Updated Review: Scrivener, a tool for writers

Back in July I downloaded Scrivener, a comprehensive tool for writers that organizes everything from drafts, notes and outlines. It is a very powerful program and offer flexibility that lets individual writers tailor it to his/her needs. After a few months of use and using up their generous 30-day free trial, I’m writing a follow-up to my original post on Scrivener.

Overall Scrivener is everything it advertises to be. I can see how it can help writers of all genres, fiction and non-fiction alike, and can really increase productivity for someone who needs everything organized. With that said, Scrivener is not the right match for me. As I was using it, I realized that I prefer the simplicity of a word processing program that simply allows me to write. Any notes or outlines I use, I usually write out by hand. I’ve always done it that way and it is how I work best.

I found all the features of Scrivener to be distracting. There is a definite learning curve and I spent more time playing around with the program trying to figure it out than I did writing. Did I give it enough of a chance? Some might argue that I did not. But my trusty NeoOffice word processing program has served me well over the years and for now I’ll stick with it.

I am going to keep the Scrivener program on my computer. Maybe down the road I’ll come back to it. You never know when your needs will change. If you are a writer I encourage you to give Scrivener a try. Just because it’s not right for me doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. The 30-day free trial is plenty of time to give it a good test drive. Scrivener is a great program that can really increase the productivity for some writers.

What do you use for your writing? A word processor? Scrivener? Another writing program? Leave a comment below and share your experience with your preferred writing tool.

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