Last year, I switched from Windows to Mac and immediately faced a huge dilemma: Microsoft Word or Apple Pages? Having used Word for decades, I knew it inside and out. I also knew the Mac version would be just different enough to mess me up. Pages looked okay, but I found it frustrating. As I searched for the perfect word processor for my writing business, I stumbled on Scrivener.
What the Heck is Scrivener?
Photo courtesy of Joe in DC(CC No Derivatives)
I like to call Scrivener a beast of a word processor because it is. It’s intimidating with all of its panes, toolbars, and hidden features. It’s not super pretty, either. In fact, it’s kind of ugly. The learning curve is steep. The more you use it, the more beastly it becomes.
That said, Scrivener is beastly in a good way. It’s a shape-shifter, transforming into whatever you need it to be. For example, if you want a clutter-free writing environment, Scrivener has a “composition mode” which transforms the beast into a thing of beauty.
Many writers use Scrivener for their manuscripts and screenplays, and I can see why. Me? I use it for all of my website content writing projects.
How I Use Scrivener for My Clients’ Website Content Writing Projects
Each client gets their own Scrivener file. This allows me to keep everything related to a single client in one place including:
- Current website content writing assignments
- Proposals
- Special instructions
- Notes
- Research
- Bibliographies
- Content style guides
- Marketing personas
- Templates
- Completed assignments
- And more…
For agency clients, I create individual folders and subfolders for each of their projects and/or clients. This keeps everything neat and organized, yet all of their project work is located within a single file.
How I Use Scrivener for My Own Website Content Writing Projects
Photo courtesy of Celestial Content Services
Whether writing a blog post like this one for my own website or creating a marketing plan for my business, if it involves words, it involves Scrivener! My marketing plan is in Scrivener, my ebooks are in Scrivener, assignments for courses I’m taking in are in — you guessed it — Scrivener.
One of my favorite features is the ability to change each folder’s icons. I used to use the status field to mark projects as either to do or complete (and I still do). Now I change the icon to either a checkmark (complete) or the information alert (to do) so that I can see at a glance what needs my attention.
I also love the word count target feature. For example, right now I can tell I’m getting close to my target. I set a word count target for everything I write in Scrivener and monitor it regularly.
These are just a few of the dozens of features I love. Scrivener is a beast, but it’s also a beauty. I will never go back to a regular word processor.