Scrivener App Review – Is it worth the money?

Scrivener is a well-known, highly acclaimed writing app for writers of all kinds. It provides all the tools you need to write into one application, and it’s thought to be similar to the Hemingway app due to its mobile pricing.

However, it is quite expensive to purchase at $49.00 on Macs and $45.00 on Windows. It is cheaper on iOS at $19.99 but it’s still enough to make you ponder on whether it’s worth the money.

Scrivener Review

Scrivener is a comprehensive word processor, which offers a great deal of tools for users to utilise when writing. Writing software is intended to make the entire writing process a little smoother, and Scrivener does that pretty well.

The app can help with organising and formatting your texts, research, media, and more. It’s usually used for long form writing projects by serious writers, but even if you’re new to writing, it’s probably worth checking out.

Each writer can tailor the app’s many features to suit their own needs and their particular writing process. This makes the app functionality a very flexible one, although Scrivener takes a while to get used to.

Steep Learning Curve

Whilst the app seems to offer something for every writer, in doing so, it has created a fairly complex program to learn. The tutorial is way too long, with many different sections.

This can scare off new users as the lengthiness of the tutorial belies just how many features there are to discover and learn – it’s intimidating.

Furthermore, the tutorial is quite drab and non-interactive so it can be difficult to get through or follow.

For example, when it describes a certain setting, it doesn’t provide any visual aid. It just uses words, which can take a while to comprehend. When I first looked at the tutorial, I got struggled to find the inspector tab for a while due to the lack of visual aid.

Nonetheless, with some patience and use, one can learn the program to a comfortable degree. It really is a useful program for writing, especially in regards to its organisational features, and may be just what you need.

Personally, it seems the best way to learn the program is by using it. As you use it, you’ll find that you’ll either figure out where certain tools you need are, or search the internet to find out, as and when you need them.

Wide Range of Options

Scrivener offers a variety of features to cater to all your writing needs. From organisational tools to a comment feature, the app provides many ways in which you can customise your writing work.

Organisational Features

It has a fairly detailed folder system, where each folder (when selected) shows the documents under it that also act as folders (with their own documents). It’s quite a complex feature but easy to understand once you see it.

Each folder can easily be converted into a document, and vice versa, to make it simple to reorganise your folders/documents.

Customisable Text

The app also offers the basic options for customising your text, from fonts to text size. This allows for large control over the appearance and formatting of your writing.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be an option for changing the text colour. So, there is a clear limitation to how customisable the text is.

Can Add Various Objects

Scrivener allows users to insert a variety of things in their documents, such as tables, images, and in-line annotations.

This lets users format their work quite freely, and gives them the option to use various different mediums to accompany their writing.

However, there doesn’t seem to be an option for editing the format of an image. The image doesn’t even seem actually selectable – clicking on it doesn’t work, and neither does double-clicking it (this only selects it as if it were text). This greatly limits how one can use images in the app.

Complex UI

Whilst some of the basic UI is fairly simple to understand and learn, such as adding images, the high quantity of features makes the overall UI quite overwhelming and hard to comprehend or remember.

Most users will only use a handful of the available functions, so it can be hard to navigate a UI that offers so much of what you don’t need.

Nonetheless, just having the option to use certain features opens up a range of possibilities for users instead of limiting them.

It also caters to a large audience – from story writers to journalists, the app has something for every writer.

Common Questions about Scrivener

Conclusion

Scrivener is an extensive and detailed writing app with a variety of features, making its functionality quite flexible. You can tailor the app to your own needs, and organise your documents or research to a high degree. It also allows for a great amount of customisation in regards to your writing work.

However, there UI is quite complex and difficult to navigate at times. It has a fairly steep learning curve, which can be intimidating.

Nonetheless, consider taking advantage of the 30-day free trial to see if the app really is worth it for you. The learning curve may be steep but the free trial seems to take this into consideration – 30 days gives you plenty of time to learn and use the program.

Overall, Scrivener is a well-used writing program, and has been highly appraised as an app worth its money. However, you should still take the time to finish the trial before you decide to purchase it. It is quite an expensive writing app but it’s far from being the most expensive one.