Scrivener Questions & Where to Download.

Discussion in 'Mac Apps and Mac App Store' started by Traverse, Dec 29, 2013.

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  1. Traverse, Dec 29, 2013

    Traverse macrumors 603

    Traverse

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    #1
    Hello,

    I have been doing some extensive research on Scrivener. I am by no means a professional writer (I'm an Accounting major), but I do like to write for fun and have considered writing my own private novel.

    Also, I write MANY research papers (4-8 a term). Scrivener's tools and organization look like they would be leaps and bounds ahead of Word or Pages for writing lengthly reports, once you learn how to use it.


    Is Scrivener as good as it sounds?
    Does it support all the features an academic would need? (Table of Contents, footnotes, cited pages)


    Most Importantly: Scrivener is available from the Mac App Store and from their site. Are these versions identical? Is there any benefit from not getting through the App store aside from the ability to enter discount codes?

    Thank you all.
     
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  2. jojoba, Dec 29, 2013

    jojoba macrumors 68000

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    #2
    I'm a researcher and there's no doubt in my mind that Scrivener is the best writing tool out there for academic work, by far. I've written a bit more about Scrivener here:

    http://macademise.wordpress.com/tag/scrivener/

    There's no difference between the version on the mac store and the one from their web site. If I were you, I would download their free trial version, which is valid for 30 days, and check it out.
     
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  3. exegete77, Dec 29, 2013

    exegete77 macrumors 6502a

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    #3
    I am a theologian, former editor of a magazine, and seminary president. I work on all of the major documents in Scrivener. For the Seminary I have the entire curriculum including syllabus and weekly study guides all in Scrivener. I can’t imagine using anything else.

    For editing the magazine it greatly reduced my time of editing and compiling. Worked like a charm.

    For articles involving Hebrew, I use Mellel, because Scrivener has some limitations.
     
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  4. robgendreau, Dec 30, 2013

    robgendreau macrumors 68030

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    #4
    And lucky you, there's a sale going on for Scrivener, Scapple, DevonThink Pro, Nisus Writer Pro and Tinderbox, all for like 20-25% off: http://www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Specials/WinterFest.html

    And Scrivener has discounts if you need cross-platform licenses.

    All are excellent writing tools.
     
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  5. Traverse, Jan 4, 2014

    Traverse thread starter macrumors 603

    Traverse

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    #5
    Sorry for the late reply. Thank you all for your input!

    ----------
    And thanks for the tip.
     
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  6. grahamperrin, Nov 26, 2014
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2014

    grahamperrin macrumors 601

    grahamperrin

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    #6
    Scrivener, Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, EndNote

    Was the decision to purchase Scrivener partly driven by frustrations/disappointments with Apple Pages and Microsoft Office?

    Just curious.

    Postscript

    I found an earlier post:

    Still, there's the question – I wonder what drove your decision to purchase.
     
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  7. Traverse, Nov 26, 2014

    Traverse thread starter macrumors 603

    Traverse

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    #7
    No, it wasn't iWork's loss of functionality. I had previously spent a term in an interdisciplinary research course/group. We had 4 research projects and a research proposal. I completed the entire course using Pages (and Google Docs when we had a group project) and it was somewhat annoying.

    When writing an essay or a quick analysis I tend to write in a linear fashion so Pages/Word is great, but when working on a research proposal or another big project I tend to jump around. I had a folder of PDFs, a bookmarks folder full of other web sources, I broke my Pages document up and was jumping between sections and I had another Pages document of key points to include. I was juggling all these 20+ sources and it was chaotic. I got the assignment done in a satisfactory manner, but knew I needed a better workflow for later (and much bigger) projects, especially my thesis.

    I was looking through the App Store's "Apps for Writers" when I first noticed Scrivener. After reading reviews, Googling posts here and articles from other sources for about a week, it seemed like the exact product I was looking for. I downloaded the free trial and went the tutorial and fell in love with it. Plus, at that time Apple was having some kind of promotion and I got it 50% in the MAS. Looking back though, I wish I'd bought the full price version from Literature & Latte directly. They deserve the money.

    Now I use it for all big, personal projects like my thesis, other research proposals, my (crappy) personal novel, etc.
     
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