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[PUBLIC POST] Tools of the trade
What do you write with? What's your workflow like? Is there particular software that you like to use for certain purposes, or do you prefer writing in longhand and transcribing to a computer later on? Has technology affected your writing process in any way?
I have a mix of processes. Generally I like Scrivener for its ability to organize snippets of writing and to keep all my research in the same place, but its lack of mobile options means I use Evernote a lot when I'm away from my computers. I'm also fond of longhand writing when I'm in libraries and on public transport. This means I have a lot of scattered notes and bits in different places, all of which I swear I'm going to transcribe to my Scrivener project someday.
A major boon for research purposes is Zotero, a citations database program where I can organize my citations and take extensive notes, with search and tag functions available for later reference. Like Scrivener via Dropbox and Evernote it's all synchronized online, meaning it's automatically backed up and available on whatever machine I log into.
The availability of cloud and synchronization technology like Dropbox, Evernote, and Zotero made things easier in some ways and gave me peace of mind in the form of automatic backup, but I also have a lot of paper notes that are one careless placement or a house fire away from getting lost forever. Better get to it, I guess.
I have a mix of processes. Generally I like Scrivener for its ability to organize snippets of writing and to keep all my research in the same place, but its lack of mobile options means I use Evernote a lot when I'm away from my computers. I'm also fond of longhand writing when I'm in libraries and on public transport. This means I have a lot of scattered notes and bits in different places, all of which I swear I'm going to transcribe to my Scrivener project someday.
A major boon for research purposes is Zotero, a citations database program where I can organize my citations and take extensive notes, with search and tag functions available for later reference. Like Scrivener via Dropbox and Evernote it's all synchronized online, meaning it's automatically backed up and available on whatever machine I log into.
The availability of cloud and synchronization technology like Dropbox, Evernote, and Zotero made things easier in some ways and gave me peace of mind in the form of automatic backup, but I also have a lot of paper notes that are one careless placement or a house fire away from getting lost forever. Better get to it, I guess.
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For official work, I use Scrivener for its scene/chapter organization - haven't managed to make great use of its outlining or research collecting features (yet?), but when I'm scrolling through 80k in Word looking for the right scene, I remember why I do novels in Scrivener.
But also like you, the lack of mobility has become an obstacle. After I set up my Dropbox folder to sync with my documents folder, it was amazing to realize that I could access anything anywhere, on my phone exactly the same as my computer - except any work in Scrivener. I mean, it's there in case of hard drive crashes, but impossible to work with. So I've taken to using Word for everything non-novel. It's also nice to be able to send files to my writing club buddy or anyone else without going through the exporting, or accidentally making edits in the doc and then having to copy them back by hand into Scrivener.
For notes I'd already been using OneNote for a while, ever since they finally launched for Mac and their iOS app came up to par. I always wanted to get into Evernote because it's not Microsoft and all the cool kids are doing it, but I came to hypothesize that everyone's brain must work better with one or the other, and OneNote is the one my brain likes.
[The tabs across the top. I neeeed the tabs - across the top and down the side. It's so orderly. It's so beautiful. Haha.]
And OneNote becomes a go-between in a sense; I can refer to it whether I'm working in Scrivener or in Word. And I use it for everything else in my life, with the same phenomenon as Dropbox - access anywhere. What a crazy time for information.
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There are parts of an old project that I literally could not have done without Scrivener. I switched out the scene orders over and over again for one 10K-word chapter, something that would have been exhausting at best and a disaster at worst on Word but was so easy on Scriv. I could even save several different scene orders as collections to see how different versions of the chapters worked. It gives me an adrenaline rush just thinking about it, and I look forward to working intensively with the software again. (I get adrenaline rushes from weird and geeky stuff, needless to say.)
For all its justly-praised merits Scrivener hasn't adapted to the mobile age, as you point out. It doesn't even play all that nicely with Dropbox, if the multiple conflicting versions of the main project file are any indication. Has that happened to you? I don't think I've experienced major glitches from all the conflicting versions, but it's annoying nonetheless.
OneNote is one of those apps I dabbled in and wanted to get into, but Evernote caught me up during a period when I didn't have access to MS Office. And now in most likelihood I'm too entrenched to ever port over. Evernote in good enough that I don't actually want to leave, but it's almost boring in its unobtrusive competence and there's always the possibility of overrunning my free quota hanging over my head. Plus it's awfully... green. Evernote is the spouse I find fault with but ended up building my life around, and OneNote will likely remain the one that got away.
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Scene order collections is something to remember... I've switched things around quite a bit as well.
I typically only use Scrivener on one computer, so I haven't run into issues with conflicting versions so far. But from the few times I've left a Word document open on my computer, edited something on my phone and then forgot to refresh the open document, I would not want to deal with that with a large Scrivener work.
I LOVE your OneNote/Evernote analogy. And "it's awfully...green." I had a very good laugh.
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EverNote really is solid yet stolid. And OneNote has actual multiple colors, which is definitely a plus. XD
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