Where to compose--Scrivener or Mellel--for dissertation

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elal
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Where to compose--Scrivener or Mellel--for dissertation

Post by elal »

Hi Y'all!

I'm writing a 15,000 word dissertation for my Applied Linguistics course and am trying to decide on which program to compose it in.

I use and enjoy both Scriver and Mellel, and they are my only true candidates at the moment. I own both. If I use Scrivener then I use Mellel, but the converse is of course not true. I use other apps for PDF reading (Skim), annotating (Marginnote), manipulating (PdfPen) and storing research (DevonThink)--in other words I don't use Scrivener's reference material storing capabilities. With Mellel 4 (that I'm deciding if I should upgrade to), some Scrivener like features will become available to me--or so I understand. Although I don't like focusing on format when composing, with Mellel it is less painful than, well, every other word processor--and it would save lots of time in the end to not have to compile out of Scrivener, assign palettes, auto-titles, etc. etc. That would all be done already. Lastly, I like Mellel. Did I mention that? I usually spend a month writing my assignments, but only a weekend with Mellel. It would be cool to make a deeper relationship. That includes having a reason to use the live bibliography. But I'd miss Scrivener for sure, unless Mellel can pretty much do the same now?

I'm curious what other people's experience/opinions are to help me decide.

Thanks!
Last edited by elal on Mon Oct 02, 2017 12:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
dan3213
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Re: Where to compose--Scrivener or Mellel--for dissertation

Post by dan3213 »

Both are excellent applications. Personally, if it is only 15,000 words I would probably just use Mellel. Especially if you are happy to use it with bookends. The autotitles, style management and cross references in Mellel are outstanding.

Keep in mind, however, that Scrivener 3 is meant to be coming out soon, and includes styles.
elal
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Re: Where to compose--Scrivener or Mellel--for dissertation

Post by elal »

Hiya,
dan3213 wrote: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:44 pmonly 15,000
I know people write much more, but I'm feeling overwhelmed with that target. Then again, for organization's sake, I see your point.
dan3213 wrote: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:44 pm if you are happy to use it with bookends
Yes, I'm happy to use it with Bookends. The integration is great and only getting better. Even with Scrivener it's only one extra click to get it to work once in Mellel.
dan3213 wrote: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:44 pm Scrivener 3 is meant to be coming out soon, and includes styles.
Well that certainly complicates things. I didn't know that. But then if the question is about what is worth more money--Mellel with indexing (could still be useful for me) and better outlining, or Scrivener with styles--I think Mellel wins. For me, the purpose of Scrivener is to not worry about that stuff. Then again, if v3 also happens to look much nicer as well, that would be a nice bonus. It looks a bit old at the moment, in my opinion. Then again, most apps for power users seem to.

Thanks for the input.
dan3213
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Re: Where to compose--Scrivener or Mellel--for dissertation

Post by dan3213 »

You can check out many of the upcoming Scrivener features on the literature and latte blog.
elal
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Re: Where to compose--Scrivener or Mellel--for dissertation

Post by elal »

dan3213 wrote: Sun Oct 01, 2017 11:38 pm You can check out many of the upcoming Scrivener features on the literature and latte blog.
Indeed, I've just read it all. It sounds like it will be more of what I was hoping for--better looking and more functional interface. It looks great. Unless it comes out soon, which isn't likely, I will need to have started writing already. I'm thinking of just using Mellel and buying Scrivener in the future should the need arise. I've wanted to write a novel ever since starting to use Scrivener just because it would be so much fun. Plus, I'd have my own answer as to which is better for composing. Should I find the process tedious in Mellel, I can just shift to Scrivener. I'm sure I'll realize it earlier than later. I wish I had gotten the discounted upgrade offer earlier on.

Thanks, that was very helpful.

:)
joseph_anton
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Re: Where to compose--Scrivener or Mellel--for dissertation

Post by joseph_anton »

I think that composing directly in Mellel (with Bookends) is the best choice for academic writing. I am also working on a dissertation and used Scrivener and Ulysses before switching to Mellel. Scrivener and Ulysses are also wonderful tools, but I think Mellel has the edge for academics.

My reasons for recommending composing in Mellel are:
  • There is no "last step" where you need to get your work out of another application and into Mellel (which always ends up being a little more complicated than expected, in my experience).
  • The "Live Bibliography" aspect of the Bookends integration means that you can make sure citations are correctly formatted as you go along rather than discovering at the end that there are problems.
  • The Outline feature of Mellel is a powerful way of hierarchically structuring a document, particularly when used in combination with the Table of Contents feature.
  • If you want an index, you can add index markers as you go, rather than having to go through the document again at the end to do so.
  • There is an advantage to composing in an environment similar to what the reader will see in the end. It makes it easier to control visually for things like paragraph length.
elal
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Re: Where to compose--Scrivener or Mellel--for dissertation

Post by elal »

joseph_anton wrote: Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:12 am There is an advantage to composing in an environment similar to what the reader will see in the end. It makes it easier to control visually for things like paragraph length.
I agree with everything you said, especially this point. That's something in Scrivener that just sort of happens organically, which is fine for non-academic work. Academic work is more formulaic.

Thanks for the input!
ealvarez
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Re: Where to compose--Scrivener or Mellel--for dissertation

Post by ealvarez »

Writing a book, I started with Scrivener, but moved to Mellel 4. Indexing is a big thing for me, but I also really like the new Story pane as it helps me keep in mind some ideas.
elal
Got the styles thing figured out
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Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2011 1:46 am

Re: Where to compose--Scrivener or Mellel--for dissertation

Post by elal »

ealvarez wrote: Mon Oct 02, 2017 12:52 pm Writing a book, I started with Scrivener, but moved to Mellel 4. Indexing is a big thing for me, but I also really like the new Story pane as it helps me keep in mind some ideas.
I just watched the tutorial on this. Seems like it could be helpful and although Scrivener certainly does this, it actually seems easier here. Regardless, it's great it's here as well. I can foresee setting certain story points with the dissertation to correspond to different hypothesis within the literature review to easily reference while typing up results. Good call on that one.
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