Scrivener

So, I used my lovely winner's coupon (50% off!) and bought myself a copy of this program called Scrivener.  First of all, I did this late at night and I was not exactly thinking straight.  I got it all set up and installed and started the tutorial, which I like to do with a brand new program like this that can do SO MUCH.

I will admit to being a bit intimidated by the 1-2 HOURS they expect it to take you to do the tutorial.  There's a lot to learn, though, and I'd rather take the time and get it right.  It's much better than just trying to muddle through and being angry because this thing cost me money and "it's not working right!"

If you "won" at NaNo this year, this is where you can find your 50% off code!    And if you don't want to chuck out $20 before trying, it offers a 30 day trial before you buy.  And if you "won", your code will be good for almost a year.  Just don't forget about it!!  Anyway!

The idea is that you can write in scenes, sections, chapters, however you like, rearrange them easily, keep track of all your character notes and plot notes and make having separate documents for everything obsolete.  You SHOULD be able to keep your chapters, make notes on them, add keywords so you can track which character is in it or is the protagonist of the chapter, etc.  It's really versatile.  You should also be able to make your outlines with the program, and make it unnecessary to have spreadsheets to keep track of everything.

This sounds like such a great idea, and I'm running through the walk-through and am liking what I see.  But goodness, it's taking me forever to get through the walk through!  I have all these distractions, am tired, or have people around ALL THE TIME.  I can't think straight.

SO FAR, I see all kinds of great things with this program.  If you won NaNo and have $20 to spare, or want to just go download and look at the trial version...  You can try before you buy, but I'm not sure how much, because I paid right away.  But anyway, take a look at it, if you are writer in whatever form (it has stuff to keep track of screenplays and PART of the screenplay without you having to indent a lot or whatever)...

I'll have to come back and say more about this once I've actually finished the tutorial and given it a try.  I have great plans for trying it out.  I just hope I can get it all figured out and make it do what I want.  It's a lot to remember...

Postscript~

Because it's always more fun to say "postscript" than "PS"...
I found the video walk through that shows the basics of the Scrivener program.  The one on their site is a download and it wouldn't let me post it again here.  So here's the same thing, on youtube: