I was thinking about how much my writing workflow has changed between when I first started, and now. Even though right now, I assume that I have reached the sweet spot, I also think that there’s an excellent chance that in a year. So, here I document so that future generations may mock! (or me in a year, I guess)
Hardware
Ya’ll are nerds, I know as I’m one too. so lets get current hardware out of the way.
I’m running an AMD R5 3600 with 32GB DDR 4 RAM. My graphics card is a 5600xt 6Gb, and its okay. My desktop keyboard is a buckling spring with a built in Track point which never gets used, made by Unicomp, I love it! – The PC is also stocked up with a lot of NVME storage. I use two monitors, a 34inch ultrawide 3440×1440 and a 1080 TN panel to the right.
My laptop is a HP Elitebook 840 G6. I upgraded the storage for something faster and put more ram into it, so now I’m on 16GB. Honestly, its a nice keyboard on there, as laptops go, so I keep it.
Phone is a Pixel 5. I also keep a FireHD 10 inch tablet next to my bed. Its got a keyboard case and I like to use it for early morning idea streaming.
Sofware
Ah yes, writer people welcome!
Scrivener
I am still using Scrivener as my primary place to put words and stay organised. I am very much a discovery writer (sigh… pantser) but I do keep a lot of character profiles and detailed notes, as I think about them.
A lot of that is going back and adding things after they make it to the main manuscript. I plan on one day dumping all of the character, place and location profiles and a shit-tonne of lore onto a wiki (after the book is released, obviously) – otherwise I’ll feel like I almost wasted it.
I literally can’t recommend Scrivener enough. It has been a total game changer when it comes to allowing me to see my chapters and sections and neep my flow going without having to think ‘where did I start that thought?’ its excellent at modularising writing in a way that surprised me. I think it, not only made me more productive but allowed me to work on multiple things at once in a way I did not have the headspace for when I was using Word or Vim.
Aeon Timeline
I keep my lore straight by using Aeon Timeline. I think that most of the features of Aeon Timeline will eventually appear in Scrivener, but for now it fills the gaps and allows me to visually investigate my order of events and lore-map. It also has a super handy Mind-map that is, in the case of my current project, a damned cluster-fuck, but still useful!
I think Aeon has the failing of having too many tools. It really needs a way to toggle the view down to ‘easy mode’ for a lot of things, but there is nothing like the views it offers you when you take the time to learn it. As soon as I release my current project, I’m going to put the Aeon files on the web so everyone can see just how impressive Aeon can look when it’s fully utilised. Such a powerful software, yet, I still think that they should build the core timeline tool into Scrivener.
Actually the Scrivener people make an application called Scapple that is for mind mapping, I purchased it and loved it, then Aeon replaced it entirely. I guess that means that maybe I dont really want it built into scrivener.
ProWritingAid
I have to thank you, the audience, for my PWA lifetime account because you all clicked my referral link enough times to save me $400. PWA has been a game-changer for me. I was never good at English in school as some basic stuff get’s past me, stuff that PWA picks up effortlessly. PWA also shows me the reasons for its recommendations, so it’s also teaching me things. It is the best writing aid that I have found, and I tried all of them!
The browser integration is far better than the Microsoft’s offering and the fact that I can load up my Scrivener files in the desktop application it just great! I would prefer it if it happened from within Scrivener, but I can live with a change of application from time to time.
One-Note
I use Microsoft One-note for all my note taking. It usually finds its way into scrivener if it’s a note that is related to a current writing project. For those moments when “hey! I got an idea!” One-note works on my tablet, phone, PC, and even in a web browser in a pinch. Then seamlessly it all ends up in all the places. The thing that pushes it over the edge for me is that it syncs the note’s locally so, if I go offline my notes are safe on the local device until it can get a connection. It also means that I can read things offline because it stays synced where possible. It’s not the best writing experience for long form stuff but it is the best incidentally accessible word hole.
Things I don’t use?
Strange section title, I know. But there are some things that I have tried, usually making a video about that didn’t sick, even though I think there is totally a use case for them…
Dabble
Dabble-writer is a web based Scrivener alternative that I looked at recently and its honestly very good. For me, there were two problems that made me not use it.
Firstly, it has no function to import/export scrivener or Epub export.
Secondly, $549 price tag for a lifetime sub! i do not want to find myself broke and lose access to my writing tools do I need to be able to pay for a lifetime sub and damn, thats too much for me!
Word
I mean, most people who have been writing for many years end up on Word. and its rock solid. I just dont lik the giant monolithic files i end up with… all that scrolling! – anyway, Word is awesome, I just like Scrivener better. But I do subscribe to Office365 for that OneDrive syncing!