Just gave up on Scrivener

[Kendric]

I don't want to. I really don't, but Scrivener has stopped being the enabler, it's the obstacle at this point. Maybe once I get this manuscript completed I'll import it back and do the editing. Till then I'm stopping with the excuses and starting with the writing… in Pages.

Pages, of all things?

Well, maybe not ultimately. It's not the best thing for writing long-form fiction, and it's certainly not the best thing to edit anything long in. It's layout is sorely lacking for manuscripts. But there's one thing it is that Scrivener absolutely is not:

Available for iPad.

Wish me luck.

[pigfender]

Well, good luck!

I personally don't use Scrivener for every stage of my writing. I jot down notes and spider diagrams and sometimes sneaky paragraphs on pen and paper of all things before reconciling back into Scrivener.

I'm personally not a fan of the iPad. I've seen it alternately as a phone that you can't fit in your pocket, and as an overpriced and underpowered laptop that doesn't have a keyboard, with a highly restrictive operating system.

But I've come to terms with it now, and see it for what I suspect was Apple's original plan: it's a computer for people who don't need a computer (like my mum, for example). Maybe a bit of web browsing (as long as you don't need Flash, of course), maybe a few games and a media center. But not something for anyone who needs clever software or powerful software. Ultimately it is a device for outputting info, not inputting. Not in any substantial scale or form, anyway. Writers, for my money, fall into the category of people who need a proper computer.

I know there are people on the forum who integrate their iPad and other tablets into their writing workflow successfully, effectively replacing the 'paper' stages in my own routine (notebook at the front end, printed copy at the other) who can wax lyrical on that.

I'll just wish you luck, and hope you've bought an external keyboard. 100,000 words on a touchscreen keyboard would drive me completely insane.

[druid]

Right now, I understand your moving on to Pages. That's exactly what I do, as I get ready to send a file to editors who are going to put it into dead-tree print.

Scrivener was always designed to be "abandoned" at that stage, because it's not a word processor. For headers, page numbers, images, layout, you need Pages or Word or Nisus.

But...in the fast emerging world of e-books, Scrivener is more of a one-stop shop. If you pull all of the files together correctly, stick in cover art, and compile for .mobi or .epub; you have a book ready to publish at Kindle, Nook, or iBooks.

Fairly soon, publishers will ask to see e-book files from the start. And then we may not "give up" on Scrivener at all.

[KB]

Goodbye, Kendric! You've been around these parts for a while, so you'll be missed, but obviously you have to use the tools that work for you. Good luck in your future endeavours (and with writing on an iPad ).
Regards,
Keith

[Kendric]

Goodbye, Kendric!

I hope it's 'see you soon' too.

[KB]

Goodbye, Kendric!

I hope it's 'see you soon' too.

Yes, I just edited my post, in fact. You may want to check back with us early next year on the off-chance we have some news, too...

[Kendric]

Goodbye, Kendric!

I hope it's 'see you soon' too.

Yes, I just edited my post, in fact. You may want to check back with us early next year on the off-chance we have some news, too...

I'll check back. Heck, I'll put it in my iPad's reminders App.

[druid]

You may want to check back with us early next year on the off-chance we have some news, too...

Keith.....not another kid, surely. I thought you were too busy CODING.

[KB]

Heh, no, no, no - no more kids! Three is quite enough. Especially on a half-term.

[robertdguthrie]

Heh, no, no, no - no more kids! Three is quite enough. Especially on a half-term.

Is it a puppy? That would be so great to have an official Lit & Lat puppy! I can't wait!

[pigfender]

Heh, no, no, no - no more kids! Three is quite enough. Especially on a half-term.

Is it a puppy? That would be so great to have an official Lit & Lat puppy! I can't wait!

1 vote for Basset Hound!

sad_basset_hound-12660.jpg (14.25 KiB) Viewed 3599 times

[caseyfreeland]

Yes, I just edited my post, in fact. You may want to check back with us early next year on the off-chance we have some news, too...

Oh man, don't tease that way!

[AmberV]

iBasset.

[caseyfreeland]

But I've come to terms with it now, and see it for what I suspect was Apple's original plan: it's a computer for people who don't need a computer (like my mum, for example). Maybe a bit of web browsing (as long as you don't need Flash, of course), maybe a few games and a media center. But not something for anyone who needs clever software or powerful software. Ultimately it is a device for outputting info, not inputting. Not in any substantial scale or form, anyway. Writers, for my money, fall into the category of people who need a proper computer.

I don't know PF. In the last 1 1/2 years I've had my iPad I've written dozens (maybe hundreds) of blog posts, poems and short stories and 30,000+ words on my current novel started in August. I have a MacBook. I prefer my iPad with a materially infinite battery, terrific mobility, great internet experience (I almost never run into flash problems anymore) and immediate app execution. I write about 60 wpm on the touch screen and 70+ on my ZAGG/mate. For me at least, and probably many others, it is definitely an inputting device.

[pigfender]

Just goes to show that I don't know what I'm talking about!

I'm someone who finds using a laptop a compromise of convenience and portability over using paper and a whiteboard. For me, the iPad is a compromise too far.

I presume ZAGG/mate is a type of coffee?