Welcome to How to Use Scrivener for Professional Writing


As a professional writer, are you getting the most out of Microsoft Word? Google Docs?


Have you tried or would like to try an all-in-one writing software like Scrivener, but you feel it’s developed only for fiction writing?


Are you already using Scrivener for professional writing, but you feel like you haven't gotten intimate enough with the program to use it as efficiently as you would like?


If so, you're in the right place.


Hi, I'm Leah Markum, and I'm here to get your professional writing projects done efficiently, and yes, that's possible in Scrivener.


I started using Scrivener for my novel five years ago.


Since then, I've branched into nature blogging, writing articles for my agricultural communications program, press releases for university researchers, technical documents for my professional and technical writing degree, and now freelance copywriting.


But Word and Docs don't cut it. I always feel like I'm fighting the program, or I have to have too much supplemental content outside the main document, and switch back and forth, lengthy load times, nested folders for so many types of files.


It was a mess.


Then I thought, "Can...Scrivener work for professional writing?"


Scrivener operates with master project documents that include—all at once, without switch files and programs or checking multiple folders—everything you could want in your entire project: organized sections of text documents, images, pdfs, videos, links, the ability to export into various ebook formats, even apply MarkDown code so it easily fits into WordPress.


It can take time to learn, but with help, I can now use Scrivener for my professional content. I use it for freelance projects, my website, my blogs, tracking and managing correspondence with clients and publications, compile research and saving ideas, strategizing the journey I want my projects, or even overall professional goals to take.


Blog or vlog? Great, there's a way to organize posts and editorial calendars for multiple blogs or media channels. Need a social media campaign? Pretty easy to do in Scrivener.


One of the most important traits Scrivener has to offer over other text-dedicated software is that it still manages to cater to VISUAL learners.


Your organization stares at you in a field on the side. You can drag-and-drop everything to your heart's content. Need social media specs or screenshots of an example you researched? Give it a home in Scrivener and you can instantly reference it while you write. You can even view your document and your references next to each other in a split-screen. Doesn't get handier than that.


So check out some of the tutorials I have. You're bound to find a few that apply to you. And even if they aren't perfect for your needs, they'll give you enough familiarity with what's possible in Scrivener for professional writers for you to come up with perfect approaches. There isn't much content online right now for using Scrivener outside of novels, plays, and academic theses, so we have to be entrepreneurial, but it'll pay off.


For additional sources, I highly recommend Kazz Prince of YouTube's Scrivener Quick Start channel. Many of her videos cover similar content that I have here, but in much greater depth, and she has free templates.


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