When I first started writing my book, I used MSWord.  I would expect almost everyone does.  Then I met up with another writer who told me about Scrivener by Literature and Latte.

I believe it is the most useful tool I could use in my writing.

It was created by a Brit so the spellchecks are all geared toward English versus American but that works well for me being a Canadian.  (There might be a way to change the dictionary but I haven’t needed to yet.)

I downloaded the free trial and never looked back.  I checked out the tutorial and and transferred my MSWord document into Scrivener.  Quick and easy.  Within days I bought the software ($40 US).

The most useful feature of the software is that when you compile your manuscript, you can choose from multiple formats:  epub, pdf. Kindle, html, paperback book and standard manuscript format for submissions.  You can choose whether you want chapter numbers, headings or both; same with parts.

Another great feature is that it will create a bulletin board with ‘cards’ for each of your chapters or scenes.  These you can simply move on the board to other locations so that the chapters can be placed in a different order.

I also like the ‘Thesaurus’ menu.  It will automatically open up Thesaurus.com.  Although, I prefer to use my print copy of Roget’s International Thesaurus,  which I highly recommend.  (There isn’t a word that I haven’t been able to find in it yet.)

I have used Scrivener for fiction but it has different formats for non-fiction (I wish I would have had this when I wrote my thesis), script writing, and others that I haven’t even considered.

The software was recently upgraded at no extra charge and I have had no problems with the newer version.

So if you are considering downloading Scrivener or are annoyed by the cumbersomeness of your word processor, I would highly recommend it.