On November 1 the first public beta of Scrivener for Windows was released. For the first couple of weeks there were lots of bugs in the releases. It seems the bugs have calmed down a lot. The official Windows release is estimated for February 1 (give or take a couple months).
As the public betas evolve they will exhibit fewer bugs, but also include more features. I suggest only downloading these betas if you are comfortable working with unfinished software that is susceptible to crashing.
You'll also want to re-check the Public Beta page for updates, as well as check the forums. Both links are provided below.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Don McAllister
If you are a Mac-user then you really want to become familiar with Don McAllister. A few years ago he started a series of "screencasts." These are essentially video tutorials that show you exactly what's going on in a software product. Don is very thorough, has a great voice, and his knowledge of Mac software is thorough and deep. Many of his screencasts are now available only to paid subscribers, but from time to time he does create free ones.
Recently Don created a free 36 minute tutorial about Scrivener 2 for the Mac. (It's also a useful tutorial for users of the Windows beta-version.) You can download the screencast directly from his ScreenCastsOnline website, or watch the YouTube version. Both links are given below.
Recently Don created a free 36 minute tutorial about Scrivener 2 for the Mac. (It's also a useful tutorial for users of the Windows beta-version.) You can download the screencast directly from his ScreenCastsOnline website, or watch the YouTube version. Both links are given below.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Gwen Hernandez
Gwen is a writer who has a blog named The Edited Life. One of the very cool things she has done is to develop a series of Scrivener how-to posts. Most of her posts were written with Scrivener 1 in mind. With version 2 now released I'm sure Gwen will be adding and editing some of her posts to include new hints and tutorials. Keep in mind that everything she writes about Scrivener version 1 will also apply to version 2. Check out her Scrivener posts at:
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Five Essentials Tutorial
On November 1 Scrivener 2 for the Mac was released. Currently Scrivener for Windows is under development and will likely be released in January or February of 2011.
Several faculty in the School of Education are getting Scrivener and I've created a tutorial mainly for them, but anyone is welcome to download and use this tutorial. The tutorial covers, at least for me, the five essential features you want to know about Scrivener. In essence this tutorial presents why someone would use Scrivener rather than being a how to tutorial.
Perhaps the most important concept to understand is that Scrivener creates a writing environment rather than being simply "writing software." The distinction is important and I think becomes clear once you've viewed the tutorial.
Here are the five big areas covered:
Realistically there are several other important features about Scrivener—and what I list as the big five may not be the same for everyone. However, this 22 minute tutorial does provide a decent overview for academics wanting to get started with Scrivener. The download is about 135 Mb, and the movie will play fine on your iPad (sync via iTunes) as well as your computer.
Several faculty in the School of Education are getting Scrivener and I've created a tutorial mainly for them, but anyone is welcome to download and use this tutorial. The tutorial covers, at least for me, the five essential features you want to know about Scrivener. In essence this tutorial presents why someone would use Scrivener rather than being a how to tutorial.
Perhaps the most important concept to understand is that Scrivener creates a writing environment rather than being simply "writing software." The distinction is important and I think becomes clear once you've viewed the tutorial.
Here are the five big areas covered:
- Chunking
- Organizational Flexibility
- Integrated Research
- Compiling (Exporting)
- Meta-Data
Monday, November 1, 2010
Writers on Scrivener
Not sure if Scrivener is a useful writing tool? Then check out the Scrivener webpage that contains only testimonials from published authors. It's a long, impressive, and passionate set of praise.
When reading these short pithy testimonials keep in mind that the writers are referring to first version of Scrivener. The second version of Scrivener is a major upgrade and insanely more impressive.
When reading these short pithy testimonials keep in mind that the writers are referring to first version of Scrivener. The second version of Scrivener is a major upgrade and insanely more impressive.
Scrivener and Meta-Data
One of the very powerful and enhanced features in Scrivener 2.0 is how it handles meta-data. There are actually two categories of "meta-data" in Scrivener: ordinary meta-data (such as keywords, labels, and much more) plus custom meta-data. The link below provides a very short introduction to custom meta-data in the Scrivener writing environment:
Three Reviews of Scrivener
I'm posting links to three reviews of Scrivener. Two of these reviews are specifically aimed at people doing non-fiction or research writing. The first link looks at Scrivener for academic writing.
This second post is a review of Scrivener published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. It was written in March 2010 so it does not address the new features included in the 2.0 release.
The third post is simply titled, "Scrivener might Change Your Life." Check it out:
This second post is a review of Scrivener published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. It was written in March 2010 so it does not address the new features included in the 2.0 release.
The third post is simply titled, "Scrivener might Change Your Life." Check it out:
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