The Thesis Whisperer

Dr. Inger Mewburn runs this blog called The Thesis Whisperer using the slogan: Just like the horse whisperer – but with more pages. Makes me laugh every time I see it!

Inger provides 5 key reasons why she finds Scrivener better than MS Word for writing research papers. She is currently using the Scrivener for Windows beta version. If you do research-type writing I think you'll find Dr. Mewburn's observations very useful. Check it out:

Is your computer domesticating you?

MacWorld Review

In early February, MacWorld (probably the best known Mac magazine, posted a review of Scrivener 2. Bottom line: they gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Their evaluation seems very fair to me in terms of pointing out strengths and weaknesses. This review can be helpful for both Mac and Windows users. Check it out:

macworld review of scrivener

Taking Rehearsal Notes

People use Scrivener in very inventive ways by taking advantage of its core features. Obviously the main use is for writing longer documents, but I recently ran across a post by a stage director who uses Scrivener for rehearsal notes. His/her technique may be useful (with some obvious tweaks) for educators as well. Kaydot writes:

I'm a stage director and have switched from paper to scrivener for taking notes during rehearsal.

Before the run, I create a new folder in the binder titled with date. Then while the actors are running I keep my MBA in my lap, hands on the keys. Without taking my eyes from the stage I can hit cmd-N to create a new note, tab into the new note, type the first few letters of the character name (which I've entered as cast so scrivener autocompletes and switches to caps), hit return for a new line and type out the note in typical theatre shorthand. Scrivener automatically titles the note with the character name.

To check out the full description follow the link below. Perhaps you have your own innovated way of using Scrivener?

scrivener for rehearsal notes

The Story Behind the Software

Recently James Fallows of the Atlantic Mobile asked Keith Blount, founder of Scrivener, to write a piece about starting a software company. Keith's wonderful story was posted yesterday. Check it out:

keith on starting a software company

Scrivener for Windows 1.9 beta

Scrivener for Windows is moving along and making great progress in its beta development. I believe the best estimate for the full release is sometime in April or May. The current beta expires on March 21. You can read all about the latest beta release here:

scrivener for windows 1.9 beta

The official page describing Scrivener for Windows has some valuable information plus an introductory video! Check it out:

scrivener for windows website

Getting to Know OPML

David Sparks, creator of the Macsparky website and author of the book Mac at Work, posted a blog entry about three weeks ago titled: Dancing with OPML. If you don't speak geek, OPML stands for Outliner Processor Markup Language.

If you work with mind maps, visual organizers, outliners, or Scrivener then you most likely want to become acquainted with the OPML format. Put simply it will allow you to share information across different programs: such as starting an article structure in MindNode Pro mind mapping software, exporting as OPML, then bringing into Scrivener with your writing structure intact!

There's lots of good things about OPML, and David did a great job of explaining the benefits of this format. I highly advise reading his article titled:

dancing with opml

Note: This post has also been published at the iPad blog since going from iPad to Scrivener is one of the great benefits of OPML.

Kathryn Pope on Scrivener

I recently ran across a short review of Scrivener written by Kathryn Pope (a fiction writer). I love her paragraph that reads:

There’s an assumption that novelists and other big-project writers should start at the beginning of whatever it is they’re writing and write, straight and steady, to the end. Not everyone thinks and works this way, though. When I write, I’ve got to make a big, old mess. I start in the middle or off to one side, and I jump around. If you write like this, it can be tough to keep all the scraps and thoughts in a place where you can find them. It’s clunky to copy and paste chapters or sections or to try to wrangle all the pieces into some folder somewhere, with ten different Word files. And when you want to see all the pieces at once, it can be hard to get a look at what you’ve got. Scrivener works with that kind of craziness, rather than against it.

Check out the full review here:

kathryn pope on scrivener