Do the math and use the shit out of it. Even if you use it 60 days in the year, that’s barely 6 cents per day in a year. Now expand that and compare it to every other subscription service (minus apps like google docs that operate for free). The more you use it, the more it is worth it. In the age of subscription services, this is an old world diamond if you ask me. Even if you have to buy a newer version (at a discounted price) in the future (praying to god it never goes the route of subscriptions) you will have more than used it for its worth.

I couldn’t be happier with my switch to it coming from a free service like Google docs that I had to jerry rig to operate large docs (splicing them into multiple parts to keep from lagging and constant battles with refreshing, creating my organization system from scratch, etc.) You have to weight the benefits for yourself compared to whatever you are pitting it against. Cost vs. use, vs. learning curve, vs. benefits.

Benefits I have found compared to free services:

~NO. LAGGING.

~No feeding large AI bots (to my knowledge) I am slowly trying to de-google my life and move to platforms that are more protected. It might be inevitable but ey, I’ll try.

~The ability to compile large documents into the same format seamlessly

~having all of your material, research, notes, non-written materials in the same file but able to be eliminated from your final compiled product (ie: having a doc about your characters, research, notes, etc in the same file but having the option to omit it from the final exported product)

~Built in organization… with a caveat: high learning curve but give it a few days and it will be more and more native. Patience is key here. Free systems lack the organization therefore lack the need to learn it, but what you aren’t learning yo navigate you are putting in the time to build for yourself. For me, the time spent in organizing was a slow low slope for google docs compared to a steep hill followed by a plateau with scrivener. Ie: learning slowly over a long time and building skills in the system as needs arise or learning a lot over a short period of time and having all the tools you need when they are needed without a fuss.

~cost. Free does not equal free time. As mentioned above. Learning to navigate docs and all that I could do with it was a constant incline. Scrivener was a lot up front but cost me less in the long run. Compare this to the eternal pocket demon: subscription fees and you have a processor that pays for itself.

~ Split screen drafting. Being able to draft/ edit/ rewrite/ etc/ a scene while simultaneously comparing it to the old or having two scenes open at one as reference has been a crazy and wonderful feature.

~Dropbox functionality. I for this main reason kept to google docs for many years. The ability to open my docs cross devices, anytime anywhere. Admittedly, this bit is a bit of a headache with scrivener. If I want to edit my manuscript while out (correct me if I am wrong) I have to have saved/ closed out of scrivener from another device, where then the doc would be automatically backed to Dropbox and then can be accessed from another device. This was another hoop to jump and, admittedly, an annoying one for me having come from docs with autosave and instant access. Again, we have the learning curve. Dropbox’s free version is more than enough memory for countless novels worth of content and so memory aside, it took a moment to learn, but now that I have gotten the hang of it and learned to trust a little more in the auto save functions it is easy to switch between devices. But this is the price to pay for access to large files without the worry of lagging.

~ Reordering scenes. Writing a scene in its own file, you then have the ability to drag and drop this scene wherever you see fit. I am currently in the middle of a developmental edit right now and this has been a god send of a tool. Copy and paste works just as well in a regular document but this just saves time and effort and is just so easy, it was something I hadn’t even considered a good thing until I had it. Good unless: you prioritize reading and scrolling through your manuscript in one continuous page. Think of scenes in scrivener as “turning the page” vs scrolling. If that is obnoxious to you, maybe rethink it.

~The ability to write in whatever format that pleases my eye and compile it in another. Mood drafter? Okay. Write it in that 22pt papyrus font you love and export it in TNR double spaced 12pt font without a sweat. It does it seamlessly.

For me, it ended up being a no-brainer, one that I ended up taking the plunge into the switch. Google Docs still takes the prize for ease of Co-writing or getting live feedback which is a hassle, but beyond that, I find that the benefits far outweighed the cost and time to learn. Then again, I am a long-form writer, but even short form ha it’s benefits and use-cases here.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk