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:
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Rarely do I actually laugh out loud. But this time, LOL!
If I had unlimited funds I’d probably invest in a MacBook Air. (I laugh at myself for using the word invest.) That is basically a small, solid state computer. To me, that would be the ultimate writing machine as it would include Scrivener, have a full keyboard, great connectivity, lots of battery time and be very, if not quite as, mobile.
Maybe someday we’ll have some sort of Scrivener companion available on our iPads. That’d be cool. Wouldn’t that be cool, Keith? I think that would be cool. Cool as a witches t…t…tea kettle.
Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been mixing Scrivener for Mac, and PlainText on the iPhone and the iPad for everything I write. From ideas for a music piece, to stories, to articles and essays. The iPhone is always with me, and is giving me extreme freedom. And the iPad is not the usual computer - it is letting me break from my everyday, everytime relationship with computers and the mess on their screen, while still letting me plug into the computer’s world.
And then there are pen and paper, that I’ve started to use again, and that the extreme speed and ease of use of Dragon Dictate on the iPad/iPhone is making easy to integrate with the electronic devices. It doesn’t matter which tools I use: I can use all of them, and I use the ones I have in that moment.
But Scrivener is the central hub of all this. It can collect the pieces I write on the phone and the tablet. I don’t know of any other tool as efficent as Scrivener in this. So, my hint is to give Scrivener a second chance, since it can still help you.
For the record: this plan hasn’t worked. I’ve accomplished pretty much nothing with Pages. I kind of dread writing in it and so avoid doing it altogether, so having it available in iOS isn’t much of a benefit.
Have you tried using Scrivener on Mac with Simplenote sync to iOS? I’m still not really a fan of mobile writing, but I can’t complain about Keith’s implementation of this; it works very well.
Very interesting topic as I do quite a bit of writing on my I-Pad, but it is purely for writing on the go, in coffee shops, and just for brainstorming or first drafts etc.
I used to use AI-Writer (or is it I-Writer, can’t remember) as its just a blank page that you type on with little distraction and I can then copy and past into Scrivener. I tried Pages but couldn’t get away with it.
Recently, however, MS has released Word (as well as the rest of Office) for I-Pad and, if you have a 365 license (which I do) it’s free. This is now my app of choice as I’ve found it very solid. A few quirks and wrinkles need ironing out but overall its a great port. Again, the files I then email to myself to copy and paste into Scrivener. One thing about the I-Pad is, with certain apps, it can be difficult to sync with things like Dropbox - hence why I email to myself. Still, not the end of the world, but something that should be sorted by now.
I do think the I-Pad has a place for writers, but for me it is for short or rough work. In my view it isn’t good enough to edit with or get a finished manuscript together, not with the apps it has currently.
I do agree with PF on certain points. If you have the money an I-Pad and keyboard would cost (I couldn’t use it without a keyboard), it would be wiser to put towards an affordable laptop instead - they do more and are a one stop shop. I use the I-Pad purely because I had one (it comes in very handy at work). So, if you have one, it can be used for writing, but I wouldn’t buy one purely for that purpose. When Scrivener comes to iOS, I’ll certainly pick it up and see if it improves things.
With regards to a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air - I’d love one! I have heard nothing but good things but I have a laptop and desktop (both perfectly good) so it would be a pointless, indulgent purchase that I can’t afford. Maybe something to treat myself with when I sell a novel or screenplay
).
