Take a seat, have a sip of tea on the mezzanine, pull open a copy of the Scrivener tutorial and rustle its proverbial pages.
This area of the forum is for anyone new to the software and looking for tips, advice and ways to tease out what Scrivener provides as a writing tool. As a program designed to adapt to how you prefer to work, learning it can be a different experience from other software. You may be used to figuring out how something is supposed to be used, so you can conform to it, rather than first seeking out ways to make it complement your hard-won methods and preferences. Learning this way can be a process, and an act of exploration that benefits from sharing with experienced navigators and fellow adventurers alike.
We hope you will find conversation and discovery in equal part. Here, no question is too basic, but some questions may be too much! If you find your post moved by a moderator, it may be to keep this area easier to browse for those just coming into Scrivener.
Useful Tools
While we encourage learning through conversation, you may wish to bone up on a few of the basics as well. Here are some resources we’ve prepared:
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Be sure to visit the Interactive Tutorial, found in Scrivener’s Help menu, or the “Getting Started” area when you first load the software. This option will be ideal for those that wish to learn at their own pace, and in a way that invites experimentation in the software itself. The tutorial is a real live writing project that you can always refresh to its initial state, making it a safe place to try whatever you think of.
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We provide a number of video tutorials on our website. Pause and play at your own speed, and learn about the software in these guided tours.
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Our blog hosts a growing index of neat tricks, feature highlights and ways in which you can make the software your own.
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The forum itself archives many years of conversation about our software, involving tens of thousands of people. Click the magnifying glass in the top right corner to begin your search.
If you’d like to run through a quick tutorial on how to use the forum, send @Discobot a personal message by clicking on the bots name right here, then the big Message button. Try sending
@Discobot start tutorial. -
The Frequently Asked Questions area is host to typical questions about purchasing, installation and troubleshooting.
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Lastly, while it is less of a learning tool in the traditional sense, the user manual PDF (found in the Help menu as well) serves as a master reference for any detail you may have questions on.
Whether you intend to stick around, move on quickly to the rest of the forum or maybe even wish to stop by and help others with what you’ve learned, we hope you enjoy your stay!