Scrivener

About

Scrivener is a writing app for long projects such as novels, screenplays, theses and other long texts. It combines a ring-binder metaphor with tools for gathering material, moving between parts of a manuscript, and keeping notes and references at hand. You can compose in any order and in sections of any size, then use the integrated project outline to plan in advance or restructure later, with chapters rearranged by drag and drop. Research stays within reach: you can open background material next to your work and reference an earlier chapter while writing the current one.

Scrivener's "Scrivenings" mode lets you switch between editing one section at a time and editing the whole manuscript as a single document. Its editor works like a word processor, with bold, italics, comments, annotations, lists, images and tables, plus a page view that shows pages filling as you type. Styles let you apply formatting such as block quote or heading formats in one click, and you can set different formats for ebook and PDF output.

When your work is ready, Scrivener can compile everything into a single document for printing, self-publishing preparation, or export to formats including Word, PDF, Final Draft and plain text. You can also export with different formatting from the one you write in, so you can write in your preferred font and still meet submission guidelines. Scrivener is available for macOS, and a free trial is offered.