Sven — Awesome insights. Email me. I have an idea. 🙂

Thanks for your reply, Gabriela. Yes, Apple Pages has come a long way since you may have tried it, now with Dropbox (as well as iCloud) integration. It converts and exports to MS Word seamlessly, two clicks on built-in header tab, which is more than I find with Google Docs–although those convert, there can be some seriously wonky indents and spacing when it becomes a doc in Word, as you likely know. One thing that Pages does not yet have is simple drag-and-drop text section reordering, like Scrivener, or even MS Word, which has that built-in to Navigation Panel, which few seem to know about (so, they run to Scrivener with their credit cards and Scrivener for Dummies book…lol). I solve that by, again, just writing each scene in Pages in its own unique file and then merging them, like playing cards, one at a time in the end.

Although I have tried Scrivener (even took the Gwen Hernandez course), I find it too complex and more than I need (do I really need photos of all my characters? lol). The thing that killed Scrivener for me–and this is just me–is that, even on Mac, it’s still a touch finicky: sometimes things don’t store just right for me, and too often it can just freeze up, no reason. Those little dingles never, ever happen to me on Apple’s innate Pages on its own hardware, my Mac or iPads.

Your article is truly helpful, thanks for it. I am not familiar with using Ulysses, but keep hearing about it. Maybe I should give it a whirl. Sincerely, Sven

Good point, Sven! Thanks so much for adding your insights!

I myself haven’t used Pages in a long time. Back when I did use it more, I found that migrating from Pages on the iPad to MS Word on the desktop was a huge pain in the you-know-what. But that was years ago and I’m sure Apple has long since made that transition super-smooth. Plus if you have the same app on all devices, it’s as easy as drag-and-drop, right?

The unfortunate truth is that MS Word continues to be the “industry standard” in publishing, at least for the manuscript stage. This means that most writers will have to submit and edit their manuscripts using Word.

For instance, my publisher required that I submit my manuscript and all subsequent edits in Word document form. All of our edit rounds thus far have been done as “track changes” and comments in a Word Document. Much as I would LOVE to kick Word to the curb, until editors and publishing houses adopt a new platform, we’re kind of stuck with it. For the drafting stages, though, I’m right there with you: writers should find the apps and platforms that work for THEM. Looks like you’ve found a great system for your writing using Pages and iCloud. Awesome!