Now my first full length novel has been out for a month, it is time to turn my attention to writing the sequel. I’m a plotter and a planner, which is why I absolutely adore Scrivener. I can hand on heart say it is the best software investment I have ever made.

Here’s why. I can control everything I need, all in one place.

My characters

I love the character template feature. As Teddie McKay is back again for a second instalment, I can just copy the template from The Crochet Killer straight into the new setup and we’re good to go:

I can just update them with any new information, such as internal or external conflicts, character development and move on, knowing that the information will be there for me if I need to reference it. No scrabbling through notebooks to see if that tattoo was of a dolphin or a unicorn.

The cork board

This is a huge benefit if you’re a plotter like me. I have all my scenes planned out, then I can put them together in cork board view. Like a real cork board, I can see the overall picture in one place, and move around anything I need.

So here, for example, I’m not sure opening with the restaurant scene is dynamic enough. Each index card is tied to the scene itself, so if it’s not in the right place once it’s written, I can just move the index card and the scene within the manuscript will automatically move with it. Genius.

Name generator

This is a key feature that sets Scrivener above most word processing apps. When a book appears, the main characters usually bring with them a name. They’re not the ones you have to worry about. It’s when the secretary pops his head around the door to deliver some information and the protagonist says ‘Thank you -‘ and you don’t have that one-off name. Instead of agonising, or inserting ‘Secretary’s name here’, you can just pop up the word generator, set as much or as little background info as you like, and away you go!

I think Hamish is a great name for a secretary…

Putting it all into Scrivener makes it real. It also removes any friction, so I don’t get distracted from the actual process. Once the detail has been loaded, it’s just down to the best and most exciting part of all.

Writing.

You can purchase, or find out more about Scrivener here.

To find out why they are meeting in the restaurant in that first (or maybe later!) scene, read The Crochet Killer on kindle, or Kobo.

(also available on Nook and through the iBooks store)