My name is Donigan Merritt and am currently (for another year) living in Washington, DC. I am new to Scrivener, having downloaded it last week and just begun using it with a new book. So far it seems to be the finest program designed for use by writers that I have encountered.
I am old enough to have begun writing with a pencil on paper, moving to a Royal manual typewriter, on which I wrote my first novel, then to an IBM Selectric. then an IBM PC (bought in 1985), then through the usual series of updated computers until currently using Mac, both a Powerbook and imac. (But I must admit that I continue to write first with a pen on paper, then transfer it to the computer for editing.) I have an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop and my first published novel, in 1981, resulted from my MFA thesis. Since then, five other novels have been published; the 7th, “The Common Bond,” comes out in late summer.
This is the first Internet forum I’ve seen devoted to writers, although I admit to not having actually looked for one before. I found this one as a result of downloading the Scrivener program. I look forward to reading through all these postings and getting caught up.
Welcome. My first novel’s just come out, but I’m writing my second on Srcivener because it helps me to work the way I prefer: a clean sheet, and some way of tracking threads without those interfering with the writing.
I hate writing longhand, but when I trained as a journalist I used a battered old metal Remington, then moved on to an Adler with plastic keys, then (a revalation at the time), the first Apple Mac with its tiny A5 black and white monitor.
It’s only 20 something years for someone (thanks, KB) to come up with really brilliant software for writers using Macs. I’ve still figuring out Scrivener’s functions, but mostly I love the full screen view with everything else faded into the background.
It is likely that reminiscing about “the old days” when we wrote with pencils on paper or little black Royal manual (or Remington) typewriters, reads to people born in the computer age like tales of how far we walked in the snow to school . . .
Yes, the “sheet of paper” appearing on an otherwise blacked out screen is my favorite part of this; reminds me of paper in a typewriter. I am still in the process of figuring out how useful the rest of it might be. The best part is breaking links to Microsoft products.
May I ask the title of your novel, when it comes out, if it will be published in the States, can I find it on Amazon or via a Google search?
I’m not quite sure what you are trying to suggest. I assume the 3 are meant to go together somehow and you end up with a novel, but I can’t quite figure out the connection
My hand starts cramping if I write more than about a page. Ever since I left school and finished my exams five years ago, I’ve hardly written anything other than post-it notes and appointments in my diary with a pen.
My novel is called BONE MACHINES and, though it’s listed on Amazon, the ISBN number hasn’t filtered through the system yet.
One US reader (from this forum) got it directly from the publisher - I think you can use PayPal or US currency, not sure, but he didn’t have a problem. My novel is a crime thriller, set in Glasgow.
By the way, are you the mountaineering novel guy? I looked you up and saw a really interesting-looking novel on Amazon I’d like to read, Possessed by Shadows - you’ve written about 7, I gather, but I found only one on Amazon (assuming that’s you)?
To Matt. Maybe it’s just habit. But I don’t write continually, sometimes I feel the need to stop and think, and I seldom write more than three or four pages at once. Regardless, it’s just a habit. Some people think connected through a keyboard, some through a pen on paper, and others may avoid the whole process altogether.
To John. Yes, I am the one you found Googling. A Polish edition of my last novel came out this past autumn and therefore it seems half the listings are in Polish, and I have no idea what they are about. All my books prior to Possessed By Shadows are out of print, having been published during the decade of the 80s, although my current publisher has proposed reissuing a trilogy that originally came out with Bantam. The next book will be available in August.
“Possessed” does have a mountaineering theme. It made the short list for the Banff prize in mountain-theme literature and was also short listed for the Boardman-Tasker prize. The new book, “The Common Bond,” is set mostly in California and Hawaii and the key element is fishing.
I’ve visited Glasgow twice, once for 10 days. It is one of my favorite cities in Britain and I much prefer it to Edinburgh. I will get your book.
Every class has its clowns. On the other hand, it is likely the case that teenagers no longer write with their hands, unless thumbs count, and have lost that ability, and so maybe they were seriously surprised that anyone can still do it.
Thank you for the welcome. I am still working my way backwards through relevant older postings. There is a lot of useful information, so far, and, of course, the usual clown antics. Maybe I’ll get used to it or maybe I’ll just cull out what I need and return to my bloody fingers.
Be careful working your way through Scivs back postings :open_mouth: Theres some really [i]Murky Mind[/i], stuff in there! (“I know, I was that soldier.”).
