A Highly Effective Tool for Any Writer

My use of this software is perhaps not the typical one because I am a freelance technical writer with a focus on complex infrastructure projects. In my use of this product, I find it extremely effective in working with highly structured documentation that is very technical. What I really like about this product is that it allows me to focus on the content and its structure and I do not have to struggle with the distraction of formatting and performance issues. I find that I am much more productive using Scrivener.

I also like that I can annotate topics and keep track of needed updates. Scrivener makes it easy to manage content and to be flexible. Oftentimes, I have to put aside one piece of work and pursue another depending on the shifting schedules of my contributors. Scrivener gives me complete control of the material and allows me to keep track of large, complex documents. As well, it is a great tool for positing how I might re-arrange document sections. And, because Scrivener is not tied to a particular format, I can write and structure text without regard to the eventual output. It is great fun to work with real whiz bang formatting tools such as those used for online publishing, desk top publishing, and the like but as every writer comes to realize, these tools can get in the way of what really matters: useful content that is well organized into a structure that serves the audience’s needs.

My last observation is that because Scrivener focuses on content and its structure, it is a lot easier to take the output and put it into the required published form. I have a much clearer idea of how I want to arrange the content and this translates to a more effective focus on the publishing phase rather than trying to write and arrange content at the same time that I have to manipulate the format.

Vinyalonde about Scrivener, v2.5