So, this month, I’m doing something a little different with my column: I’m sharing the system I use to write these columns, so that other researchers, writers, and students can use or adapt my system. I now use Scrivener in tandem with Zotero, a bibliographic software tool that makes it easier to organize source materials and insert citations, and I’ve developed a workflow that makes it dramatically easier to draft articles based on scholarly research. I wrote those words two years ago in a column about Scrivener, the writing software I use to write my columns for JSTOR Daily (and other publications).
The digital environment in which we do that work may feel crucial to those of us who earn a living through our writing, but this environment should matter to anyone who does significant amounts of writing for work or leisure. How we structure the writing process shapes not only how we articulate our ideas to the world, but also, how we work through those ideas ourselves.
