As a writer, I depend heavily on Scrivener. Just as a word processor makes it possible for a writer to type his document on a sheet of virtual paper, Scrivener allows a writer to create a series of virtual index cards and type bits and pieces of his document onto them. The cards can be created, rearranged, duplicated, or deleted with point-and-drag ease.
This unique approach makes it possible for me to outline an entire document with cards, write the parts I like or feel most excited about first, and then go back and fill in the other bits. Once all my pieces are written, I can put them into any order I choose … and then generate a single, more traditional document.
Over the last several years I’ve written novels, non-fiction books, articles, and blog entries on Scrivener. I love it; I’m addicted to it.
For a basic introduction to Scrivener and some insights into how it impacts the writing process, I'd invite you to read this post over on MarkMcElroy.com.
Note from Mark: Following an uncomfortable email exchange with Scrivener's designer, I've elected to delete the rest of this post.
Hi Mark,
Great to hear that you like Scrivener so much, but it is rather upsetting that you’re encouraging other developers to rip it off. 🙂 For record, what I actually said was that I *personally* wouldn’t be developing an iPad app. I didn’t rule anything out completely. We’re looking into it, but it wouldn’t be something that happened overnight. It is worth noting that the iPad just isn’t capable of things like rich text – unless you are Apple of course – and could never run a full version of Scrivener with the full interface as I designed it and liked to use it. While a stripped-down plain text version is no doubt possible, you would still need a desktop app to do any heavy-lifting. If you are moving over to the iPad full time, then it’s probably best to get used to the idea that you just won’t be able to use a tool like Scrivener because of the nature of iOS – at least for the next few years. (I can’t imagine using my iPad for sustained writing myself, but each to his own of course!)
It’s interesting that you mention Simplenote, though, as this week I have been implementing Simplenote sync for Scrivener 2.0, and it works very nicely – you’ll be able to take documents from a project to Simplenote for easy editing (or add notes to a project via Simplenote) while on the go.
Best regards,Keith(Scrivener developer)
Hi, Keith.
I’m sorry my post upset you. I’ve retitled it and removed all text encouraging others to develop a similar app for the iPad. In my own defense, I’m not sure my post encouraged other developers to “rip Scrivener off.” Does QuickOffice “rip off” Microsoft Office … or does it enable adopters of mobile devices to use a similar, pared-down feature set on a completely different platform?
We could argue this all day, but I really do believe the development of a similar product is only a matter of time, whether I encourage it (or whether your produce it) or not. For the record: I hope you’ll be the guy.
In the meantime: I’m sure it’s frustrating to see paying customers moving to a platform that doesn’t support the software in which you’ve invested a great deal of time and energy. I’m glad to hear that Scrivener 2.0 will incorporate Simplenote synching as a nod to those of us who are doing an increasing amount of work on the iPad. At this point, I’ll take what I can get! 🙂