Scrivener is fast becoming a mainstay of my writing. I’ve written about this software several times now but for those who are not familiar with it, Scrivener is for developing writing projects. It’s a powerful tool that allows for a great deal of flexibility for any kind of writing project. I’m even using it for this post but especially a series of blogs.
I recently started a newsletter for my blog which I send out to email followers. As part of this process I use Mailchimp to send the messages. I’ll be working on the upcoming edition for next week over several days but it hit me as I started thinking about it – write the newsletter in Scrivener.
My Newsletter Plan
I’m sure other people are doing this already but I haven’t seen anyone actually write about it. Here’s how I plan to use Scrivener.
1. Create a project for the year (since I just started the newsletter the one for 2014 will be short).
2. Use the Binder to create each newsletter volume in separate sub-folders so the project will grow throughout the year.
3. Use the Research folder to create separate sub-folders for each volume where I can put ideas, links, pictures, etc. that I want to use for that volume. When I start writing the volume I’ll have all my information ready to go.
4. Transfer the text to the template in Mailchimp when ready.
Other Related Ideas
Since I plan to use Scrivener for developing my newsletter I also realized there are other similar uses too:
- I can use it to write my book-related email campaigns.
- Other email templates such as those used for greetings, thank-you’s and giveaways
- Goodreads templates for those who friend me
- It can even be used to compose social media communications that may be used repetitively. Since you can copy all kinds of files into Scrivener, I imagine I can even use it for adding pictures to post on Pinterest such as upcoming cover reveals or additional artwork to be released at a particular time.
P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.
Sign-up to receive my free ebooks today.
Clip art licensed from Microsoft Office.
The Bow of Destiny cover art licensed by commission from Christopher Rawlins