Scrivener Review

Scrivener is a very advanced writing tool to help you plan and write your first draft piece. This could be a novel, a screenplay or anything else.

What is Scrivener and who’s it for?

Scrivener is a super detailed writing tool to help users create any piece of writing. It's more advanced than using something like Microsoft Word because you can have space to plan, use templates, create sections and really write an entire first draft however you would like.

Scrivener is for those who want an advanced tool that has everything they need for editing, writing, planning and more all in one place. This is a more advanced tool that does take some learning and getting used to, it also is more costly than say using another writing tool.

Scrivener Pros - From Plan to Finished Draft

Here are some of Scrivener's best features for writing.

• Write the parts you want - You dont have to write your draft in order, you can create sections to write different chapters if you need to change something. Easily go into different sections of your draft to edit and change.
• Character building - Create profiles for the different characters you want to have in your book, this helps you make sure you stay on track with the character's personality and behaviour by checking what you have written.
• Split the screen - See your research alongside your writing by splitting the screen. This means you dont have to keep switching screens and can stay in the flow of writing.
• Share - When your writing is finished you can get it ready for publishing, sharing, exporting and more. You can edit the writing to fulfil certain formatting needs if you are choosing to publish.

Scrivener Cons - Too Advanced?

So what are the cons of using Scrivener?

• Learning - There is quite a bit of learning that goes into fully understanding the use of Scrivener, the tool can feel overwhelming with all of it's abilities, folders, sections.
• Complicated formatting - Likewise with learning how to use Scrivener, the format editing for publishing can be difficult to understand and use.
• No collaboration - There are no collaboration abilities with Scrivener, you can only use this app as a single user.

Scrivener Verdict

We think Scrivener is a really great advanced tool for experienced writers who understand the process of drafting, editing and formatting since the tool is very in-depth and has lots of tools and features users need to learn. If you are a new writer it might be best to practice first draft writing and planning before diving into using Scrivener.