With the dog-sitting money I’ve earned, I finally felt like it was okay to pick up the discounted copy of Scrivener that’s been on hold for me since I won NaNoWriMo, even as an experiment without knowing whether it would ultimately end up being my cup of tea. When I asked around in advance if people had any thoughts to offer on the software, mostly what they told me can be boiled down to, “It’s all right, I guess. Better than Word for plotting, maybe?” My decision to buy it was motivated by that slight recommendation, because plotting is an area where I actually could use some help. Especially help staying organized.
So I busted out my new toy and started constructing a file of interconnected notes, to help me graph out what needs to happen next in my w-i-p. This, right away, is already something I could not be doing in Word. As I began to play with the various ways to interconnect these notes, I quickly fell down a rabbit hole of customization options so granular it’s like I’m building my own virtual writer shed plank by plank.
What people who are unwilling to offer too strong an endorsement of Scrivener maybe do not realize is just how highly some people value this level of personalization in their digital products.
Buddy, I’m sold. Now I just need to stop choosing Full Screen backgrounds and get back to work.