Scrivener appears to satisfy both these needs fairly well. Then, on the other hand, when I require formatting, I want to be able to set up and apply my own style preferences easily and efficiently. On the one hand, I love the minimalist look and feel of an unformatted writing environment – I often use Notepad or TextEdit for quick writing tasks. I have to admit I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to formatting. Once you are happy with the arrangement of the collective texts, the folder can be changed into a single, more easily manageable file. For example, it may be useful to keep several text files in a folder during the editing process.
But after a while, I found it an instinctive process as texts are collated, merged and expanded as described above. The ability to change a file into a folder (and vice versa) is one of those features you don’t really ‘get’ at first. It allows you to create, organise, aggregate and separate multiple texts of any size quickly and effectively within larger composite files and folders. Usefully, expandable / collapsible folders in the Binder (Scrivener’s side menu) allows quick viewing and access to all texts.įor me, the best way to go about using Scrivener is to think of texts in the form of ‘chunks.’ I think the most powerful feature of Scrivener is how it supports granularity in the writing process. This enables easy transference or cross-referencing of texts across chapters and sections when required. But I’ve found it more effective to develop the whole thesis within one project file, despite its obvious size. Subsequently, in transferring my working thesis texts to Scrivener, I considered creating a separate project file for each individual chapter, and there are probably clever ways of linking / coordinating across projects that I have yet to explore.
I’ve continued to use it for similar small-scale writing projects. I found undertaking a 5,000-words conference paper ideal to familiarise myself with key Scrivener features and to start developing my own quirks.
#SCRIVENER 3 ZOTERO SOFTWARE#
I tend to find the best way to learn new software is to dive straight in with a ‘real-life’ project. Using Scrivener effectively requires a shift in thinking from traditional word processing programmes and practices. But as a relatively new Scrivener user, here are some thoughts on my ongoing experience of using it in drafting my thesis. There are other, more comprehensive accounts of using Scrivener on the web, such as here. It would appear that this word-processing and file management desktop programme – specifically developed by Literature and Latte for writers – is becoming increasingly adopted by academics.
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