Ian Barnett's Blog - Posts Tagged "scrivener"

I'm always interested in how writers organise their output. As a non-fiction writer I discovered Scrivener and found very useful. Now I'm writing fiction I find Scrivener absolutely essential. I use it very basically, I must admit. Many people have asked me how I managed to structure my inaugural novel (Jaguar!)both in terms of timeline and geography? the answer was Scrivener. It allows you to build a book in small sections and move them around to re-construct the flow in a way that Word can't. It's a great tool to avoid writers block, too. When you lose momentum on one section, you simply switch to another one. I usually aim for 1000 / 2000 words per session (I have a full time and intense day job too) and Scrivener helps drive that productivity without it all being on one part of the book. The sections become chapters and paragraphs ... a line of tiles. When I have the tiles dragged into the order I want them, I export to Word and create 'the book'. Then I read,edit and edit again (myself). Then format to CS guidelines. then publish. Simple. Go get Scrivener. It will, honestly, simplify and motivate your approach to writing. Ian Barnett, October 2014.