Tag: Scrivener

Day 15 – Handy & Used Often: Writing Tools I Can’t Live Without!
My Thoughts · My Writing · Self-publishing

Day 15 – Handy & Used Often: Writing Tools I Can’t Live Without!

Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
Writing - handy

Handy writing tools make my life as an author/blogger/poet so much easier. Here’s two I have used for years and one I added in the last few years.

Scrivener 3.5.2

Scrivener logo - handy

This app has become my go-to for beginning and organizing any writing project because of its power to keep everything in one place. Now, I don’t have to wonder where my files are—they are all in this app.

I really realized its power when I wrote the biography of Marshall Flippo, Just Another Square Dance Caller. I had 258,000 words to start with and so much research and files. This program saved my life! And I continue to use it today.

  • Tailor-made for long writing projects
  • Has Project Templates for Blank, Fiction (Novel, Novel with Parts, and Short Story),
  • Non-Fiction (Essay – Chicago Style, General Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction with Sub-heads, Paper –
  • APA, Paper – MLA, Research Proposal, Undergraduate Humanities Essay), Scriptwriting (BBC
  • Radio Scene Style, BBC Taped Dramas, Comic Script, Documentary Script, Screenplay, Stage
  • Play (UK), Poetry & Lyrics and Miscellaneous (Persuasive Lecture and Recipe Collection). It
  • has an Interactive Tutorial, User Manual and Video Tutorials.
  • k Scrivener 3.5.2 costs $59

How To Navigate

1. Download app – have Free Trial – and install.

2. Open App and select Template

3. Gives General Suggestions on Genre – Can import

4. LEFT MENU: Collections & Binder Info – Different for each genre – Shows your folders and files

5. MENU ACROSS THE TOP OF WINDOW: Differs with each genre

6. TOP MENU: File, Edit, Insert, View, Navigate, Project, Documents, Format, Window, Help

7. INSPECTOR – on the side

8. Backups when you save and quit–QUIT APP EACH TIME so that a backup version is generated. Important if there’s any problems later.

How to Add URL’s to Research Folder

1. Go to Research Folder

2. Go File>Import>Web Page

3. Paste in URL

4. Page appears in Research Folders

Resources:

8 Ways Scrivener Will Help You Become A Proficient Writer Overnight

Vellum

Vellum logo - handy

This program has grown with me and offers amazing beautiful choices today it didn’t have originally. It costs more than some of the other apps in its class, but I feel it’s worth it! As I’m working, I can see a preview to the right of what it will look like in the device selected. And recently they have added beautiful designs for lead pages in a chapter, emojos and so much more.

  • Gorgeous Print Interiors
  • Beautiful Ebooks

How to

1. Download Vellum & install

2. Open – Immediately you have the choice to “Import Word File, so click and import document.

3. MENU IN OPEN WINDOW: Navigator and Preview

4. LEFT MENU: Contents & Styles

Contents – Placed your document into chapters.

Styles – Choices for Heading, First Paragraph, Paragraph After Break, Ornamental Break, Block Quotation, Verse, Photograph, Portrait, Caption, Header and Footer, & Body

5. MENU ACROSS BODY: Asterisk Pull down Menu (Subhead, Ornamental Break, Image,Alignment Block, List, Block Quotation, Verse, Web Link and Store Link–PUT ALL TEXT WITHIN ONE OF THESE FOR FORMATTING. Bold, Italics and Underline text. Pull-down Arrow for Font Choices: Small Caps, Sans Serif, Monospace, Superscript Up, Superscript Down, Strikethrough. Right Margin Word Count: Total Document

6. MENU ACROSS PREVIEW: Ebook Formats or Print, Move Forward or Back in Document, Generate Button

7. TOP MENU: File, Edit, Chapter, Text, View, Window, and Help

8. SAVE OFTEN

Resources:

Self-Publishing Tips: How To Format An Ebook And Print Book With Vellum

Squoosh

Squoosh logo - handy

When I wrote Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? in 2021, I had lots of photos because of the topic. I’m a visual learner and I felt the photos helped offset the depth of the emotions we felt with the pandemic. When I published it as an e-book, it’s size was off the map, so after a session with my book coach and group, my book coach asked if I compressed the pictures. No, I had not even thought of it. So I went looking for an app and found Squoosh and have been using it ever since. On top of that, it’s FREE for both Mac and PC.

I use it weekly to compress the beautiful photos I include in my weekly blog. Since 2021, I use it to compress the photos I include in any e-book.

How to

  1. Download the app
  2. Open app
  3. Click and drag photo into app
  4. Immediately it compresses photo, but I usually go Under the Edit menu on the right to the Resize part & select “Preset” on the menu to the right, and resize it by 50% more.
  5. Then to save it, click on the download icon at the bottom of the menu on the right.

That’s it!

Resources:

I found the best image compressor tool, it is called Squoosh. Simple, Clean, Does it job. (Not sponsored)
byu/ishibam97 indevelopersIndia

Finally,

Writers need all the support we can get. These three apps have helped me tremendously over the years! Yes, they are handy and make my life so much more sane.

Larda Horner-Miller - handy
Yes, I smile because of these three handy writing tools!

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My Thoughts · Writing

Three Vital Apps for the Writer

Larada Horner-Miller2 Comments
Three Vital Apps - person writing with computer
Photo by Judit Peter from Pexels

As a writer, I have quite a toolbox of apps I use regularly as a writer/blogger. The three vital apps I return to are ProWritingAid, Scrivener, and Vellum.

When I begin a writing project, I start in Scrivener because it is the ultimate organizational tool to keep everything you need in one place. Here’s one delicious advantage of Scrivener. In researching for any of my books, I can add the URL of a favorite website into the program and keep it there. When I need, it opens up right there in Scrivener—no hunting or spending countless hours searching for a page I need.

Here’s another Scrivener feature I love! Last year when I was revising Just Another Square Dance Caller, we were traveling, and I bought the iOS version of Scrivener and worked on the document on my iPad on the flights going and coming. It synced perfectly with the desktop version.

Before I send it to the editor, I run each chapter through ProWritingAid (which is an app and a website) to catch any grammar and syntax mistakes. Usually, this handy tool finds those hideous errors I do repeatedly and can’t see! At first, the summary overwhelmed me, but now I focus on the Realtime errors identified.

When my manuscript is back from my editor, I then import it into Vellum for final print book and e-book layout. I add pictures and graphics and send it out to be printed. When I started publishing in 2014, I didn’t have Vellum, so I formatted my first couple books in Microsoft Word in templates provided by createspace.com (now KDP.com)—that was difficult.

So, when I found Vellum, I imported my first self-published books into the program and republished them. I love the final product Vellum produces. I love the ease of use as well.

Here are in-depth looks at each program.

ProWritingAid Logo--Three Apps

ProWritingAid Website and App

  • The Essential Editing Tool for Every Writer
  • Online & Desktop Editing Tool—interface the same
  • GREEN AREA Menu (Drop down menu): (FILE: New, Save, Save As, Upload, Export), EDIT: (Use Curly Quotes, Convert to Straight Quotes, Convert to Curly Quotes), REPORT: (Print, Email), TOOLS: (Word Explorer), YOU: (Documents, Profile, Settings, Edit My Dictionary, Edit My Snippets, Support, Plugins), OTHER: (Old Editor), LOGOUT.
  • PURCHASED ONLINE ACCESS & APP: Features on the Menu: Core (Realtime, Summary, Style, Grammar, Thesaurus, Overused, Combo, All Repeats), Repeats (Echoes, Structure), Structure (Length, Transition, Readability), Readability (Sticky, Cliches), More Reports (Diction, Pronoun, Alliteration, Homonym, Consistency, Acronym, Pacing, Sensory, House, Plagiarism)
  • LEFT MENU:
    • Writing Style: (General, Academic, Business, Technical, Creative, Casual, Web) and Language: English General, English UK, and English US.
    • GOALS FOR DIFFERENT GENRES:
  • The Summary can be printed, emailed, or opened in a new window. Note Key Actions
  • Cost: $20 – Monthly $79 – 1 year, $399 – lifetime.
    • FREE VERSION: Summary Report of Key Issues,19 Writing Reports (Does not have Acronym or Dialogue), Edit 500 words at a time, Use online only
  • Helpful Feature of website: Blog with articles. 5 Categories: The Writing Process, Blogging and Content Writing, Grammar Rules, Writing Apps, and How to Use ProWritingAid

How to Use

  1. Go to website: https://prowritingaid.com
  2. Sign up for free & identify what type of writer you are.
  3. Click on “Start Web Editor.” They offer a two-minute tour video.
  4. Copy and paste document in window
  5. Save – CAN NOT SAVE in Free Version, so
  6. Work your way across the Menu and make appropriate changes

Resources:

Scrivener-Three Apps

Scrivener 3.2.2

  • Writing organization app
  • Mac or PC – $45 – Free Trial
  • Tailor-made for long writing projects
  • Has Project Templates for Blank, Fiction (Novel, Novel with Parts, and Short Story),
    • Non-Fiction (Essay – Chicago Style, General Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction with Sub-heads, Paper – APA, Paper – MLA, Research Proposal, Undergraduate Humanities Essay), Scriptwriting (BBC Radio Scene Style, BBC Taped Dramas, Comic Script, Documentary Script, Screenplay, Stage Play (UK), Poetry & Lyrics and Miscellaneous (Persuasive Lecture and Recipe Collection). It has an Interactive Tutorial, User Manual and Video Tutorials.
  • Scrivener costs $49 for Mac OS & Windows and $19.99 for iOS

How to Navigate

  1. Download app – have Free Trial – and install.
  2. Open App and select Template
  3. Gives General Suggestions on Genre
  4. LEFT COLUMN MENU: Collections & Binder Info – Different for each genre
  5. TOP MENU: File, Edit, Insert, View, Navigate, Project, Documents, Format, Window, Help
  6. MENU ACROSS THE TOP OF OPEN WINDO: View: Binder & Collections Hide or Show, Search, Add: New Text or New Folder or Import, Trash, Insert, QuickRef, Quick Search, View, Compile, Bookmarks, Compose, Inspector
  7. INSPECTOR – RIGHT COLUMN—Synopsis, Bookmark, (General Metadata, Custom Metadata & Keywords), Snapshots, Comments & Footnotes
  8. Backups when you save and quit–QUIT APP EACH DAY TO CREATE BACKUP!

Resources:

Vellum--Three Apps

Vellum

  • Create Print Interiors & Beautiful Ebooks
  • Only on Mac – MacOS 11 or newer PRICES
  • COST
    • Vellum Press – Created Unlimited Ebooks + Paperbacks – $249.99
    • Vellum Ebooks – Create Unlimited Ebooks – $199.99

How to

  1. Download Vellum & install.
  2. Open – Immediately you have the choice to “Import Word File,” so click and import document.
  3. MENU IN OPEN WINDOW: Navigator and Preview
  4. LEFT MENU: Contents & Styles
    1. Contents – Places your document into chapters.
    1. Styles – Choices for Heading, First Paragraph, Paragraph After Break, Ornamental Break, Block Quotation, Verse, Photograph, Portrait, Caption, Header and Footer, & Body
  5. IN CONTENT, MENU ACROSS BODY (LEFT SIDE): Asterisk Pull-down Menu (Subhead, Ornamental Break, Image, Alignment Block, List, Block Quotation, Verse, Web Link, Store Link & Internet Link–PUT ALL TEXT WITHIN ONE OF THESE FOR FORMATTING).Bold, Italics and Underline text. Pull-down Arrow for Font Choices: Small Caps, Sans Serif, Monospace, Superscript Up, Superscript Down, Strike through. Right Margin Word Count: In Book, In Bodymatter, In Chapter, In Chapter/Book
  6. MENU ACROSS PREVIEW (RIGHT SIDE): Ebook Formats or Print, Move Forward or Back in Document, Generate Button
  7. TOP MENU: File, Edit, Chapter, Text, View, Window, and Help
  8. SAVE OFTEN

Resources:

Finally, do you want to write a book? Start with these three apps and you’re on your way!

Would you be interested in an online workshop on these apps, other writing apps and websites to produce a book or blog? Let me know!

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Just Another Square Dance Caller cover

~HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? AVAILABLE NOW! Go to the homepage on my website & pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com

~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

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~Visit my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com

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~ MARCH MADNESS SALE: 20% Discount my Etsy Shop for select paperbacks & digital copies: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaradasReadingLoft

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