For years now, Microsoft Word has been one of the most popular writing editors on the market. Of course, Apple users would definitely disagree, but there is really no similar book writing software on the market that could even compete with our beloved blue logo-ed software. 

Of course, with the rise of apps like Google Docs or Grammarly, your writing project can now be polished in ways you’ve never seen before with your basic MS Word. Nevertheless, it’s still one of the most popular writing tools on the market. This time, we’re going to pair it with an up-and-coming star app, created strictly for writing books - Scrivener. Who will win in this unlikely battle? Let’s find out!

Well, it’s not a word processor. If we had to assign a definition to it, we would say - it’s the best book writing software you can imagine. Well, definitely a better book writing software than Word document with this twitching cursor that is judging your lack of progress all the time. 

When it comes to creative writing - Scrivener does not have a match. Word processors only, well, process words, while Scrivener can lead you down your most creative path. Let’s go over some of the most interesting features of this app.

Or - at least choose some style! We all know the struggle of not being able to arrange our notes when it comes to a research paper or our creative efforts in an understandable way. At least in the digital world. 

Our little messy floor full of pages here and there is charming chaos that only we know how to navigate. Well, prepare yourself for a revolution. Scrivener helps you not only to write your favorite manuscript but also - to switch between the notes and different parts of it with ease. 

You can break some parts of your novel and stitch it back together in some other place - it’s no big deal in this app. Every Scrivener Project allows you to control your writing process without worrying about some details like formatting or keeping it all in one, seasoned file. A Scrivener file can be as big of a mess as you want them to be.

Scrivenings

With Scrivener, you can switch between smaller portions of your work and glue those back together with an easy-to-learn mode, “Scrivenings.” That way, you can create a single document without dividing every little paragraph or scene into a separate document that you then need to put together and be aware of the problems with formatting. You can just stitch it together with no problems.

Familiar Territory

Scrivener’s editor is very similar to what you are probably already familiar with regarding to most of the word processors on the market. However, Scrivener is really a more user/writer friendly version of Word in the end. Both of them have a very similar way of looking, as most word processors ever created were inspired by MS Word.

Styles

The editing process is very basic in Scrivener. It is all about efficiency. Especially when creating block quotes for your book. You can even edit how the block quotes should look for the entire project.

Importing

If you have any document created in any of the word processors available on the market, you can easily transfer it to Scrivener. When switching to this app, the developers made it easy to do so. Even if your file has images or sound files - you can just copy that to your Scrivener editor and work on that there.

Corkboard

A corkboard in Scrivener has all the advantages of a corkboard in real life. It lets you stick a card on the board, move it freely, and connect it with your writing to see if you changed anything or if you stayed on track after all. It’s a really useful tool, similar to the mentioned freedom of creating many small pieces that you can stitch back together in the end.

Outliner

This is a really interesting one. It allows you to create an overview of a part of your manuscript with some additional information you want to add to it. You can also add some folders and subfolders to the pinpointed element, review the part, check the word count, and track changes and improvements of what you have accomplished with your piece. 

Scriptwriting

If writing is your passion and you can see yourself as the next Charlie Kaufman, you will love this feature. All the scriptwriting features, the basic communication elements, the easy-to-access dialogue trees with places to add some descriptions are there. Moreover, you can export it to web pages where you can create a great script in a format that people in the industry will know and will be able to understand.

Side-by-side Comparison

With Scrivener, you can easily work with two or more elements side-by-side. Whether we’re talking about creating a fascinating and interactive world where everything makes sense so you have to check once every while if what you have written on page 247 is consistent with something you have written on page 366 - Scrivener has got you covered. 

It’s also a great tool for journalists. It does not limit itself to the written word - you can also put a recording and an editor side-by-side. That way, it will be so much easier to transcribe some interview or an eavesdropped politician. Being a spy has never been so easy!

Full-Screen Mode

This one is really interesting as it allows you to immerse yourself in your writing fully. You can just let yourself in and leave all the unnecessary things behind. You will never be distracted by this stupid “file” name again. 

Also - it’s customizable! If you don’t feel like a whiteboard with black words is a way to go for you, you can change it easily to suit your needs better. You can even go crazy and add some scenery to it, like jungle or matrix-style elements. It’s those advanced features of Scrivener that convince you to it.

Be Your Own Boss!

In Scrivener, you can even add some targets to what you want to accomplish, and how much time you have for this task. Whether you want to finish the dialogues, add some descriptions here and there or just polish some rough parts of your manuscript, Scrivener will let you do so. Just add a target for your writing session on top. It will also count how many words you use and your writing history as well.

Add Color To Your Writing

With Scrivener, you can color-code useful information by adding specific labels to them. This way, you can assign some keywords to specific elements of your manuscript. This lets you always go back to similar topics with just one click. It’s really useful in writing a science paper especially.

Collections

You can also create a list of documents related to your project. It’s, again - a very useful tool when writing a paper. Although you don’t need to create a linear document with Scrivener, it’s sometimes necessary to switch between a few. With Scrivener, you can freely go back and forth with the writings in your Collection. You can also create a different Collection of parts that still need some polishing or a Collection filled with topical information.

Create Your Own Scrivener

As in most editors, here you can also create your own software version. Add a Collection mentioned before to your quick menu, maybe a Corkboard, or just do whatever you want/need in this particular case. Scrivener allows you to add and delete any feature you want or need freely.

Export

And - what is a handy feature - you can export it to literally every single useful format you can imagine. Doc, RTF, PDF, whatever you need. You can even export your screenplays to Final Draft and let your coworkers work on them there. 

And - if you are a self-published writer, don’t pay anyone to do a job you can do by yourself. Create your own ebook - Epub or Kindle e-book format. If you want - create a steeper learning curve. Add some linguistic focus to your writing. Or just - write books. It’s that simple in the end.

Well, there are tons of them, as you may have imagined, but in this article, we’re going to focus not only on the most blatant ones but also those that could compare with the Scrivener. We are fully aware that it is impossible to simply accomplish this task, so we’ll be trying to be as objective as it is humanly possible. So - pretty subjective in the end. Anyways, let’s start with the story.

It’s Everywhere

Well, this “pro” Microsoft Word element is something that no one can ever speak against. It’s literally everywhere. Even Mac users buy Office just to get Word as it is, indeed, one of the best word processors on the market. And - it’s also the best-known word processor on the market. You probably know this saying that people like the things they already know. Well, with Word being around 30 years in use, almost everyone who has ever used a computer knows about Word. Even if you’d give this example of - well, old people don’t use modern technology - then you’d be wrong. Old people use Word. You can just take it and send it to anyone, anywhere, and they will 100% be able to open the famous .doc file.

Formatting

Being an industry standard has a lot of advantages. Like - for example, you can decide how the industry will produce certain products. Books, for example. So - if you’re writing one, a paper, or a script, you can be pretty sure that whatever you decide to write will look the same in the book. So, even if you use some fancy book writing app with a name that no one can pronounce, you will probably, and shamefully, put it all into Word in the end just to see how it looks.

Editing

And with formatting must come - editing. You can create it yourself or - if you’re working with an editor - pass along your manuscript and just work on that with comments, resolves, etc. It’s also very useful that everyone knows what’s going on if you send them your comments combined with your answers.

It’s Easy!

And - it’s probably the most important factor. Not only do you probably already have it in your arsenal, but you have also likely used it and been a-okay with it until you’ve heard that there is an alternative. And you know what they say - better is an enemy of good. Word is a very easy software to use, you just click it, and you can start writing. No fancy menus, no pizzaz, just plain old-simple word editor. And maybe - it’s all we need in the end?

Well, there are tons of them, as you may have imagined, but in this article, we’re going to focus not only on the most blatant ones but also those that could compare with the Scrivener. We are fully aware that it is impossible to simply accomplish this task, so we’ll be trying to be as objective as it is humanly possible. So - pretty subjective in the end. Anyways, let’s start with the story.

It’s Everywhere

Well, this “pro” Microsoft Word element is something that no one can ever speak against. It’s literally everywhere. Even Mac users buy Office just to get Word as it is, indeed, one of the best word processors on the market. And - it’s also the best-known word processor on the market. You probably know this saying that people like the things they already know. Well, with Word being around 30 years in use, almost everyone who has ever used a computer knows about Word. Even if you’d give this example of - well, old people don’t use modern technology - then you’d be wrong. Old people use Word. You can just take it and send it to anyone, anywhere, and they will 100% be able to open the famous .doc file.

Formatting

Being an industry standard has a lot of advantages. Like - for example, you can decide how the industry will produce certain products. Books, for example. So - if you’re writing one, a paper, or a script, you can be pretty sure that whatever you decide to write will look the same in the book. So, even if you use some fancy book writing app with a name that no one can pronounce, you will probably, and shamefully, put it all into Word in the end just to see how it looks. 

Editing

And with formatting must come - editing. You can create it yourself or - if you’re working with an editor - pass along your manuscript and just work on that with comments, resolves, etc. It’s also very useful that everyone knows what’s going on if you send them your comments combined with your answers. 

It’s Easy!

And - it’s probably the most important factor. Not only do you probably already have it in your arsenal, but you have also likely used it and been a-okay with it until you’ve heard that there is an alternative. And you know what they say - better is an enemy of good. Word is a very easy software to use, you just click it, and you can start writing. No fancy menus, no pizzaz, just plain old-simple word editor. And maybe - it’s all we need in the end?

Microsoft Word - Cons

…or maybe not. Or maybe, just maybe, if the world develops, you should develop with the world? Well, in that case - it’s more than necessary to get into some new and fancy apps to create some even better fancy books. Here are the cons of Microsoft Word!

One File

You may be a fan of OneDrive, but one file is something that most writers would frown upon. A single document is just not that sufficient for a modern writer. You need notes, chapters, and pages in the air. Books are not being created orderly, so you can’t expect writers to keep up with the Word model of a single document.

And maybe because it wasn’t meant to be a book-writing word processor. In the beginning, it was for short articles and such. It’s frustrating if you have a good idea, you either have to open another doc or just put some enters in it to scroll it down. It’s not a solution in the end, is it?

It Gets Flustered

Long documents are not a thing that Word likes. We would even state that it’s something that it has a lot of problems with. Especially if you have these empty spaces between paragraphs. And when it gets flustered - you get flustered. Everyone gets flustered, especially your publisher.

Formatting - But In a Bad Way

Sometimes formatting in Word is good, sometimes, when you add too much stuff or want to change too many things at once - it gets extremely annoying. Like to the point where you really cannot undo the weird formatting changes your file decided to save. And now you’re left with your CV, where everything is slight to the left and you have no idea why and it’s just a nightmare. Why can’t they make it just a little bit easier for us, mortals?

As usual, one of the vital points of our “vs” articles is the price. And in this case, it’s pretty much the same as always.

It used to be a bigger problem, but nowadays, you can get relatively cheaply an MS Office CD key with many additional features and software that it’s really a no-brainer if you need anything from the Office package. Or just any editor at all. 

It’s affordable, always available, and always compatible with pretty much the whole world. You can also get an Office 365 subscription, but people are swaying away from it as the always-updated version is not as necessary as one may think it is.

When it comes to the Scrivener, it’s pretty much straightforward. You pay the flat fee and you get the product. One-time purchase, no extra subscriptions - nothing fancy. The costs play out like this:

• Mac: $49
• Windows: $45
• iOS: $19.99

You can also get a free trial if you want to check it out for yourself. It’s for 30 days only, but it’s probably enough to get the gist.

Well, this one has to go to Microsoft. Scrivener is cool and all, but it’s just one app in the end. Microsoft offers a whole bunch of things, each on top of the game. Whether we’re talking about Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, there is so much stuff you get with this one purchase, it’s just insane. 

Scrivener is an app for someone who wants to focus only on writing and needs all the tools they can gather to immerse themselves into the creative process fully. And that it’s all right by our standards for sure, but in case of what pays better - Office is the choice for you.

After careful consideration, we’ve decided to, once again, state that - it depends. But in this case - it depends on what kind of writer you are. If you’re just someone who wants to sit down, get a cup of coffee, and just start writing until they burn out - there is no reason for you to buy all these fancy apps that will color some parts of your book for you and you will never use it in the end. You’re a wildcard, you’re all about the sheer emotional drive that the writing gives you, and you will destroy anything that stands in your way. 

Similarly, if you’re not that kind of person and you like to make notes of everything and just be an organized person - you will probably fall in love with Scrivener. It has everything an aspiring writer or a working scriptwriter can dream of. First Drafts, Collections, and so many tweaks and turns that you cannot be happier with anything else in this world.

So, in conclusion - get what you need. Find out what kind of writer you are, and just go with your instincts. If you have to make notes - pick Scrivener, it will surely help you if you’re writing something more complicated than a psychological story about yourself. If you don’t need it, just go with Word; it was always there, and it will probably be there after we’re all connected to the artificial body 1000 years from now.

We’re glad you picked our site to learn more about the MS Word/Scrivener battle, although it usually happens, it is more of a description of both rather than a real “software fight.” As we’ve stated before - it’s all in the eye of the beholder, so pick the app you feel would be best for you.