Why I Won't Stick to Scrivener

Photo Credit: Lívia Cristina on Flickr

Earlier this week, I was telling my friend Rae that I was trying to get into the hang of using Scrivener when she mentioned that she didn't use it. I feel like every other writer I meet uses Scrivener, so I was taken aback. Put simply, Rae prefers simplicity. She can't resist the shiny lure of Scrivener's buttons and folders, so she doesn't write there. It makes sense.

Of course, the conversation got me thinking: why was I even using Scrivener? I've never had any real issues with Word. Sure, it lags with some of my longer documents, but I can deal with that. Like I said, a lot of writers I know love Scrivener. Maybe their influence led me to purchase the product? I'm not blaming anyone for my decision, but I'm interested in finding out why I thought I had to have it.

I still don't know anything about Scrivener. I've been trying to use it for months, but I haven't been able to make it work for me. Like Rae said, there are too many distractions. I spend more time moving folders around and clicking things than actually writing, which is a problem.

Author Ksenia Anske (she's FANTASTIC) just sticks to plain old Word. She's found what works for her, so why change anything? Sometimes simplest is best.

Writer Stephen Moran expressed a similar sentiment to me the other day when we were talking about computers. I mentioned wanting a Mac so that I could take advantage of iMovie. He told me that he had a Mac for the longest time and loved it, but he seldom used it for writing. Now that he has a basic PC, he gets much more work done (check out my review of his novel ELLA here - it's an excellent book).

I'm not telling you to uninstall Scrivener. If you're using it to write and it works for you, great. I just don't want you to think you have to stick to something because it's what everyone else uses. When it comes to achieving success as a writer, your best bet is to do whatever best suits you. For me, that means writing in Microsoft Word, outlining on index cards, and printing the MS before I read through it. That's what works for me. I hope you find what works for you.

What do you think? How do you feel about writing software? What programs or technologies do you use to write?

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Don't feel guilty for not using Scrivener, says @brianawrites. (Click to tweet)

According to @brianawrites, when it comes to writing, you should stick with what works for you. (Click to tweet)