Scrivener writing software for Mac and Windows

Hello 2011 Wrimos,

I’m the developer of a software program for writers called Scrivener, and just as we have done for the past couple of years, I’d like to offer all 2011 NaNoWriMo winners the chance to get Scrivener for only 50% of its usual price. (And the great news is that Scrivener is now available for both Mac and Windows, so you can use your coupon on either - or both, if you buy a licence for each at the same time.)

Full information about Scrivener can be found here:

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

(Note that at the time of writing, Scrivener for Windows is still in the final rounds of beta-testing, so the above page has yet to be updated to show the Windows version as well as the Mac version. The Windows version will be officially released on 31st October, with a special NaNo trial version coming out before then (see below). In the meantime, however, you are free to try out the public beta - details can be found here: http://www.scrivenerforwindows.com)

What is Scrivener?
Scrivener is designed specifically to help hammer out the first draft of a long text such as a novel, finding its structure along the way. It allows you to keep multiple text documents in the same project, to navigate between them fluidly and easily, and to view them separately or combined (so, for instance, you could write and edit scenes individually or pull back to see them in the context of the chapter or entire draft whenever you want). You can also look at two documents alongside one another, or import and refer to research such as PDF documents, images, web pages and media files, right next to your writing. To help you structure your draft, there is an outliner and a virtual corkboard: you can assign a synopsis to each text chunk in the project and thus build up an overview in the the corkboard and outliner, which you can then use to rearrange the text or mark out new scenes or chapters that need writing.

All of these tools are designed to be entirely flexible - you can meticulously outline everything before you start, if you like, or you can hammer out your first draft and use the structuring features for the revision process. So it doesn't matter whether you're a plotter, a "pantser" (my Mac's autocorrect wants me to say "panther"), or something in-between.

Here are some (slightly warped) screenshots:



I wrote Scrivener because it's the tool I wanted for my own writing. I was fed up with having multiple chapters written in Word scattered around my hard drive, trying to sort through all my notes and research, attempting to organise and get an overview of everything. Scrivener isn't the sort of writing software that presumes to tell you how to write (I'm not a fan of that sort of software myself - nor am I anyone to tell others how to write); instead it just provides a number of tools that I hope are a lot more geared towards organising and hammering out a first draft than a standard word processor. (It's not intended to replace a standard word processor, though - when you've finished your draft you can print it or export it for tweaking and polishing in your word processor of choice.) I'm not going to claim everybody needs this sort of software or any such nonsense, but if like me you've ever struggled with getting an overview of your novel and keeping all of its disparate threads and ideas together, then I hope you'll give it a whirl, and I'd be delighted if in some small way it helps some of you attain your 50,000 words this year. (If you like the idea but Scrivener just doesn't suit you, there are lots of alternatives on our links page, by the way.)

We have all sorts of writers using Scrivener, from Hugo-award winners and Booker long-listed authors to struggling hopefuls. (Fans of the great Danish TV show [i]The Killing[/i] may be interested to know that the novelisation of [i]The Killing[/i] is currently being written in Scrivener by crime author David Hewson, who has loads of great tips on using Scrivener to write novels over on his blog: http://www.davidhewson.com/blog/category/scrivener.) It's not only for novel-writing, either; Scrivener is also used by screenwriters, comic book artists, lawyers, journalists, academics, students and many others. You can see what some of the published authors who use Scrivener have to say about it here:

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/testimonials.php

Right, enough of the hard sell!

Special NaNoWriMo Scrivener Trial Version
As always, we want to try to make it as easy as possible to use Scrivener during this year's NaNoWriMo for those who are interested in doing so. For that reason, late in October we will be releasing a special NaNoWriMo 2011 trial version of Scrivener. Normally, Scrivener's free trial period lasts for 30 non-consecutive days. This means that it doesn't run out until you have used it on thirty different days (so if you used it only twice a week, it would last fifteen weeks, for instance). But of course, you are going to want to try out Scrivener before November starts to see if you will be comfortable writing your 50,000 words in it, and after the month ends, if you decide that Scrivener isn't for you (although obviously I hope you will love it and decide to continue using it!), you will want to get your work out again after the month has finished. And that's more than thirty days of use.

For these reasons, the special NaNo trial version will run up until the 7th December, so that you have October to get used to it and the first week of December to decide if you want to continue using it and buy a licence, or export your work and continue in your regular word processor.

You'll be able to download the special NaNo trial version - for Mac and Windows - here:

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/nanowrimo.php

(The above link won't go live until later in October.)

Aside from the different trial period, there are no differences between the NaNo trial version and the regular trial version.

Special offer for all NaNoWriMo participants
On to the offer! Scrivener 2.0 for the Mac normally costs a mere $45 (or $38.25 for students), and, to reflect the fact that it will be catching up with the Mac version for a little while yet, Scrivener 1.0 for Windows will have a regular price of $40 ($35 for students). But we are offering a further 20%-off discount on Scrivener's full price throughout November and December. To use it, just go to our product page, click on "Buy Now", select the regular licence and enter "NANOWRIMO" in the "Coupon Code" text field in the top right of the web store.

You might want to hold out until the end of November, though, because all winners of this year's NaNoWriMo will be eligible for a 50% discount. Winners will receive a special coupon for this on their winner's page on the NaNoWriMo site at the end of November, once their word count has been confirmed.

Note to Linux Users
Although we don't plan on releasing an official Linux version for some time yet (because we're a tiny company focussing on one platform at a time, making sure we can support each platform as well as possible), we do release unofficial Linux builds ported from our Windows version - essentially the Linux version will remain in "free beta" mode until such time as we can put the extra love and attention into it to make it release-ready. We don't publicise it widely because of this, but we have a sub-forum dedicated to Linux here: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=33.

Note to Last Year's Winners
Last year we promised winners that they would be able to use their 50% coupon codes on our Windows version when it was finally released. The Windows version was delayed - we had hoped to release it earlier this year - but if you won last year, don't worry, we are still honouring that promise. We have extended last year's winners' coupons so that they will continue to work until the end of this year.

Hello Scrivener users
Any existing Scrivener users will be able to pass on their 50% coupon to a friend, of course. And if any Scrivener users reading this would care to share how they have used Scrivener for NaNoWriMo in the past, or pass on any tips they have, I'd love to read your comments in replies to this thread.

Anyway, I hope some Mac- and Windows-using Wrimos decide to give Scrivener a whirl this year if you haven't already tried it - be sure to let me know in the replies to this thread how you get on, and feel free to ask us any questions. We will be monitoring and answering questions in this thread throughout November, along with answering technical support queries in our regular forums:

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/forum

You can also email us directly through through:
mac@literatureandlatte.com or
windows@literatureandlatte.com

Thanks for reading. Good luck with the getting those 50,000 words, whatever you use!

All the best,
Keith


MODERATOR NOTE: Hey guys! This is just a quick request to please not ask for special offer codes in this forum. There is a dedicated thread stickied in the Life After NaNoWriMo forum for those who have them available to offer. Thanks!

So… if I heard about Scrivener earlier today and downloaded it … will I not be able to use the nano trial on this computer because of this? I love it, by the way… and it includes EVERYTHING I ever wanted and can't wait until I'm a little bit richer to buy it.

wombatrider - You'll be able to download the NaNoWriMo trial version when it becomes available; it's completely separate from the normal trial version so it won't matter how many days you used on the regular trial, you'll still get through December 7th for the Nano trial. Thanks for giving Scrivener a whirl! (And if you hit the 50K word count, you'll be able to get it 50% off come December, too!) Good luck with your novel!

I've got Scrivener open right now as I organize my notes for November! Thanks for making such a lovely product...it's truly become indispensable for me. I remember doing my first two NaNo's on Word, and get the cold shivers. XD

I've got it open too! I love Scrivener, and I've never written any wrimos with anything else. I shudder at the thought of trying to manage and rearrange so many scenes and chapters by scrolling through an increasingly lengthy word document and copying and pasting. Excellent product!

I'm a tad confused on the discounts... if we won last year, are buying the windows version in November or December, and are a student, how much would it end up being? Can we only get 20% off or 50% off? And then if you get both, is it 70% off, or is it 20% off THEN 50% off? I'm assuming, that since it says 20% off the full-price that you can only get one or the other but there's always a hope. =D
And do you apply these discounts to full price or student edition price (if you're a student)?

Honestly, I'm buying it even if it's the full $35 (but I have a coupon code from last year!), but I need to know how much to save. :) I AM a student, after all. XD

(OH, AND I LOVE SCRIVENER. SERIOUSLY.)

I love scrivener, I tried out a few other bits of this and that but nothing compared to this. I use the doc targets, mainly because I don't like doing the key stroke thing, but it keeps me focussed, and I have made it to the 50k six times now.
And Keith is a great guy. An extremely helpful genius.

I've never felt the need for any kind of story-writing software but I might give Scrivener a shot this year. Anyone knows exactly when we can get the NaNo Trial?

I don't know exactly when the NaNo trial comes out, but if you install the regular trial now, and the NaNo trial when it comes out, you'll be able to use Scrivener straight from now until December 7th.

I tried Scrivener last year. I also wrote in Word and on my Neo. This year, I'm using it lots more; it's been great for planning, note-taking, and outlining.

I've used Scrivener for a couple of years now, and it helped me win last year! It helped me keep organized, and it was much easier to deal with than a huge, unwieldly Word document.

I'm using the Scrivener trial right now. Absolutely loving it! I will definitely buy it if I win NaNoWrimo. Thanks for this wonderful software! :D

I started using Scrivener for last year's NaNo and am patiently waiting for the full Windows version to come out. Love this program!

Thank you so much for providing the NaNo trial. I just downloaded the regular trial and am going through the tutorial now. This software looks like it will be amazingly helpful during my first ever NaNo.

Glad I popped in here. I was concerned because I d/l it and wasn't aware there would be a NaNo trial and this one expires Nov. 7. I thought, 7 days of novel and several weeks of notes and then I have no option but to buy it. This makes it easier to plan.
I like the software, it's just taking some getting used to from my normal program (yWriter, which I've been using for the past several years). The functions and capabilities far outweigh the cost - I just didn't want to have to commit to anything a week into NaNo. haha
I will definitely make it to 50,000 because that's just what I do, so when that special discount code pops up, I'm probably using it to buy the full version. I feel better knowing I have time to learn to use it.
Thanks Scrivener!

Two questions:
1) I'm currently using the Windows Beta version of Scrivener. Is the "Inspector" feature supposed to be available? It's not already preloaded on my toolbar, and when I try to add it, it doesn't work. This one of the primary features I'm looking for to use in my writing, so if this isn't going to be available.... ? Anyone else having this issue?
2) It states on the website that in the demo version, Scrivener cannot export as an RTF. Are we still going to be able to export our work out if we decide not to buy the full version?

Mistwalker - The inspector is absolutely available in the Windows version, but you may be having an issue where the main toolbar isn't appearing--this was an accident in the latest tutorial with 035, that the main toolbar isn't showing by default; you can turn it on via View>Toolbar. The blue inspector button should be on the far right of the toolbar (to the right of the search bar)--if the project window is too narrow, you might see a >> sign to indicate there's more available that's not able to be shown. You can also show/hide the inspector via View>Layout>Show Inspector. And finally, to customize which icons display on the main toolbar (or on the format bar, Format>Show Format Bar) you can go into Tools>Customize Toolbars.

So that said, if any of that isn't working for you, could you please let me know specifically what you're doing so I can make sure we don't have a bug somewhere? This definitely should be working--as you say, the inspector feature is one of the really useful aspects of the program!

Scrivener is also definitely able to export/compile to RTF. Where are you reading that it says that's not possible? Sounds like we may have an out-of-date page somewhere. Scrivener for Windows is able to compile to print, PDF, RTF, DOC, ODT, TXT, HTML, XHTML, ePUB, and MOBI and to DOCX if you have Word 2007 or higher installed. So yes, you will absolutely be able to get your work out whether or not you choose to buy. All your writing is stored accessibly in RTF files while in the project, too, so although you shouldn't edit them outside of Scrivener, they're available should you need to get to them when you no longer have Scrivener, even if you haven't specifically exported your work. We'd never want you to lose your novel!

Thanks to everyone who's been trying out the program or sharing experiences! We greatly appreciate the kind reviews. Good luck to everyone in reaching 50K!

I've been using the Scrivener for Windows beta since it was first released. It's the only writing software I've used that:

1. does what I want
2. isn't loaded with stuff I don't want or need
3. is easy to learn and use, and
4. looks good.

In fact, it's the only writing software I've used, period. I've downloaded plenty of others, and even paid for a few, but never got past the dabbling stage with any of them. I'm using Scrivener for Nano and will definitely buy the Windows full release.

If you're curious about writing software, or if you've heard about Scrivener for Mac and wondered what a Windows version would be like, I encourage you to check it out.

Hi all,

Many thanks for all the comments, kind words and questions! (Sorry to those whose posts have been wiped since yesterday with the NaNoWriMo board reset - hopefully we answered all the questions there, but please repost if you missed the answers.)

Byronicwoman (cool handle!), tajavioletta, bobo_the_bard, teacherguy66, ladyellie, MingLin-Hong, sammyjw, Tonic, simplywriting Thank you for the kind words, and thanks for trying Scrivener to those who are new to it.

wombatrider - As blackswan says, the NaNo trial is entirely separate, so even if you have used up lots of days on our regular trial, the NaNo trial will last until 7th December regardless. (blackswan is Jennifer, our Windows support person, by the way).

cupcakemichi - You can only use one discount at a time, and the discounts only apply to the full-price regular version (not the educational version), I'm afraid. So if you have a 50% and a 20% coupon, you only get a 50% discount - otherwise we'll never be able to afford to feed our kids, ha. :)

Which reminds me - if you won last year, because the Windows version took longer than we thought (and will now be out on October 31st), the coupons from last year will still work right up to the end of this year.

Millamant - Thanks! My head is now swelling in the way I like it to… I think I'm going to insist on having that as my epitaph, although I have a feeling only "An extremely…" will be respected…

Bramblepath - The NaNo trial should be out some time next week. In the meantime, as AborionElf says, you can use the regular trial (or the Windows beta version), as the NaNo trial will have a built-in expiry of December 7th, so using the regular trial or Windows beta and then swapping to the NaNo trial won't reduce the length of time the NaNo trial lasts in any way. (Incidentally, Scrivener is only "story-writing" software in that you can write stories in it - it won't try to tell you how to write; as an unpublished wannabe myself, I'd be a complete fraud if I tried to tell anyone else how to write.)

Mistwalker: 1) Yes, the inspector feature is there. In the toolbar it should be a white "i" in a blue disc, although if your window is narrow it may not be visible (in which case, you should see a ">>" symbol at the right of the toolbar, which when clicked will show more icons, including the Inspector one). You can also show and hide it by going to View > Layout > Show Inspector, or hitting ctrl-shift-I. It then opens a bar on the right showing an index card, meta-data and notes pane. 2) I'm not sure what you mean here - Scrivener can export to RTF, and the trial version is identical to the full version. The only difference between the trial version and the full version is the time limit; other than that, it's fully functional. Are you sure you saw this on our website and not somebody else's? If so, where on our website is it, as that would be a mistake!

Thanks again - and good luck with the planning to those who are doing some!

All the best,
Keith

Oops, two new posts in the time it took me to write mine, in which time Jennifer (blackswan) already answered some of the questions, so apologies for duplication.

indigo_room: Thanks for the kind words of support, much appreciated. The Windows version is the biggest step for us since the first Mac version was released nearly five years ago (back when I was a one-person company), so it's fantastic to hear from happy beta-users.

All the best,
Keith