I bought Scrivener a few months ago and started using it right away. Or at least, I tried to.
Writing to deadline is not a novelty for me. I have more than a million words in print (the biggest part of that number comes from novels – five published with Bantam, one with HarperCollins, one with Putnam – and two forthcoming). So I’m always at the computer staring at the screen.
I’m just coming out of a major block that has put me way behind deadline on my next book. Part of the reason the block is finally breaking up is Scrivener. I don’t dread opening a project file, and once I’m in there, I don’t have to stop to go check a character’s year of birth or eye color – all that information is right there. Some writers keep a big binder filled with bits of paper in order to keep track of details – Stephen King calls this keeping a bible – but that approach has never worked for me.
Scrivener does work, and it works beautifully. My favorite features: full screen mode, the statistics/targets feature, and the flexibility of the layout. Now when I’m working the only open applications are Scrivener and Curio. I use Curio because I can create maps and collages that I refer to often.
So thank you. This is a truly wonderful product. If I tried really hard I could probably come up with features that would be useful, but I am also superstitious enough not to want to fiddle with a good thing.
best