Using Scrivener - Why To Use Scrivener + Starting A Manuscript

Welcome to my first tutorial on Using Scrivener for writing! What I should really be doing is writing my novel since I have currently 174 and 1/2 days left to complete the first draft (A self-set due date, but nevertheless still due). However, I've a propensity toward procrastination... therefore, Copy Cat Conspiracy is going to wait. Besides that... it's had more than a dozen years to write itself... a few more hours waiting won't kill it!

So we begin with a question: Why use Scrivener? Isn't GoogleDocs, or Microsoft Word, good enough? And that's a very good question! Those writing programs are good enough, so if you don't like Scrivener for some reason (I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't) then stick to what you like. But you're here to find out why you would want to use Scrivener.

Below is a screen capture of my blog post story "Something Strange" which some of you may have read before. 

Screen capture of Scrivener program - click picture to see larger version!

If you will notice on the left in the Binder column you can see everything about your novel all located in one easy to find place. With Google Drive, or Microsoft Office, you can certainly have character sheets, setting notes, research information, and your story. But do you want that all in one document? Not usually, so you have multiple files all over the place. I did, anyway. I didn't like having to scour a document for this character sheet, or that setting note. Furthermore, I'm huge about word counts. I hate research materials being part of my collective word count.

Scrivener solves organization problems the way peanut butter solves plain bread. You can have everything in one place, and the program will only count the words in your manuscript as being part of your manuscript.

What can Scrivener do? Well, you're just full of great questions today! Scrivener can do...

• Outlining
• Has a corkboard for ideas and notes and such (Clearly I haven't gotten into using it yet - but it's there!)
• Makes non-fiction writing easier and has tools for it
• Scriptwriting (Because why not write the next Hollywood blockbuster in your spare time?)
• Word counter for the manuscript, as well as a session word counter which eliminates the need for doing math quite as much
• a project statistics option for when you want to see the overall statistics of the project - for instance, how many paperback pages your novel would be in comparison to how many printout pages
• The ability to create your front matter details
• COMPILE BUTTON... Yes, it deserves all caps. Why? Because it's a handy tool when you want to put your novel together for printing or whatnot. You can choose what to include in compiling, and what format to compile your book for. 

And that's just the tip of the quill, as they say. Okay, no one really says that (probably), but they should!

But Scrivener is so... intimidating! Yes, at first it can be intimidating. I mean, how many programs come with how-to-use interactive tutorial lessons to get you started? How many programs encourage you to go online and read or watch tutorial articles and videos? How many programs will surprise you with new features even after six months of using it?

You shouldn't be intimidated, though.

So, let's presume you've figured out how to download Scrivener (Go here to Literature and Latte to download Scrivener for Mac or Windows). You've installed it and open it up.

Scrivener New Project box - click for
larger image

The first thing you want to do is the Interactive Tutorial. I know you're going to be saying to yourselves, "No, I've used Word before, so clearly I can manage a new project without help, thank you very much!"

It's a bit more complicated than just opening a document, at least if you're anything like me. I ignored the interactive tutorial to start out with and a few minutes later in my panic at how to work this program I was googling how to get the tutorial up... Then again, sometimes on my best days I feel like my best option is to lob the computer out of the window and buy a typewriter. So let's just have you go through the tutorial. It will give you some basics to get you started out. The tutorial is nice because it walks you through actually performing actions so that you learn it. You won't just be sitting there banging your head on your keyboard because you have to read about how to do something.

Click File, then select New Project...
Click on the picture for
larger image

After you've done that, it's time to begin a manuscript. (The tutorial should have gone over this with you to show you how to do a new document, but just in case...) 

In the document, click File...
At the top of the list, there will be New Project... Click that. It will bring that New Project box back up where you can select the kind of document you want to make. You can do a blank document, but I like to select one of the pre-made novel options and just delete sections I don't want. This way I have to do less work.

If you already have a project, you can select Open... or you can open the Recent Projects list by hovering your cursor over that. It will bring up a list of the last ten or so projects you've worked on.

Once you've selected the kind of new project document you want to go with, you must choose a name for it. Scrivener won't let you open a new project without naming it, because it wants to be able to save it right away. It's a good thing, too! I once lost a lot of work because I was so engrossed in what I wanted to write that I started a new document in MS Word and didn't save it, and the power went out. I was a teenager and knew nothing about the temp files. My mum managed to find the document though. Anyway...

There you go! You've started your first Scrivener manuscript.

In conclusion, Scrivener is awesome, I am very biased toward it, and that is why you should get it. In reality, I recommend Scrivener for its incredible usefulness toward all styles of writing. Plus there's a free trial... That makes it even better! Give it a shot. You've lost nothing if you don't like it, and if you do like it, the program is far cheaper than MS Word.

To view Scrivener's Blog, go Here
To find them on Facebook, go here

Facebook is useful because Scrivener is always sharing tutorial articles and videos.

Do you agree with this blog post? Have you used Scrivener? Do you have anything you would add to this? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned... I might write another post about doing more than just opening a document manuscript. :P