Choosing your favorite writing app can be a challenge if you’re a beginning writer. You want to use the “best” app, but how do you decide which is best for you?
I discussed the best writing app for books here. At the time, I was upset because a writing app I’d used for many months shut down with zero warning. The app’s proprietary format meant that I lost access to content.
After this painful experience, I went bullish on writing in Markdown (which is just plain text) to ensure that my content isn’t locked into some proprietary format ever again.
An essential requirement: plain text
Like many writers, I use several apps daily, some with a single purpose. For example, I use Vellum to format books because it turns a messy manuscript into a perfectly designed ebook and paperback with just a few clicks.
Other apps I use:
- Curio manages my business, clients, and research;
- Marked previews and converts Markdown content to several formats (including HTML and PDF);
- Scrivener suits the way I write long content and makes corralling all the elements of long projects easy.
My favorite app for longform content? Scrivener.
Scrivener makes me more creative, and productive—and it works seamlessly with Markdown. (Check out Chapter 21 of Scrivener’s HUGE manual for guidance on the app and Markdown.)
Let’s look at some of the reasons Scrivener’s my favorite app for long projects.
1. Scrivener makes writing fun and easy, no matter how you like to write
I’ve been happily using Scrivener for decades. When I switched to Macs from Windows in 2005, apps like RapidWeaver and Scrivener made me more creative and productive immediately; writing became fun, rather than a chore.
Scrivener became a favorite while it was still in beta. It’s a big reason I continue ghostwriting. Projects mount up, with their concomitant deadlines; the app helps me to meet deadlines and keep clients happy.
Although I’ve tried creating long projects in other apps, I’ve never managed it. With Scrivener, you can create a project’s outline right in the app via folders and documents—this is especially useful for nonfiction. Templates make kickstarting new projects a matter of a minute or two.
Here’s a handy tip. You can link to any document in the app (choose Document Link from the right-click contextual menu). Add the document’s link to your calendar. Then you can open the document at a click when it’s time to work on the project.
What about fiction?
As Diana Gabaldon does, I write fiction out of sequence, and for the same reason:
I write just about everything piecemeal, including nonfiction articles, book reviews and essays… I’m never held up stewing about What Comes Next— I don’t care what comes next, I just care about something I can see happening.
If you try this, consider your project a jigsaw. Keep creating pieces; it’s fun. “Writing piecemeal” as Diana Gabaldon defines it, means you’re writing out of sequence. That is, you’re not writing from go to whoa, you’re following your inspiration to write any scene, or any element of a story. “Write whatever you’re in the mood to write” is a brilliant antidote to procrastination.
This is easy in Scrivener because all the documents in a project are individual text files—I can write snippets of any project, in any app on my phone or tablet wherever inspiration strikes. Then I copy the material to Scrivener later—or I drag the file into a project’s Binder.
2. Write now, before you lose your inspiration: check a project at a glance
If you write a mix of projects and work on several long projects concurrently, it’s essential that you can check a project’s status. Scrivener makes it easy to get a quick overview of your project.
Group Mode will become your best friend.
Group Mode for quick views of your project
- Want to read your entire project? Choose Scrivenings view on the left of Group Mode. Hit Drafts in the Binder first, then read and edit.
- Select the center icon, the Corkboard, to brainstorm, or to check the structure of the project. Move cards if you like.
- The icon on the right is the Outline, also useful for checking structure.
If you prefer to access these modes via the menu, these options are at the top of the View menu.
3. Longevity: learn it once, use it forever
Although Scrivener launched in 2007, I started using it while it was still in beta. Over the years, writers have told me that Scrivener is a challenge because there’s a long learning curve.
Here’s the thing. I don’t use every option in Scrivener: I’ve learned just enough to be able to write the way I want to write in the app. In fact, even after all this time of using it, I read the L&L Blog to discover new things about it—or things I’ve forgotten the app can do.
Which brings me to another reason it’s my favorite app: its longevity. It’s powerful, and it stays recognizably the same after updates. It doesn’t change when the latest gimmick blows in. Best of all, it’s rock solid; I know I won’t lose my work.
I’m always checking out new writing apps, in case I’m missing out on something. 🤗 Then I go back to using Scrivener. As stated, the app is big and powerful. You can choose how you want to write; it moulds itself to you, you don’t have to change because the app wants you to write in a specific way.
You’ll come to appreciate some features over time. For example, its Project Targets feature helps you to stay on track so that you can meet deadlines.
The Corkboard, Snapshots, and Bookmarks functions are essential to the way I write, and I love the Collections feature—Collections might well be my favorite feature. Collections help me to track my snippets, so I remember where they are, and when I want to integrate them into the manuscript.
The app that helps you to write, relax, and be more creative
You can write with anything—pencil and paper, MS Word, notes app, but long projects are stressful. I wish you much success in finding an app that fits the way you write.
Have fun. 🤗
