Quick question – what do you write on? Word? Scrivener? Something else?
How do you find it? Positives and negatives?
I ask because I’ve used Scrivener for Book 1 of my WIP, and love the compartmentalization it offers, but hate that I have to use it on only one PC. I also hate that when I send it for editing/beta reading, I have to export to Word first, then translate comments and changes back into Scrivener.
On the other hand, Word offers me the ability to access and write anywhere (thanks to the cloud), and comments/fixes from editors and betas can be changed easily. However, one long large doc gets unwieldy and difficult to manage, and it’s difficult to find certain scenes/chapters.
Thoughts?
Jessica Bakkers 
I’ve been a HUGE fan of Word years. I tried Scrivener for a while, and I agree that there are advantages. But I’ve found myself going back to Word again and again. Now it’s all I use. I guess I’m just more comfortable with it.
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I’m leaning exactly the same way. I love being able to access my ongoing WIP anywhere, anytime. Thanks Penny 🙂
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When I replaced my PC, Microsoft started charging for its packages like Word. Therefore, I use a type of Word called Apache Open Office. It does work for me although the spell check can be a nightmare. According to it, every word you type is spelled wrong. Maybe I should stop being so tight and get Word.
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Thanks Mike. You wouldn’t recommend Apache?
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If you are a penny pincher like me, then it’s okay because it’s free.
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I use Word. For this current WIP I kept each scene in a clearly labeled, separate Word doc until I rewrote and edited and switched scenes around (and deleted some), and THEN I put it all in one doc. It was easier for me to handle that way.
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Hm, that’s a good idea. I hadn’t considered that approach…. thanks Priscilla 🤗
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I am very old fashioned and write all my books in word. I keep the side column that shows the different chapter headings and sub-headings open so I can easily go backwards and forwards and that works for me.
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Ah, so you use the inbuild “headings” to label chapters? Do you know how that works hen converting to a published document?
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I use Apple Pages. I also have to convert to Word to send out sections, and have started using a formatter to get my publishable copy. I love the cloud usage and can use any of my devices and Mac to work on a project.
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Apple Pages is Mac only I assume?
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Mine is iOS on an iPad.
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Ah, ok…
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You know, I never thought I could only use Scrivener on one PC. That just killed the deal for me (I was thinking of purchasing and learning it), but I write on 3 different computers. 2 are Macs and 1 is a Windows PC (lunch breaks only).
I’ve used Word for decades and it works great for me. I haven’t had problems with long documents. I’m usually able to find what I need quickly. I guess I’ll stay a Word girl indefinitely.
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Thanks Mae. Good to hear ol’ word is good enough for you. Accessibility really is key.
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I swear by Scrivener. I thought they had an online feature.
There’s an online version similar called StoryShop that’s on version 2 and isn’t bad. We use it at work, so I’m not sure what the price is.
There’s a free online novel-writing program called Hive Word (hiveword.com) that’s also similar. The user interface isn’t fabulous, but it’s free and online. You can export to a Word doc (.rtf) but you’ll have some cleaning up to do. Still, it’s free. And there’s a “plus” version (paid; don’t know the price) that gives you even more options.
Hope that helps.
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So you’re a Scrivener girl. Hm. As I said, I love so much about it, I just wish I could access it on other computers. I’ll look into online and check out these others. Thanks 🤗
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