Scrivener for OS X
Recently, a friend showed me this cool writing tool which I just downloaded and installed. At the authors site, www.literatureandlatte.com, it’s clear that writing is the focus and this tool was developed to better facilitate the creative writing process. As they say: “Necessity is the Mother of Invention.”
Of course, one finds the expected features such as outlining, text editing, key wording, and search. But beyond the basics, there are index cards, the cork board, split windows, and the ability to collect PDF, RTF, Quicktime, images, URLs, and web pages all in one place.
Cleverly, the author has created a tutorial in the tool – so you get a good overview of the main features, plus the added advantage of learning by using the tool. For example, I was impressed with the split window feature which the tutorial uses to play an audio in the top pane, and edit text in the bottom pane. As the author points out, this is brilliant for transcription work. In future, I’ll use this feature to script video tutorials. I think this would be good for voice over work as well.
The program goes out of it’s way to support typical writing processes – whether you’re composing a novel, magazine article, or the next blockbuster screen play – this is a very good tool. In fact, just playing with it during the tutorial, tricked me into shaping a project I’ve been putting off for some time now. What got me were the index cards. They are totally flexible and do a great job of capturing individual scenes as they replay in my head. Some day all those flashes of memory and imagination will add up to a book or screen play.
