Don’t have to write a book in Word, really

When I started writing this book, I started with a mind map. Which is standard for me, actually–or at least it was. Back then, I wrote everything in Word, but I planned documents in a mind map. The map here is a section of the mind map that became this book. Yeah looks a little crazy, doesn’t it? Honestly it was the best way I knew how to put my ideas into some kind of order. Then, however, I had to put it into Word. Even if I wrote sections in the notes in MindManager, which I did, it all had to go into Word to share with other people. Once it was in Word, it was stuck there.

As I was working through this book, in Word, I kept reading reviews of apps that were designed for writers. I saw Ulysses first–TUAW Review: The Soulmen send Ulysses 2.0 on a writing journey–then tried Scrivener–Friday Favorite: Scrivener–both of which are supposed to help writers pull things together better, and I started wondering–”Is there a better way to do this?”

Maybe it’s the scientist in me, or the restless geek, but I’m not satisfied with just okay or good enough. I want to make sure that I’m working at my best. If there is a barrier to me getting something done, then it’s a problem. Both Ulysses and Scrivener are based on the idea that writers look at their works as projects with all sorts of related files. Then once the writing starts, writers just want to write not fuss with formatting and such.

Right now you might be thinking, wait isn’t this your first book? Nope, not really. This is my first book that is set to be published. I have another book I started (and now have the confidence to pick up again and complete), not to mention blog posts numbering into the tens of thousands by now. So I think I know a little about writing.

So after giving Ulysses and Scrivener a try I bought a license for Scrivener. Why? Because I found it worked for me. The corkboard and being able to shuffle things around has worked for me.

Of course, I still had to export my chapters into Word …

Small update from my friend Ian: 20% Scrivener Discount… You Lucky People « And another thing…. So now you can get Scrivener for less! Course I only found this after I bought it.