Monday, September 24, 2007

Doing Research with Scrivener


I gotta say, I really love Scrivener, and here's why. It's not only a very decent word processor, but it also enables me to collect all of my research in one place. This is invaluable for almost any kind of story I write, but especially anything that requires lots of historical or scientific research. I can put everything that I gather, whether it be PDF, sound file, picture or a web page--all in one place. I can choose to view them all in a visual interface that resembles a corkboard with note cards tacked onto it. I can move the cards around like I want, and even color code the "tacks" to reflect different categories of research. When I'm ready to write, I can constantly reference my sources by opening them in another pane right below my draft. Or, if I choose, I can just open a full screen version of my draft and just let the creative juices flow. For all these reasons, I went ahead and sprung for the registration fee, and Scrivener is definitely proving its worth.

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