If you're a Mac user with a pent-up novel straining to burst forth from your teeming imagination, Scrivener is the obvious choice. It's fun and simple enough for writers who have little or no experience with this type of software, yet it also gives veterans the tools they need. Whether you're just starting a project or are already in midstream, this product will help you.

Scrivener's main interface looks much like StoryMill 3.0's: Your manuscript appears in the middle, with a folder and file hierarchy on the left (called the Binder) and scene synopsis, stats, and metadata on the right. But unlike its overly complex competitor, Scrivener keeps life simple with three basic sections: Draft, Research, and Trash. If you install the extras file that comes with the standard download, you can choose from preconfigured formatting options, both common—such as Novel Standard Manuscript, Short Story, Stageplay, and Screenplay—and less so, such as BBC Radio Scene Style and Comic Script. From there, you can start writing or import an existing manuscript from a variety of file formats. Taking full advantage of Mac OS X's ease of use, Scrivener makes the process a simple drag-and-drop affair. And the application gets special kudos for being the only app of this type that I've looked at that can ingest Microsoft Word .doc files directly.

The software lets you focus on your manuscript and the project as a whole, which is as it should be. If you want to view your novel in pieces, you can instantly view and reorder scenes in the cool Corkboard view (which literally looks like a bulletin board with index cards tacked to it). Or, if you prefer, you can switch to the Outliner for a more spreadsheet-like approach. And instead of parsing out character bios, timelines, checklists, and so on, Scrivener lets you lump all that data into the Research folder. You can also drop in Web bookmarks, photos, PDF documents, and other research material. The one lapse in the Research section is its inability to import Internet Explorer bookmarks tagged on a Windows system: You'll have to copy and paste them individually, which can be a pain if you've already got a ton of research for your book, in bookmark form.

In word-processing capabilities, Scrivener is akin to its competitors, letting you carry out all the standards tasks—adding footnotes and annotations, changing fonts, adjusting page settings, viewing stats, and more. You can also change to full-screen or split-screen views. But while Scrivener gets the job done, it isn't as full-featured as Microsoft Word—but then neither is Scrivener's competition.—Next: Parsing Your Masterpiece

Parsing Your Masterpiece

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When dealing with your manuscript as a whole, the software differs from apps like yWriter. Instead of automatically splitting out scenes, it requires you to perform the task. You also have to label each and write the synopses. The procedure isn't complicated, though, and those who write chapters as one big scene won't even notice. The developer says that an import-and-split feature for automating the process will be included in the next free upgrade (available in April). Writers who want to edit a novel as one manuscript instead of as individual scenes can do so with the Edit Scrivenings feature.

The way Scrivener handles your novel once it's complete is another strong point. When you're ready to print or export, it automatically puts the document into proper manuscript format—a critically important feature. If you think that conforming your novel to the old-fashioned format is for squares, just ask an agent or book editor to read a manuscript set in 8-point Wedding Script font bordered by 3-inch margins.

Although Scrivener doesn't have some of the stat and outlining features of yWriter, our Editors' Choice for the PC novelist, overall it's the most user friendly and engaging app in the group. Scrivener wins our Editors' Choice for Mac scribes, and, if you're a platform agnostic type or are looking to buy a new machine specifically for your magnum opus, we'd recommend Scrivener on the Mac. This app is a joy to use, and it will keep you plugging away toward your goal—a finished manuscript.

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