Over Labor Day I did what I love most, write. For me, every day is a writing day, Labor Day being no different. My routine begins with plowing through my email looking for items of interest. These gems direct me to news articles that in turn me point me towards their sources. I dive into the rabbit hole. My goal is to go beyond the news, to view what is behind the curtain. This produces both pleasure and pain.
The pleasure comes from learning. My world expands and I feel more connected. I am energized when my beliefs are challenged.
The pain comes from what I learn. Our fragile world is perilously close to destruction and with it the incredible future we might have, if we act.
In spite of the pain, this is what gets me up in the morning, discovery!
Being Labor Day, I found myself laboring over two pieces.
One has to do with Climate Change and its impact on what we call work. Is our current definition of meaningful work still relevant and, if not, then what is a better concept?
Workers are more vulnerable than ever because of the destructive powers unleashed by our warming globe. What can we do to protect workers from emotional and financial collapse, which in turn protects our society and nation? And, what is our responsibility for both causing and then undoing, if possible, this deadly climate emergency?
I’ve been hammering away at this for a few days, attempting to create a fine honed blade of Damascus Steel. I’d wanted to post it today, but there is more work at the forge and anvil before it is cooled by comments from readers and its temper tested. Consider this a teaser.
My second piece, the one you are reading, is about one of my favorite wordsmith tool. It’s a finely balanced hammer that I use to pound on my thoughts and words until the dull slag falls away and bright metal appears.
It is Scrivener, an authoring suite that provides all the features a writer needs to, as Scrivener states, “Scrivener is the go-to app for writers of all kinds, used every day by best-selling novelists, screenwriters, non-fiction writers, students, academics, lawyers, journalists, translators and more. Scrivener won’t tell you how to write—it simply provides everything you need to start writing and keep writing.” This is exactly what my experience has been. I can start a project with a single blank sheet, open a template that provides the structure for any genre I want to write, or develop a custom template to meet my specific needs.
I am chaotic writer with a bit of ADD. I have difficulty outlining a piece until I’m well into my first draft. And even then, I often change my emphasis in response to new information and ideas. Often the idea that began the project morphs into something unexpected by the end. Scrivener is very flexible and gives me the room to wander while keeping all the iterations of my work, a map of my journey. This non-destructive workflow provides the ability to retrieve earlier versions that have been saved automatically or manually. If you are more organized, Scrivener provides ways to organize and outline to whatever degree you might want.
Because Scrivener’s flexibility and productive features there is a learning curve. However, how steep it is depends on the experience and personality of the user. What I can say is that it has simplified my work flow, making composition more fluid and data easier to find.
For example, before Scrivener, when digging for information, I would end up with piles of handwritten notes, numerous PDF’s riddled with comments, various Word and LibreOffice ODF files, and links to web pages. I would end up leafing through a number of screens to retrieve the data was looking for. It was confusing, slow, and provided opportunities for distraction. For me, that’s a big deal.
With Scrivener, it is easy to import and store in my project all the resources I need, including audio, graphic, photo, and video files. Likewise, reading and annotating any file is simple. In addition, multiple editors can be open simultaneously providing the ability to jump between documents quickly. And, within each editor I can use the file history list to instantly navigate to files previously displayed in that editor. This puts all of my materials at my fingertips.
Lastly, support is good with an Interactive Tutorial, a comprehensive User Manual, and Video Tutorials. Best of all, it only costs $49.00 for computers and $19.99 for iOS.
I highly recommend it.
If interested in giving Scrivener a look, there is a free trial version. For more information go to Scrivener, a product of Literature and Latte . Another product they offer is Scapple, a mind-mapping tool that integrates with Scrivener allowing the transfer of information between the programs.
BTW This is an unpaid endorsement of Scrivener by an enthusiastic user.