Description of App
"The biggest software advance for writers since the word processor."
- Best-selling novelist Michael Marshall Smith
Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers designed for composing and structuring long and difficult documents. While it gives you complete control of the formatting, its focus is on getting you to the end of that awkward first draft.
Compose your text in any order and in pieces as large or small as you like. View the components of your draft individually or as a whole. Import and refer to research files such as images and PDFs alongside your writing.
Whether you prefer to outline first, hammer out your first draft and restructure later, or do a bit of both, Scrivener's corkboard and outliner tools are completely integrated with the text, so working with an overview of your draft is just a click away.
Scrivener's users include best-selling novelists, screenwriters, students, academics, lawyers, journalists and translators. It won't presume to tell you how to write - it just provides an array of flexible tools that allow you to do things your way, no matter what kind of writing you do.
FEATURES
Getting Started
- Project templates for novels, scripts, APA and MLA essays and more (or create your own)
- Interactive tutorial project
- Import common text files such as .rtf, .doc, .docx, .fdx, .txt, .opml and .odt
- Break up imported texts using the "Split at Selection" or "Import and Split" features
Writing
- Create and access your work in any order using the "binder" source list
- "Scrivenings" mode temporarily combines disparate documents into a single text for viewing and editing
- Full-screen mode
- Scriptwriting mode for screenplays, stage plays, comic scripts and more
- Familiar text formatting tools
- Live word and character counts
- Mark up your text with comments
- Make notes in the sidebar which become footnotes or endnotes upon print or export
- "Snapshots" allow you to store earlier versions of texts and revert to them at any time
- Name generator
- MathType support
- Set goals using project and document targets
- Auto-save
- Automatic backups
Structuring
- Associate a synopsis with any document in your project
- A virtual corkboard lets you rearrange documents using their associated synopses
- A fully-featured outliner provides complete control over a project's structure
- Project-wide search
- Track ideas using labels and keywords
Research
- Import research such as image, .pdf and media files
- Import web pages
- View research files (or other text documents) alongside your writing
- Transcribe audio files
Getting It Out There
- Compile your manuscript for submission or self-publishing
- Export to popular formats such as .doc, .rtf and plain text
- Print or generate PDF files
- Export .epub or Kindle files
- Export to Final Draft .fdx format
- Supports MultiMarkdown for LaTeX export
- Sync text files with popular iPhone and iPad apps via Dropbox or Simplenote
For more information, please watch the videos on our website.
TESTIMONIALS AND AWARDS
We have a whole heap of testimonials from published authors - see our testimonials page at http://www.literatureandlatte.com/testimonials.php to read what they have to say about Scrivener.
Scrivener 2.0 was awarded a Macworld 2010 Eddy (as was Scrivener 1.0 in 2007) and has received five-star reviews from MacUser and MacFormat.
SUPPORT
If you have any questions or feedback, you can contact us by email on contact@literatureandlatte.com, via our support forum at http://www.literatureandlatte.com/forum or on Twitter @scrivenerapp.
Thank you!
Comments
Rearranging The Binder
I have and love Scrivener. But I've been unable to move files around in the binder using the drag and drop method with VoiceOver. Have any of you figured out how to relocate chapters in the binder? Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Screenwriting
Is this app accessible across all the different formats it supports? Specifically, is it accessible with VO when using it to format screenplays? Any info would be appreciated, as one of the things I've been on the lookout for is an accessible screenwriting program, and if Scrivener's screenplay formatter works on the Mac, that may be a good enough reason to tip me over to getting a Mac when I replace my old laptop.
APA formatting
I am a student and have to write in apa formatting. How well does this app do with formatting essays?
rearranging chapters and parts
Hi there,
To move a chapter up or down, 1. Select it on the sidebar
2. Press option plus command plus up or down arrow to move it up or down.
About apa format and essays writing, the software provides templates for essays and bibliografy, but I haven't tried to write any bibliografy yet.
Tip: you can use VO plus J to jump between sidebar and main writing area of each document.
Essay templates
How do you get into the essay templates?
correction and essay templates
Hi there,
First of all, excuse me, I was wrong about the hotkey to rearrange parts and scenes, it is control ] command plus up or down arrow, not option plus command plus arrow.
About the essay templates, they are under the non fiction category, you can choose it from the file&new project menu, there is one specifically named apa format..
Hope this helps.
New user of Scrivener
Hi. I just purchased Scrivener today, and was trying to read the tutorial, but wasn't able to find the text. I tried to read the pdf manual, but it was so jargled, that I couldn't read it propperly.
Where did you guys learn to use this app. It seems to be really cool.
When I creat a new project, a short story, I'm not sure what to write in what box.
Can anyone help me, or give me a few resources to learn more?
I was wondering if if would be worth it byeing it, or just use a normal word processor.
Please help.
Thanks.
Dewald.
one time purchase or pay per update?
Hello,
I'm considering purchaseing Scrivener, but I'm not sure if I were to buy the app from the apple Mac-Store if I'd have to pay once a new update comes out, or if I would be able to get the updates for free. I know on another app, my serial number is only good until a new version of that app comes out.
Answers
@Dewald: I didn't have to do anything special to read the text - it was all pretty self-explanatory. However, I'll double check next time I have the opportunity and give you a more detailed description of how/where to interact with the text. I may not be able to until Friday, but I will by then if not sooner.
@Anrevival: I know minor updates are free (i.e. version 8.1 to version 8.2). I got a free update when El Capitan came out, and I was still in my trial period at that point - so if they'll update a trial, I'm sure they'll update a purchase. I believe any larger updates (i.e. v8 to v9) would also be free, but don't quote me on that. My guess is that if this isn't answered on an FAQ on the website, emailing the developer with this question would yield an answer pretty quick. I can tell you this, though - if you purchase the product, you're going to get a lot of use out of it for a long time, even if you can't update in the future - but I think that's unlikely. Like I said, I'm almost positive that the purchase is good forever, regardless of the version.
Tutorials
Are there any tutorials with/using voice over?
Tutorials VoiceOver
I don't know any tutorials that deal with using Scrivener with voiceover. I made a Podcast about it some time ago but it is in German so I suppose that doesn't help you a lot. I started with the short tutorial that is available for every scrivener user and experimented with the program afterwards. It worked well for me. If you have questions on Special issues don't hesitate to ask them.
Compiling in Scrivener 3
Hi there,
I'm currently trying to compile a novel in Scrivener 3 and am having difficulty wrapping my head around the section types and section layouts concepts. I know the Compile window is supposed to be easier to use than that of scrivener 2. I can get my parts and chapters sequentially numbered right, but sometimes it will insert an extra number in a chapter title, representing a blank document in my binder. Is this expected?
Also, for some strange reason, the final document has the # character in between lines--where a blank line would ordinarily go. Anyone know how to get rid of it?
Thanks for any help!
Chelsea
Comment Hyperlinks
Does anyone know how to make the comments hyperlinks behave correctly? I can add comments just fine, but when it comes to reviewing them in the document, that's where I get confused. The point where I make the comment turns into a link, and when pressing VO space to activate, VO announces, "Press hyperlink," as expected, but focus does not move from the linked text. I would assume that if you press a link, VO would jump to that comment. Does it display on the screen, but VO focus is just not moved?
Any enlightenment would be appreciated.
Chelsea
Comment hyperlink
Hello Chelsea, the feature you mean is not available. I think the comments are marked visually in the window but the focus doesn't jump to them. Why don't you send a request to the developpers? They are very friendly and care a lot about accessibility.
I am Considering Contacting the Developers
@Apple-pie: Thanks for the confirmation. Yes, I will probably check with the latest point update that just came across my Mac today, and then contact the developers. I have found them to be helpful in the past. I just find it strange that VO would detect a link, but then it basically go nowhere.
Thanks for confirming so quickly!
Chelsea