Take Control of Scrivener 3

Create and organize writing projects with ease using Scrivener 3!
Version 1.2, updated June 26, 2025

Compose a masterpiece with Literature & Latte's Scrivener. Whether you're writing science fiction, a historical novel, or a zombie travelogue, learn how Scrivener's powerful tools can take your work to the next level. Kirk McElhearn shows you how to collect notes, organize your work, arrange and rearrange sections, and more. Covers Mac, Windows, and iPhone/iPad versions!

Scrivener is a powerful tool for managing long-form writing projects—like novels and screenplays—and Take Control of Scrivener 3 gives you all the details you need to know to harness its potential. In this book, best-selling author Kirk McElhearn walks you through setting up, organizing, writing, formatting, revising, and compiling a Scrivener project, whether you’re working on a Mac, a Windows PC, an iPhone, or an iPad.

Using this extensive guide, you’ll be able to:

• Meet Scrivener: Learn about the Scrivener philosophy and its basic layout
• Start your project: Pick a template and add existing materials to your project
• Brainstorm and organize: Discover three different ways to work with your material using the Binder, Corkboard, and Outliner.
• Set up your writing environment and avoid distractions: Choose default fonts and colors, opt for Script Mode if you’re writing a script or screenplay, and simplify your workspace by hiding interface elements or by using Composition Mode or Full Screen Mode.
• Make the most of key features: Learn how to work with styles; use annotations and comments; add footnotes and endnotes; view more than one file at once; use collections to view selected items from the Binder; store bookmarks and project notes; and share and synchronize your project with others.
• Go further with Scrivener: Get the details on special features like Scrivenings View (write in sections, but view as a single document) and Snapshots (allows you to make and view periodic backups of your text).
• Revise and edit your work: Learn how to find and replace text, and work with revisions.
• Use Scrivener for iPhone and iPad: Sync your projects to your mobile device and work on an iPhone or iPad.
• Print and export: Understand the process of preparing your project to be printed, and what’s involved in compiling it so that it can be exported in a different format.

Kirk also highlights the many changes to Scrivener since the last version (see the What's New section below), including updates to the interface, styles, outlining and metadata capabilities, and improved searching and writing features. In addition, he explains newer features like Bookmarks (lets you store references to other sections of your project), Linguistic Focus (Mac only—highlights specific elements such as dialog, adverbs, or adjectives), Section types (such as Chapter Text and Scene), and Copyholders (allows you to view three or four documents at once).