A little help from my friends...

I am in love with Scrivener. I used the corkboard feature when writing my last book, Hostage, but for my latest book, Six, I have started to tap into its real capabilities. I have yet to discover the real strength of the program but there are two features that I am loving at the moment.

The first feature is the ability to type in a document while the rest of the screen is blanked out. It's just you and the page, no little icons at the top of the page telling me the time, telling me whether my Internet is linked etc etc. Just me and the page. If I want to I can pull my mouse over the bottom of the page I can get information if I want to.

The second feature, the one I really love, is the statistical information window that I can keep open while I'm working, setting a projected number of words to write per session and watching the bar in the overall projected number of words for my project inch towards my destination. It's kind of like having a little friend on my shoulder, urging me to keep my seat for just 100 more words (or 1000).

It's also easier to toggle between chapters — including character profiles — and return to the spot you were working on, or to check on a map that I've turned into a jpg and dragged into the program. You can also link the chapters and edit it as a whole document, then toggle back to chapters again.

Writing can be a solitary occupation. Which is why it's always good to have a little help from a friend...