Scrivener is a writing and project management app designed for writers, researchers, and other creative professionals working with the written word. The latest version, Scrivener 3, is available for Mac and Windows computers, as well as iOS devices.

Scrivener is packed full of tools that fit pretty much any writing scenario. You can organize and outline projects, create character profiles and research notes, and track writing progress. The app also includes a variety of formatting options and templates to help create professional-looking documents.

The templates are, for me, the best thing about this app. You get different templates for different writing needs. Say you're an undergraduate student writing an end-of-term paper or a graduate student working on a doctoral thesis, then you'll likely need a system to organize citations and research material alongside your main body of writing. Scrivener covers this.

If you're a novelist, screenwriter, or a playwright, then you might want to work on plot and character development, storyboarding, and scene progression. Scrivener does a decent job of organizing that too.

Options are what Scrivener does best. At the same time, this array of parameters can be overwhelming for some users. There is definitely a learning curve with this app to get to a point where it is really working for and not against your project. The writing interface is not the issue. If you're familiar with Microsoft Word, then writing with Scrivener is not that different. The learning curve is on the data management side of the app. Fortunately, there are decent tutorials on the app's website to help streamline the learning process. But if you're looking for an ultra-minimalist writing app, Scrivener is likely not for you.

I think Scrivener is a solid choice for writers who really care about the organisational aspect of their work. Scrivener in that sense is a writing system. A kind of methodology. I definitely recommend downloading and playing with the trial version before upgrading to the paid package. See if it works for you.

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Scrivener writing and project management app