Scrivener

Okay, so I swear I'll end this before I sound too much like an ad, but do you know what I downloaded for a free 30-day trial?

Great job, O-Might-Reader-Of-The-Title! As I am certain you guessed, I downloaded Scrivener. And imported my second novel. And broke it down into chapters, sections, and plot scenes within sections.

I like it so far. Versatility, split screen capability, places to import websites and pdf files and pictures and wonderful critiques from my brilliant beta readers? Sign me up!

Except I saved one test for right now. Yes! As I write this post, I will attempt to export my broken-up document back into Word and see if it can be reassembled. Ready? Set? Open Scrivener! Click on Storyteller! Export as .docx to desktop!

Okay, five minutes later and I'm back. Exporting, like everything else, takes a few tricks. (For one, I have to Export it as Custom, or else it takes away all my italics and adds weird pound signs instead of my pretty triple star for page breaks. I also have to go into Content and uncheck anything that doesn't have text to avoid some weird added titles.)

Anyway! I took a Word file into Scrivener, chopped it up, and then put it back together again. It's like magic! Except boring! And more useful to me as a writer, because now I can hop between scenes that feature foreshadowing or similar themes or world building without trying to memorize where everything is in a several-hundred page Word document!

It's sort of  like this. But not really. Because I didn't even describe it very well, and if you were watching me you probably would have been far more attractive than these judges. :)