Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/12/19/get-the-acclaimed-authoring-to.html
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Is this the absolute, truly, no-take-backs Last Chance?
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“Authoring tool??” What kind of newspeak is this? What is wrong with the word “writing?” Where does this self-important “authoring” come from?
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Hah! I bought it at the first last chance and got it for 50 cents less!
The good news is, it’s now up to version 1.9.7 for the Windows flavor, with version 2.0 still coming Real Soon Now!
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I doubt it’s self-importance. I mean, that’d be pretty weird, right. I don’t put “authoring” on my resumés.
Scrivener is useful for a wide variety of projects. Even though I think it was originally made for fiction writers, it can be used by anyone who has a big project. Some lawyers use it. I guess you could even use it for a project where the end result isn’t prose.
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Authoring:
verb (used with object)
- to write; be the author of:
“He authored a history of the Civil War.” - to originate; create a design for:
“She authored a new system for teaching chemistry.”
You can write a grocery list, or an email, or a holiday card. Editors write, but they aren’t the authors of the pieces they’re working on. Authoring describes a specific sort of writing. And really, you could have looked that up in a dictionary, but I guess it’s just easier to indulge in some faux-outrage.
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I can’t wait to author my movie script and get an author credit, and maybe join the Screen Author’s Guild. Or, maybe pursue my dream of being a newspaper author…
But, I’m glad you pointed out that editors are not, for some reason, authors of what they write. Imagine the universe warping catastrophe that would have occurred if I’d tried to do editor writing in the scrivener authoring tool. Apocalypse averted! I’ll eagerly await the Scrivener editor writing tool.
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Sometimes the criticism in these threads is disappointing, but I applaud your vigilant insistence on trying to wring comedy out of every single post regardless how boring or inane.
Know that we appreciate YOU for your effort.
Keep up the good work.
Never give up. Never surrender.
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Well, to be fair to me, I didn’t start the pedant fight, but nice of you to single me out for it (or so I assume, since you didn’t use the reply to post feature or quote anyone). 
And as to using sarcasm to highlight the pedantry, I can only assume that sarcasm is approved as a method of responding if it’s used by management 
Theyyyyyyyy are ourlasthope.
“Authoring tool??” What kind of newspeak is this? What is wrong with the word “writing?” Where does this self-important “authoring” come from?
“Word processer” means “piece of shit”.
Scrivener is the shit, and is designed for structuring books. “Authoring” is appropriate. “Writing” is insufficient. I use Scrivener. I hate Word.
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Salient advice in this pre-Chanukah season!
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Perhaps some Scrivener fans could tell the Scrivener-less folks among us what they like about it?
With a lot of “reduced feature” products I assume they are trying to turn a bug into a selling point: “We don’t have the resources to make a full featured product, so we are claiming that fewer features are better!” But a lot of full time authors are Scrivener fans. What makes it good?
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2012/07/writing-a-novel-in-scrivener-e.html
IIRC, word doesn’t have a corkboard.
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Depends whether they are using Zeno’s Versioning System
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They use the ST:V Threshold Versioning system.
They never actually reach the next number, they just keep adding nines to the end.
And, when they do make it to the next whole integer, it’s a complete Charlie-Foxtrot and everyone denies that it ever happened.
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Authoring includes both verbing and gerunding.
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There are a number of IDE-like features, including the ability to split up a project into as many files and folders as needed. There’s an outliner integrated with the file management, ditto “index cards” on a cork board. Full-screen mode is simple and straightforward.
Formatting is basic RTF, but when compiled for output it tends to act more like a LATEX ide than like Word. It’s not as good, maybe, as texey stuff, but it gets the formatting bullshit out of the writing process while allowing real organization of content.
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You’ve sold me. Especially since I’m one of those weirdoes who uses LaTEX.
It’s definitely not LaTEX, the Linux port isn’t as functional as the Winders version, and the Mac version is even farther ahead. It works for me, but it has its quirks.
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