Scrivener 3.0 for Windows is finally available
Scrivener 3.0 - Finally!
I remember back in 2017 when I discovered Literature and Latte. I was finishing my manuscript for Timberwolves, my debut novel, and after having written it entirely in MS Word, I was looking for an alternative. It’s not that I hated Word, I didn’t. I’d used Word my whole life, it seemed, but for large projects, I imagined there had to be a better way.
What was the issue? Once you get fifty chapters into a project, and it nears or exceeds 100,000 words, Word has a few hiccups that disrupted my workflow. At one point I was saving each chapter as a separate Word doc, and it became tiresome to open and save each of these, or try to combine material from one chapter with another. When I finally decided to combine all chapters into one large manuscript, Word seemed to struggle with the task. I found it laggy at moments.
Since I often worked on this in my spare time at work on the online version of Word, I noticed a very annoying bug that I submitted to Microsoft about 100 times and they never addressed. Even though I was using the same font (Times New Roman), the apostrophes and quotation marks appeared differently. In the online version, they were straight, and in the desktop version they were curved, like a serif font. This meant that anything I typed at work had straight apostrophes or quotations, and anything I typed at home had curved ones. I ended up having to go back and and unify them all manually, which was an extremely tedious process. (Trust me, I tried “selecting all” and manipulating the font, but to no avail).
Long story short, in 2017 I was ready for something a little less frustrating. I did a little research and Scrivener seemed a choice that was growing in popularity. By reading the website, I saw that a version 3.0 would soon be released. The site also promised that anyone purchasing version 1 could update to 3.0 when it released. Sounded good to me, so I took the plunge.
Granted, it’s been a little longer of a wait than I first imagined, but fastforward to 2021, and we finally have version 3.0 for Windows. But true to their word, I was able to upgrade from the version I bought in 2017 for free. Free is always nice, especially for a self-published writer. I was able to convert what I had in Word for Timberwolves and finish it there, and also start on the sequel (which, for you fans out there, I’m about 12,000 words into).
Scrivener is so much better for writing long works. The editor that lets me have multiple windows open at the same time, and the ability to have tags and a corkboard and outline view are definite game changers. I like that I can switch between chapters on a whim without dealing with different files, or having to scroll through one giant document. And I haven’t even mentioned the compile feature, which makes compiling the document for printing or ePublishing a breeze.
If you are like I was in 2017, and are looking for an alternative for your writing, head on over to Literature and Latte, and give Scrivener a try. It can be a little overwhelming at first, but, like me, I think you’ll be pleased in the long run.
*Disclaimer- I have received no financial compensation or anything for posting this. I’m just a fan, getting the word out.
