Scrivener Cheat Sheet (Downloadable)

Scrivener

by C.K. MacLeod

@CKmacleodwriter

Scrivener is a wonderful tool for writing and producing book-length works. It allows you to

  • move chunks of text around with ease
  • organize research notes, references, and even notes to yourself—in the same project file
  • convert your book to ebook, web, and print formats

Help for Beginners

When you first open the program, though, it can seem a little confusing. This downloadable cheat sheet will help you to begin using Scrivener right now. Print it and stick it on the wall next to your computer.

You’ll notice that I’ve listed the commands associated with the more common “writing moves” and grouped items by stages of the writing process.

Did I miss a Scrivener move in my cheat sheet? Feel free to leave a comment below.

A version of this post was originally posted at the Beyond Paper blog.

Image by Alan Reyes

5 thoughts on “Scrivener Cheat Sheet (Downloadable)”

  1. Is Scrivener better than SIGIL for building a table of contents and coverting doc files to EPUBS? Is Scrivener better than Calibre for converting EPUB files to MOBI files? Can Scrivener handle all the variants on the MOBI file format?

    1. Alan,
      You’ve found me at my tools for writers blog. Welcome! I’ll be investigating Scrivener’s ebook output for my next book, so stay posted for details. I can tell you this, though: Scrivener isn’t designated ebook conversion software in the way that Sigil or Jutoh are. It’s writing software that helps authors to organize book-length works. Scrivener can, however, convert files to epub and mobi formats, and because many authors are using Scrivener for writing anyway, they’re also using it to create mobis and epubs. It seems to do a decent enough job of books that are mostly straight text. Personally, my current favourite ebook creation software is Jutoh. It allows you to create mobis and epubs and plays nicely with Word (the software editors prefer to use). I use Calibre for ebook management, but JW Manus has written some nice posts on the pros and cons of using Calibre for ebook building.

  2. This requires a Scribd account in order to enable one to download. I’m not able to buy an account at the moment. Is there an alternate site where I can download this?

    1. Lola,
      I’ve posted the downloadable cheat sheet to Slideshare (see the change in the post), so you should be able to access it without an account. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

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