Do you know of a terrific Fiction-Writer's Software?

October 22, 2010 8:48 AM

Fiction-Writing Software recommendation? I have a large manuscript with multiple characters, chapters, themes and volumes in the planning stage. I want to move beyond a blizzard of Post-its on my wall. I've looked at Scrivener, and am seeking other suggestions from users. Anything wonderful? Anything to absolutely avoid? Needs to be Mac-friendly, as well.
posted by citygirl to Writing & Language (18 answers total)

I've been using Scrivener for all of my professional and personal writing projects -- screenplays, graphic novel scrips, long-format fiction, short stories, and brainstorming for all of the above -- for several years, and I've had a fantastic experience. I'm also extremely excited about the upcoming update, which will add more sophisticated formatting options, among other things.

Other programs of the type that I've tried to use -- like Tinderbox -- were great for organizing thoughts and notes, but less ideal for managing the actual text of the work. But Tinderbox might be worth checking out -- writing is a very personal process, after all, and what works for me is of course going to be different from what works for you.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 8:56 AM on October 22, 2010

I think Scrivener is the best integrated solution available. I checked out most of what's available (and like you, I had a lot to keep track of in my Big Civil War Novel) and Scrivener just beat the other options hollow.

That said, because I am the hidebound weirdo that I am, I wound up sticking with my combination of index cards and Caboodle. But I do not recommend this to anyone else less obsessive and/or Luddite than I.
posted by Sidhedevil at 8:59 AM on October 22, 2010

Did you see the Other Mac Writing software page on Scrivener's website?

But yeah, I think Scrivener is pretty much the best out there at the moment. Now's a great time to buy it too, as a major update is about to come out and any licenses bought in the next few weeks come with a free upgrade.
posted by Happy Dave at 9:12 AM on October 22, 2010

Another vote for scrivener. I use it for writing scientific papers as well.
posted by dhruva at 9:18 AM on October 22, 2010

Scrivener. You don't need to look any further.
posted by synecdoche at 9:22 AM on October 22, 2010

Scrivener. I love it for all kinds of writing projects. They've been linking to tutorial videos for new features in the upcoming version from their Twitter feed, and it looks like some really cool stuff is on the way.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:03 AM on October 22, 2010

Everything I've heard about Scrivener has been glowing. I've tried the (windows friendly, Linux friendly) alternatives and they all suck, either graphically or functionally.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:11 AM on October 22, 2010

What is it about Scrivener that doesn't work for you?
posted by crankylex at 10:13 AM on October 22, 2010

One more vote for Scrivener! Its just great. I use it for everything. Its especially useful for transcribing audio for interviews because you can split your view into two segments, so I place my audio file on the top half and then type on the bottom half. Transcription used to be a much bigger hassle without Scrivener because I had to use two programs.

You probably wont be needing to transcribe very much to write fiction, but I thought I would just put that out there!
posted by minicloud at 10:29 AM on October 22, 2010

Ulysses is pretty good.
posted by Sticherbeast at 11:58 AM on October 22, 2010

What if you don't have a Mac? Any recommendations for that?
posted by jenfu at 12:24 PM on October 22, 2010

jenfu, Scrivener has announced a Windows version is in the pipe for January.
posted by dobbs at 4:05 PM on October 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

Scrivener has announced a Windows version is in the pipe for January

Supposedly there will be a beta version out in a few days, if you're up for living dangerously.
posted by tangerine at 4:17 PM on October 22, 2010

Response by poster: It sounds like Scrivener is worth the learning curve for someone who is not totally comfortable with giving up my visceral connection with ink and paper (and index cards). I appreciate the advice of all the writers who have posted, also the suggestion that the updated version will be available soon.

Other suggestions, particularly regarding manuscript organization, are gratefully accepted!
posted by citygirl at 6:09 PM on October 22, 2010

some dude i know uses celtx.
posted by 3mendo at 6:25 PM on October 22, 2010

I'm seconding Ulysses -- i've tried both Scrivener and Ulysses and I ended up going back to Ulysses because it was (in my opinion) a more elegant implementation of the way that I take notes. If you do try Ulysses, I highly recommend the screencasts, in particular, the fifth one where they explain how to organise your documents in the application.

The stupid notecard format of Scrivener started to really, really irritate me -- I like Ulysses because it's plain, elegant, and doesn't have any daft visual models for the way that I think.
posted by ukdanae at 7:07 PM on October 22, 2010

Okay I'll deviate away. How about yWriter5? That is something amazingly cool and easy to use. I got this from the NanoWrimo forums and the screencaps wowed me so much I had to give it a go. If you look at them, make sure to scroll all the way down, even past the foreign language shots.

It's just amazing!
posted by magnoliasouth at 2:15 AM on October 23, 2010

Response by poster: magnoliasmouth - thanks for your yWriter5 suggestion. This looks more intuitive than Scrivener. The notecard conceit of Scriveners if probably what I objected to. It grates as too smooth and formated, and yWriter5 seems more natural. I'm going to give it a try.

Also appreciate all the support for Scriveners. I may yet end up there.
posted by citygirl at 5:57 PM on October 23, 2010