know what you’re getting into.
I have been using Scrivener for a long time on iPad and Windows, but I am still thinking about the concept of this app. In other words, ‘Why should I use Scrivener?‘. Scrivener has a unique concept that differs from MS Word, Google Docs, Evernote, OneNote, Notion, and so on. The above software will be used to create documents, save them, and then collect and organize them in a folder or cloud.
But Scrivener is a little different. The app first creates a project. In this project, you can store not only text but also reference materials and settings related to the text. The app can open PDF files in the document, not just attach images. With a novel, for example, you can create separate documents within the project for parts 1, 2, and 3 of the novel, separate documents for the main character or setting of the novel, or even a collection of references.
In addition, by compiling, we can combine all the above documents and data into one document file. When you print a document that was separate from the novel, Episode 1, Episode 2, and Episode 3, you can print them together as one. So, if you open the screener file in the Windows version, there is a folder.
On Mac, the file is one, but this is probably because the systems of Mac and Windows are different. The good thing about Mac is that it’s more secure, but the bad thing is that it limits what you can do, so it’s treated as if it’s a single file because of the file types supported on Mac, but on Windows, it’s a folder because the system is different.
The app offers a lot of freedom, but also a lot of hassle.
In fact, there’s probably a reason so few apps have this concept…
It’s a pretty novel concept when you look at it this way. But the part I kept thinking about was the “why”. Because even if it’s not necessarily MS Word, Evernote or OneNote is enough to manage your documents, and the features are not inferior at all. Scrivener is a fairly heavy program in the Windows version, but I don’t feel slow at all while using the previous software.
And we can also synchronize Scrivener via Dropbox, etc. But for synchronization, there is no other app like Evernote. I know a novelist who just uses Hangul(Korean Word Processor) when he works, and when I ask foreign novelists what programs they use, many of them don’t even use a scrivener. It literally feels like using things that suit their tastes.
I use not only Scrivener but also Evernote and OneNote. To be honest, I don’t really feel like Scrivener suits me either. So, at first, I regretted it a little after purchasing it. However, I understood the concept of Scrivener by looking at foreign blogs and saw a lot of how-to guides, so I tried it. Now let’s write about the pros and cons of sifters.
Scrivener is an excellent software for writing long documents.
One benefit of a scrivener is the compilation capabilities mentioned above. When writing a novel in MS Word, you may have multiple files for chapters. However, Scrivener allows you to have all chapters in one project, making it simple to manage and compile into one article.
In Korea, writers commonly publish their web novels serially on Naver web novel and Kakao series(Korean Web Novel Site), so this is not emphasized. However, in many countries, many writers aim to create their own e-books and publish them on Amazon or Apple Books. And I thought it was very suitable for making this compiling e-book.
When compiling, of course, you can’t just do it in random order. That’s why Scrivener makes it convenient to manage and organize the files within a project. We can make document management very easy by allowing you to describe or tag documents, and by making them visible in different ways, like cardboard. Personally, I think this part is better than other software. I think it’s a pretty excellent feature when writing not only novels but also scenarios and papers. I mentioned novels as an example earlier, but Scrivener is an excellent program when you want to write anything long.
Another feature of Scrivener is its templates. We commonly used templates in MS Word or PowerPoint, but there is a reason I emphasized them as a feature of Scrivener. We commonly use templates for letters and presentations, but in Scrivener, a template standardizes the entire writing process in one file. It’s difficult to use only words, but you can think of it as standardized so that you can work comfortably.
Many bloggers and writers use Scrivener. When I read how they use it, I think it’s really professional. They make a template and sort your writings by time, genre, etc. And organize their materials accordingly. To be honest, it can be done with Evernote, etc., but I feel that it is a little more systematic.
Also, for example, these days, novel writing software is equipped with various miscellaneous functions that all support. It is often convenient to view multiple documents or documents and data at once by dividing the screen. For example, when writing a paper or translating. It also supports markdown syntax, but I don’t use it, there are many people who use it subtly.
In addition to this, there are many subtle features such as concentration mode or full-screen mode, number of characters counter, dictionary (Korean dictionary was not supported, but it seems to be supported based on version 3), spelling function (English), and scenario mode. It’s just a pity that Korean language support is relatively poor.
The downside of Scrivener is that there are many substitutes and it is difficult to use.
The overall concept differs from today’s software.
So far, we have talked about the characteristics and advantages of Scrivener, but in fact, there are also quite a few regrettable points. As I wrote at the beginning of the article, the downside is that there are many alternatives. First of all, this friend is a program that costs about 40 dollars at the time I bought it, and about 50 dollars now. The iOS version costs about 20 dollars.
Of course, if you pay this amount of money, you can use a full-featured program, so it can be said that it is not bad in a way. Ulysses, one of Scrivener’s biggest rivals, used to be a one-time purchase software, but these days, it has changed to a subscription system.
In addition to that, there are many cases where there are many well-known writing software that operate as a subscription system. Evernote is free to use all of its features, and OneNote and Google Docs are just free programs. And the program doesn’t discount very well. I bought it for about 24 dollars at a 40% discount, but at this time, it was on sale to commemorate the 10th anniversary, so you can think of it as having nothing to do with the sale.
Another representative disappointment is that the interface is a bit difficult to get used to. Of course, this is because it has many features of its own, so if you can use it properly, it may not be a drawback. But in fact, if you don’t watch tutorials or lectures, it looks a bit messy enough to want something like this. And, of course, tutorials and lectures are very long. There is a guide made by someone in Korea based on the Mac version, but the length is quite long.
And if you’re not going to look at the guide, you’re going to have to fumble around a bit. The app lacks some usability and the main screen is a bit ugly, so it’s honestly not software that makes a good first impression. Also, I briefly mentioned it at the beginning, but it’s a little disappointing that it’s a rather heavy program. This part has improved a lot since the release of version 3, but it’s unfortunate that the concept of a scrivener is somewhat outdated by the standards of the 2020s, so in some ways, it’s even more tasteless.
I recommend that you try out Scrivener and purchase it yourself.
If you just buy it, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll become a nuisance…
It was 2017 when I bought Scrivener. Scrivener was already 10 years old software at the time. That’s why I think it was probably quite innovative software when Scrivener first came out, but now, as I said before, there are many alternatives. So did I, to be honest, I thought it was worse than I thought at first.
However, as mentioned above, there are definitely people who are suitable for Scrivener, such as those who make e-books, those who write very long articles such as papers, or those who write articles with a project-like nature. Fortunately, there is a demo version of Scrivener, so if you are interested in Scrivener, we recommend that you try it for a while before purchasing it.
I think this is enough to explain the basics of Scrivener. Next, I’ve completed reviews of the Windows and iOS versions of the Scrivener that I own. And as I wrote at the beginning of this post, I also reviewed the Scrivener 3 Windows versions. And now that I’ve bought a MacBook, I’ve used it on MacOS as well. I’ll try to write a review on this as time permits.
