FEATURED APP
The Word Doctor Is In
Scrivener 3
The go-to app for writers
Scrivener 3 falls somewhere between a word processor and a real-life writing assistant. In addition to expertly organizing your mountains of research notes and drafts (in various stages, no doubt), it’s designed to help give your script, doctoral thesis, novel, or tell-all autobiography more focus—literally. Here’s a quick look at how it works.
Break it all down
Unlike standard-issue word processors, Scrivener was purpose-built for long-form writing. It lets you skip around easily within a magnum opus, breaking it down into sections you can write in whatever order you choose. When you’re ready to evaluate your project in full, Scrivener 3 easily merges all the parts into one tidy document.
Step up to the bar
The Binder, running along the left side of the screen, is Scrivener’s powerful organizational tool. This is where you build the structure or plot of your piece by creating sections, each with its own document or documents. To keep your voluminous source materials (photos, video, voice recordings, PDFs, and more) in one place, drag them straight into the Binder’s Research folder.
Wrestle with the words
When you’re done researching and thinking big-picture, get down to writing in the Editor and Inspector. Type the body of your work in the Editor (you can switch between standard and scriptwriting formats). The Inspector is where all of your inline comments and footnotes live. When you need to focus, go to View > Enter Composition Mode to hide the Binder and Inspector and bring up a full-screen version of the Editor, so you’ll have nothing to distract you from the next word.