Scrivener is a word processor designed for writers

Microsoft Word is a powerful word processor but can become limited when working on large documents such as novels or essays.

Scrivener is a tool designed to handle both the editing and planning of a document along with storing research notes and pictures.

Scrivener is a Mac product that has been modified to work on Microsoft Windows. This is still a test version so use with care but it is still an impressive program.

There are plenty of templates on offer for fiction, non-fiction, poetry and lyrics and scriptwriting. Each of these has several sub topics for different kinds of work.

There's a video demonstrating how Scrivener works on the Scrivener website.

The left-hand column uses a tree view to show all of the different information ranging from the text of the document to characters, places and template sheets.

Different sections of text can be arranged in an index card view. This is particulary helpful when trying to work out the structure of the piece.

The Windows version of Scrivener is still in beta (test) and the download will only work for a fixed period of time, after which you will need to download it again.

Even in beta, Scrivener is a powerful writing tool that leaves Word looking rather basic when it comes to organising source material.