I don’t need new word processing software. MS Word works just fine (mostly), thank you very much. Another paid form of word processing? Definitely not. There’s always Ywriter (for free!), if I’m feeling really desperate.
Oh, there’s a free 30-day trial? And it’s a real 30-day trial, as in you get to try it for 30 days, not as in the 30-day countdown to your software turning into a pumpkin starts the microsecond you install it? Well, why not?
Forget 30 days. I think I was actually addicted to using Scrivener less than 24 hours after installing the software. I’ve been obsessively importing my works-in-progress, including all the background information, and Scrivener has been slurping it in like it’s never met a note or a bit of meta-data it didn’t cherish. The thought of having of export everything out again when the trial expires, even if it just went back to the same format it was in yesterday, is actually a little upsetting.
So congratulations, Scrivener. You win. I love you to bits. Word can return to the pits of frustration and despair from whence it came, and never darken my door (except for day job work, oh, and exporting drafts).
When I first starting playing with the software, I was afraid I was just having a little too much fun importing stuff. What if it was just helping me procrastinate? Then I sat down and revised a chapter that needed revising easily. After that, I was convinced: the nightmare of navigating a 200+ page manuscript is over. I can jump around my manuscript scenes like a bunny on steroids, view parts side by side vertically, and attach notes everywhere. And I can actually just sit down to write and revise. Sooo much better than before. Scrivener wins everything.
Megan Tayles 