TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I used Scrivener as a repository for research that I conducted for doctoral coursework and dissertation. It works well to collect annotated texts and to group and tag them according to any schema you'd like to apply, and it made writing the dissertation much easier because all of my research, including annotated PDFs, was housed in a single location. I drafted my dissertation in Scrivener as well, and found it a useful, if sometimes quirky, writing tool. The key benefit to me is the ability to write natural prose (rather than markup) and output that prose in a wide variety of formats. Once drafted, I output the dissertation project into Word as required by my university, then proceeded to complete the manuscript with its formatting in Word. But drafting in Scrivener made it so much easier to hone in on specific areas of the dissertation without the horror of scrolling pages and pages in a single Word document.
I'm a fan of Scrivener and believe it meets the needs of many different writing tasks. The one drawback is the inability to collaborate in the tool. Most of my writing now is collaborative, and Scrivener isn't an option for that. At least, not that I've discovered.
Good luck!
Daniel
Daniel L. Hocutt, PhD
Web Manager | Adjunct Professor
School of Professional & Continuing Studies
University of Richmond, Virginia USA
dhocutt -at- richmond -dot- edu
Technical Editor, ACM SIGDOC Proceedings <https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3513130>
Research Member, Digital Life Institute <https://digitallife.org/>
ïOn 3/2/23, 1:55 AM, "techwr-l-bounces+dhocutt=richmond -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:richmond -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> on behalf of techwr-l-request -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l-request -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>" <techwr-l-bounces+dhocutt=richmond -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:richmond -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> on behalf of techwr-l-request -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l-request -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>> wrote:
External Email: Use caution in opening links, attachments, and buying gift cards.
Send TECHWR-L mailing list submissions to
techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
You can reach the person managing the list at
techwr-l-owner -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l-owner -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of TECHWR-L digest..."
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2023 02:26:51 +0000
From: Syed Zaeem Hosain <Syed -dot- Hosain -at- aeris -dot- net <mailto:Syed -dot- Hosain -at- aeris -dot- net>>
To: "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>>
Subject: Could people comment on Scrivener?
Message-ID:
<BYAPR18MB298305A86F6265F69DA07046F0B29 -at- BYAPR18MB2983 -dot- namprd18 -dot- prod -dot- outlook -dot- com <mailto:BYAPR18MB298305A86F6265F69DA07046F0B29 -at- BYAPR18MB2983 -dot- namprd18 -dot- prod -dot- outlook -dot- com>>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Have people used Scrivener to write and can comment on how you liked or disliked it?
I am looking for a tool where I can:
1. Create a basic outline of the sections I want in the book.
2. Write the text of the sections - in relatively random order - and then combine and organize them together.
3. Create a PDF output of the final book.
From what I can tell, Scrivener fits the bill pretty inexpensively. My initial writing will not be long books, of course.
And, yes, I am willing to have a bit of a learning curve (which seems to be what some reviews are saying) to get familiar with it.
Comments - pros and cons? I trust people here far more than the random reviews I have read so far! ?
Thanks!
Z
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2023 21:25:30 -0600
From: Jim Jones <han4yu3 -at- gmail -dot- com <mailto:han4yu3 -at- gmail -dot- com>>
To: Syed Zaeem Hosain <Syed -dot- Hosain -at- aeris -dot- net <mailto:Syed -dot- Hosain -at- aeris -dot- net>>
Cc: "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>>
Subject: Re: Could people comment on Scrivener?
Message-ID:
<CAOnY3iebtc1BD6fB_=0psRTiO=d_LF8maHBq-8P+=jUh+ZbH=g -at- mail -dot- gmail -dot- com <mailto:g -at- mail -dot- gmail -dot- com>>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Because of my screenwriting activities, I have used it, and I like it. I
still will use it.
A couple of years ago I took a very useful screenwriting course and
Scrivener was a recommended tool for the course.
It was easy to learn.
My impression was that Scrivener could easily be adapted to use for other
things. Books, for example, and not just scripts.
Jim Jones
AB and MA in Linguistics
LinkedIn.com/in/jimxlat
On Wednesday, March 1, 2023, Syed Zaeem Hosain <Syed -dot- Hosain -at- aeris -dot- net <mailto:Syed -dot- Hosain -at- aeris -dot- net>>
wrote:
> Have people used Scrivener to write and can comment on how you liked or
> disliked it?
>
> I am looking for a tool where I can:
>
>
> 1. Create a basic outline of the sections I want in the book.
> 2. Write the text of the sections - in relatively random order - and
> then combine and organize them together.
> 3. Create a PDF output of the final book.
>
> From what I can tell, Scrivener fits the bill pretty inexpensively. My
> initial writing will not be long books, of course.
>
> And, yes, I am willing to have a bit of a learning curve (which seems to
> be what some reviews are saying) to get familiar with it.
>
> Comments - pros and cons? I trust people here far more than the random
> reviews I have read so far! ?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Z
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and
> content development | https://techwhirl.com <https://techwhirl.com>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as han4yu3 -at- gmail -dot- com <mailto:han4yu3 -at- gmail -dot- com>.
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com <mailto:admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com>. Visit
>http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ <http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/> for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com <http://techwhirl.com>
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives <http://techwr-l.com/archives>
>
End of TECHWR-L Digest, Vol 205, Issue 1
****************************************
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and content development | https://techwhirl.com
