I’ve Grown to Appreciate and Love Ulysses

Last night, I made the leap to using Ulysses. I wanted to do something to supplement Scrivener for my writing workflow. I am so annoyed that Scrivener isn’t moving faster on the iOS version, and with my impending book I really wanted a way to be more portable and nimble with my writing options.

I had known of Ulysses and even downloaded a trial about a year ago. At the time, I wasn’t ready. With dipping my toe into Bywords, and with learning more about portability, exporting, and distraction free writing, I felt I was ready now. I finally see the benefits of writing in markdown. I see the benefits of a platform like Ulysses: simple interface; portability; fewer distractions; ability to create an organizational structure that works for me. I downloaded it. I jumped into the learning curve. And I am truly liking it!

Having been raised on “traditional” word processors, making the jump to markdown was a bit intimidating and, frankly, felt like “taking a step backwards.” But once I let go and opened my eyes, I see it’s value. And I am enjoying it very much. In fact, I am looking for ways to incorporate it into other workflow areas.

So how does this relate to Scrivener?

I am not quite sure if I was looking for an alternative to Scrivener or a supplement. I was vacillating. Now, after having spent time with Ulysses (and, to a degree, Bywords), I am starting to see how they can live in harmony with Scrivener. There is so much power in Scrivener. There are so many options and, frankly, really cool features that there is a definite place for it. It’s a workhorse.

But Ulysses definitely has it’s advantages. It gets rid of all the muckitymuck and allows me to just write. If I choose, I can always export all the work done in Ulysses into Scrivener to put that programs power/features to work.

So, yes, I am delighted with my choice. Very delighted indeed!

J Caruso about Ulysses – The Ultimate Writing App, v2.5.2