2018 Coupon Codes for Scrivener

Last updated: Saturday, August 3rd, 2019. If you are going to buy the best fiction/non-fiction writing software available, why not buy it at a discount? All links and new promo codes are still valid as of this date. Buying direct from Scrivener with the coupon code below is cheaper than buying through Amazon, plus you are helping a fellow writer!

Scrivener 3 Coupons That Work!

If you are an organized writer, like myself, Scrivener is the best software for both your fiction and non-fiction endeavors. It's even better with a discount!  It is available for either OS X or Windows, you can save 20% off the retail price now! This is currently the best coupon code available for Scrivener.  To get Scrivener on sale make sure you visit one of the links listed below for the code to work.

Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents. While it gives you complete control of the formatting, its focus is on helping you get to the end of that awkward first draft.

One of the great things about the writing community is, as a whole, we tend to be a supportive bunch. So I thought it only fitting to share the links below for anyone that wanted to get Scrivener at a discount.  Remember you can always try it for free first. Enjoy!

I want to sincerely thank all those that continue to use the links provided below.

You can grab the new Scrivener 3 Mac version or Windows version of Scrivener, just follow these steps:

• This is the most current Scrivener coupon code: WORDSWITHJAM  (This code is still valid as of  Saturday, August 3rd, 2019)
• Highlight the discount code, right click and copy. The final checkout screen will have an "Add coupon" link at the top. Just paste the Scrivener coupon code into the provided box.
• You must go here for the Scrivener 3 Mac OS X version and paste your coupon code.
• You must go here for the Scrivener Windows version and paste your coupon code.

If you ever need help or have a question about this deal or Scrivener in general, feel free to contact me, or leave a comment below.  This space will be kept updated with the best Scrivener discounts available.

Make sure to take advantage of some great free Scrivener Templates as a token of my thanks for using my links!


If you want to learn amazing ways to use Scrivener and how to make a living with this great writing tool read this!

Enjoy this Scrivener Coupon Code and get writing!

Scrivener Coupon - 20% Discount

Last updated:  Thursday April 2nd, 2015. All links and promo codes are still valid as of this date.

If you’re looking for a Scrivener coupon, you can save 20% off the retail price by following the simple steps below (all links will take you directly to the store and will open in a new window/tab so that you can enter your Scrivener coupon):

I want to sincerely thank all those that continue to use the links provided below.

This Scrivener coupon is still valid as of  March 16th, 2015.  Enjoy!

You can grab the  Mac version or Windows version of Scrivener, just follow these steps:

• You must go here for the Scrivener Mac OS X version and enter the coupon code WORDSWITHJAM.

• You must go here for the Scrivener Windows version and enter the coupon code WORDSWITHJAM.

Once you've completed the payment process, download the app (if you haven’t already), launch it, and when prompted enter the license information that was emailed to you.

I've been using Scrivener for all my writing the last three years. It works great for novels and short stories, but can also be used for blog posts, research papers, thesis and much, much more.

Make sure to take advantage of some great free Scrivener Templates as a bonus for using the links and the Scrivener coupon provided above.

Weekly Express

Since I tend to spend way too much time reading other writer's blogs, I thought I would deliver some of the better ones I find. Here are this weeks articles delivered by the Weekly Express:

How to Write the Hard Stuff, by Rachel Aaron.

25 Things You Should Know About World Building, by Chuck Wendig.

A new crop of literary novels explores our internet dystopia, by Charlie Jane Anders.

On Writing, by John Brown.  This article is an older one, but still a lot of useful information.

Our book of the week, On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King has been around a while, but it is the type of book you reread more than once.  It is entertaining and inspiring, interspersed with writing advice delivered in King's usual short and snappy manner.  A must read for any writer.

As always, enjoy and feel free to leave comments with your own favorites, or even plug your own articles!

How I Plot a Novel

I stumbled across this article yesterday and thought it was worth sharing.  It is an insightful article into the writing habits of Rachel Aaron.  I always love to see the process other writers use when creating their stories.

By popular request (ok, 1 person, but they're populace, so that makes it popular, right?) I've put together a step by step process for how I go from "Hey I should write a novel" to "Ok, let's get writing!" Though I managed to get things grouped into steps, what I've really done is labeled and applied order to the phases I go through as I work toward the point where I feel I know enough about a book to start writing. Some parts of my process may seem a bit obsessive, but the most important part of writing fast is knowing as much as you can about what you're writing before you write it, and that means lots and lots of planning.

Planning a novel takes me anywhere from a few days to weeks. Usually I plan while I'm working on other things, like editing, but I've also had whole weeks where I did nothing but put a story together.

Click here to read the full article.

Scrivener 25% Off Coupon - Limited Time Offer

Scrivener Coupon Code - 25% Discount Off Scrivener

Use the Scrivener coupon code below to enjoy 25% off Scrivener.  This is currently the best coupon code available for Scrivener.  To get Scrivener on sale make sure you visit the link listed below for the code to work. I want to thank all those that continue to use the links below, writers supporting writers truly is an amazing thing.

You can grab the  Mac version or Windows version of Scrivener, just follow these steps:

• This is the most current Scrivener coupon code: YADDO 
• Highlight the discount code, right click and copy
• You must go here for the Scrivener Mac OS X version, click here and paste your coupon code.
• You must go here for the Scrivener Windows version, click here and paste your coupon code.
• I will try to keep the Scrivener coupon code and discounts up to date.
• Now you can download Scrivener and get writing!

This coupon may have expired. If it has you can still get the 20% Scivener coupon code here.

Enjoy this Scrivener Coupon Code and get writing!

20% off Scrivener For All Camp NaNoWriMo Participants

Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents. While it gives you complete control of the formatting, its focus is on helping you get to the end of that awkward first draft. It has been enthusiastically adopted by best-selling novelists and novices alike. As a Camp NaNoWriMo 2012 participant, you will be eligible for a 20% discount on Scrivener’s regular licence on either the Mac or Windows platform. Great news! Make sure to grab it now so that you have full use of it for NaNoWriMo 2012 in November.

If you’re looking for a discount on Scrivener for OS X or Windows (or both!), you can save 20% off the retail price by following the simple steps below (links open in a new window):
Get your 20% discount on Scrivener here!

Making a Living as a Full Time Fiction Writer

    Many of us would love to make a living writing fiction, and only fiction, full time.  Aspiring authors find whatever spare time they can muster to write. Would you need to write a bestseller or could you settle for a spartan existence if it meant doing what you love?   No day job, no boss (except maybe your agent or publisher).  Is this a realistic goal?  Realistic, yes.  Worth the sacrifice, maybe.  Only you can decide that for yourself.
 
    Over at BubbleCow they discuss Chip MacGregor's suggestions that the blueprint for becoming a full time writer is complex and is based on a three rule system.

1. You need to have four-to-six books earning you a royalty.
2. You need to have 18 months to 2 years of book contracts.
3. You need to have a plan in place.

Monk Mind: How to Increase Your Focus

I confess to being as prone to the distractions of the Internet as anyone else: I will start reading about something that interests me and disappear down the rabbit hole for hours (even days) at a time.  This all comes out of precious writing time.

But my ability to focus on a single task has dramatically improved, and that one habit has changed my life.

While a few years ago I couldn’t sit down to work on something without quickly switching to email or one of my favorite Internet forums or sites, today I can sit down and write. I can clear away distractions, when I set my mind to it, and do one thing. And that changes everything: you lose yourself in that task, become so immersed that you pour everything you have into the work, and it becomes a meditative, transformative experience. Your happiness increases, stress goes down, and work improves.

Ira Glass On Creative Work

A little bit of inspiration from Ira Glass.  We all have a learning curve, the trick is not to give up.  Accept it and keep pushing on


.
Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Writer's Quote Of The Week - E.L. Doctorow

"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon." ~ E.L. Doctorow

2012 Writing Goals

After enjoying the responses to my previous post and looking through other writer's articles I tried to decide on a few realistic goals.  I wanted to set attainable goals in order to challenge myself, but not so hard as to become discouraged.  Here is what I've settled on:

• Finish writing and editing of my NaNoWriMo 2011 novel before NaNoWriMo 2012
• Write one short story a month
• Submit one short story a month
• Write one piece of flash fiction a month
• Submit one piece of flash fiction a month
• Regular posts at least three times a week on this blog
• Maintain at least 1000 words/day of fiction
• Read 26 new books this year.  Low I know, but like I said I don't want to over commit

I'll see how this goes with my crazy schedule, it may need to be adjusted.  I think these are fair goals though.  I need the push without feeling overwhelmed.  Feel free to leave a comment with your goals or post a link.  I love seeing other writers lists.

Have You Set Any Goals For 2012?

Sorry for the month long absence. I took a much needed family vacation (for them and me). NaNoWriMo 2011 was a
great experience, but it burned me out a bit. I am looking forward to editing what I wrote and finishing the story. I am excited now to be back writing. I am setting my writing goals for 2012 and would be interested if anyone already has theirs? Have you posted your 2012 goals anywhere? I would love to read what others have planned for this year.

Your Ideal Reader

When a publishing house considers your novel, one of the first things they ask themselves is, "Who's going to buy this book?"

One answer they won't even consider is, "Everybody."

Every book has a natural audience. When a publisher tries to market your book, they're going to target that natural audience.




This is true, even when a story has extraordinarily broad appeal. The Harry Potter series was massively
popular, but even so, plenty of people didn't read it. I know lots of readers who heard about it and just
shrugged and said, "So what?" I know others who read the first chapter and didn't get it and stopped. I know others who read the first book and then quit.

I'm going to bet that very few of them were 11-year-old boys. The ideal reader for the first Harry Potter book was an 11-year-old boy.

True, lots of other people liked the book. Zillions of adults. Zillions of females. But we're talking here
about which group loved it best. That group was the set of boys Harry's age.

Why think about these "ideal readers" when they obviously aren't the only readers for a book?
Simple. Every publisher has a limited marketing budget. Their game plan is to market your book

NaNoWriMo Synopsis

I am excited to get started on NaNoWriMo tomorrow!  I have nailed down the synopsis and done a rough (very, very rough) outline.  Hopefully that will be enough to get me through the next 30 days.  Here is the story synopsis as I have posted on the NaNoWriMo site.

When magic wanes, technology flourishes; when technology fails, magic flows back into the world. It is only in balance that both can truly coexist. But now the Alkai, users of magic, are being hunted and destroyed in the name of technological progress. Jor Craven, dedicated to killing the Alkai for his masters, instead finds himself tricked into honoring an age old oath which binds him to the protection of a young Alkai. A boy whose potential for magic may rival that of any Alkai of the last hundred years. A young woman, whose duty it is to protect the balance between magic and technology, becomes entwined in their fate. Together they must make the long journey to find the last Alkai haven. Now they are hunted by Jor’s brethren who would kill the boy because of his gift, as well as charlatan Alkai who wish to take the boy’s power as their own.

Well that's the rough synopsis right now. It is definitely Fantasy with flavors of Steampunk, I guess we'll just stick with Speculative as the genre until I figure it out. :)  I know I am the worst procrastinator, but if anyone is still looking for writing buddies to commiserate with on the bad days and to cheer each other on the good days hit me up on my NaNoWriMo profile.  I'll take whoever will have me.

Tools For NaNoWriMo

With NaNoWriMo approaching I seem to be receiving a large amount of traffic and downloads for all the writer's tools I've covered.  To make it easier to find I decided to post a list of the tools with the appropriate links.  If there are any others you love or would like to see listed just leave me a comment and I'll add it as soon as I can.

• Sample Novel Outline - A sample of J. K. Rowlings outline and a spreadsheet for your own.
• NaNoWriMo Report Card - A great way to track your NaNoWriMo (or any writing project)  progress.
• Character Profile - Delve in depth into what makes your characters tick.
• Novel Writing Tool - Break your novel into pre-planned acts.
• Scrivener - Every novel writers dream writing and novel planning software - Scrivener 20% discount.
• yWriter5 - a close second to Scrivener and free.  Not as polished, but has some additional options.

How to Write Cliffhangers

The secret to writing novels that readers can't put
down is simple -- in theory.

All you have to do is making the ending of each chapter
so exciting that your reader can't help but turn the
page.

That's a nice theory. How do you do it in practice?
The answer depends on the kind of novel you're writing.
The purpose of a novel is to give your reader a
Powerful Emotional Experience.



Each category of fiction creates its own mix of emotional experiences. Each category makes a promise to
deliver a certain kind of emotion at the end of the novel. A romance promises to deliver love. A suspense
novel promises to deliver safety. A mystery promises to deliver justice.As your story progresses, your reader tracks how close you are to delivering the final emotional payoff for your story. If the payoff looks like it's getting closer, your reader's tension eases. If it looks like the payoff is getting further away, your reader's tension tightens.

When something happens at the very end of a chapter to make the payoff suddenly look dramatically less likely, that's a cliffhanger.

Lee Child is a master of writing cliffhangers. Child is the author of a series of thrillers starring Jack
Reacher, a drifter who left the Army after 13 years as a military cop. Now Reacher hitchhikes around the
country, running into one set of bad guys after another and reluctantly puttings right.

Reacher is a skilled street fighter who knows every dirty fighting trick in the book

Novel Writing Tool

Cameron Matthews, intrigued by the amazing plot breakdown in a recent article, decided to make a "play with your wordcount" spreadsheet to see just how much you should theoretically be writing in each section of your novel.  You pick a "target word count" and then tell the spreadsheet how much of your novel (in a percentage) is waste material that will get slashed by editing, and voila!  It figures out how much you should target for each of the four traditional "acts" of the story.  Useful also as a diagnostic tool when editing and you realize your denouement is nine words long, or your intro fails to answer needed questions.  You'll have to pop over to his site for the download.  Check out his other great tools while you're there.

Writer's Rooms

Where do you write?  Do you have an office, den, writer's cave that you call your own?  Most of us have our favorite place we like to write, or maybe a couple of favorite places.  I have a small office (and by small I mean maybe 8x9, the size of many walk in closets).  Most of the furniture is other family members leftovers that were destined to be thrown out. Almost half the books on the bookcase are research from one story or another.  Most of the fiction is on the living room bookcases.  When not writing in the office I have a laptop I use when outside on the deck.  I would love to see where you all write.  If anyone wants to send me a pic or two I will post a new writer's space every Wednesday.  You can send them to seanmworth at gmail dot com.  Enjoy the pictures of my tiny writing space below.

                                           

NaNoWriMo Comics

I figured that we'd warm up for a NaNoWriMo with some of last years comics for writers by Debbie Ridpath Ohi.  You can find her great artwork and writing here.  Watch the NaNoWriMo site for the 2011 comics.

The Ultimate NaNoWriMo Checklist

National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo, is closing in fast.  The thought of writing 50,000 words in 30 days is a great challenge to most of us. So, with fear and anticipation, I thought I’d create a checklist of things you may want to start thinking about.  Do you need all of these things?  No.  Hopefully, they will get you thinking so that you aren't caught by surprise when November 1st hits.








Getting started

• Register and familiarize yourself with the rules for NaNoWriMo.
• Do you have notes on key elements of your story? (outline, plot, characters)
• Have you told others in your house about what you’re doing?
• Have you found a partner? You can get writing buddies on NaNoWriMo's site.  You can find a local friend to keep you honest and accountable for your progress. You could schedule Google+ hangouts to discuss problems and progress.

Supplies

• Notebooks - The back to school rush is over.  Many stores are now selling off their surplus. Grab your favorite: One, three, or five subject, journal, legal pads, pocket sized, ect.  Find a small one for your pocket when on the go.
• Pencils - I use these for outlining with a legal pad initially.  Beyond that I wouldn't use them, but having some handy won't hurt. 
• Pens - I have a love of pens, especially when I find one I really like.  Ball point, felt tip, whatever your poison.  Black ink, blue ink, save red for when you actually have time to edit in December or January.

"This is my pen. There are many others like it, but this one is mine. My pen is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my pen is useless. Without my pen, I am useless. I must write true with my pen. I must write faster than my writing buddy, who is trying to beat me. I must reach my daily goal before they reach theirs.  I am the master of my WIP.  I will win NaNoWriMo!"

          Sorry I couldn't resist.

• Highlighters (optional) - Highlighters are an valuable tool. I like to use them to remind me of something I may need to review later.  I also use them in editing, but NaNoWriMo isn't about editing, it's about writing.
• Smart Phone (optional) - You must leave the house at some point in November, yes you will run out of coffee, peanut M&M's, and toilet paper...trust me.  Use your phone to jot down plot changes, snippets of dialogue or character ideas.  I know you have a good memory, but you will forget.
• Timer - If you will be participating in any word wars, write-ins, or Google+ hangouts one of these will come in handy.  You can buy one, use a phone app, or use a computer program to keep time.
• Your muse/totem - Come on you know you have one!  A stuffed animal, toy, token, mascot, stress ball, cape, lucky thinking cap, whatever!  Get one, name it, talk to it when you're stuck. Your new friend will be the only one in your house that will put up with you in November.
• A writing space - Living room, office, bedroom, Starbucks, B&N, Panara..where will you write. Don't feel boxed into one.  Sometimes just a change of scenery can revitalize your creativity.
• Music (optional) - I usually write in silence, but like anything else a change can be good.  So, if you use music while writing, make sure you have a month of it ready.  If you don't, have something you like handy just in case.

Food and drink

• Drink - Make sure you have a good supply of your favorite soda, water, coffee, tea, alcohol or energy drink.  My downfall is coffee.  I always have a cup handy on the desk.
• Food - Mostly snacks, try to still eat your meals with your family or friends - they miss you. So stock up on fruits, veggies, chips, crackers and cheese, candy, or whatever else will keep you in your chair while you write!

Computer stuff

• Your Computer - I use a PC, both a laptop and a desktop.  I am not familiar with Macs, so feel free to chime in with your favorites.  I'll give you what I use (I like free).
• Virus protection - Microsoft Security Essentials (free)
• Spyware protection - For adware/spyware/malware I use Malwarebytes (free)
• Firewall - I have the Windows default Firewall turned on (free)
• Writing software - If you have a computer it came with something that will get you through NaNoWriMo without a problem.  Microsoft Word is just fine, even Notepad or Word Pad would work if it had to.  Beyond that there are a number of great alternatives.  Scrivener (Windows beta), yWriter, and Open Office are all free.  The trick is to write, not what program you are writing in.  Use something you are familiar and comfortable with.
• Backups - I tend to back up too much (if there is such a thing).  First of all make sure your writing software is set to auto-save at regular intervals.  Set it to however much work you are comfortable with losing (5-10-15 minutes).  After that you have a couple options when you end your writing for the day.  You can back up to a second hard drive or thumb drive.  You can set up a Gmail account and email it as attachment. You could copy and paste into Google Docs, rename it every day as title - date. Or you can use a cloud service like DropBox or SugarSync (I've used both with no complaints).  The idea is to pick one and use it religiously.  There is nothing worse than writing for hours and then losing all your work.  Worse yet, having a computer crash with no backup of your manuscript that you've worked on for months.

Your sanity

Stay healthy.  Spend some time on yourself.  Take the time to go for a walk or a run.  Go to the gym.  Plan time with your family.  Many of your best ideas will come at random times and when you are being stimulated in other ways.  It will make you look forward to your writing time.  Sitting in a chair for hours on end isn't good for anyone.  Schedule some breaks so the world knows you're still alive.

What else is on your list?  What is your muse/totem? What is your must have item?  Or just tell me what I missed!