Scrivener For Dummies

Understanding What Scrivener Is (and Isn’t)

Scrivener’s core purpose is to help you write. It’s not intended to tell you how to write or force you to get the work done. Instead, Scrivener provides an environment in which you can keep your writing, research, character sketches, synopses, outlines, and images in one project file.

You can export your work into many formats and document combinations without affecting the original manuscript. So you can export three chapters to a word processor one minute, and then create an e-book file the next, all without modifying the format in Scrivener. You can write in green, Comic Sans text but export in black, Times New Roman text.

Writing software is all about the experience of writing, not the format of the final text. You can write without distraction in Composition (Full Screen) mode, view multiple scenes at the same time, storyboard by using electronic index cards, or view your work as an outline.

Scrivener was created to support all aspects of the creative process of writing, from inception to final revision, not just the period when you actually lay down the words.