Which writing software is better: Scrivener or Ulysses 3?

“I am looking to purchase a serious writing software and have narrowed it down to these two programs. However, I am having trouble seeing which is better.”

I think you need to evaluate why you want “serious” software for something that is not a software solvable problem. I wrote about it at length in an article and a lot of authors said it resonated: (See chapter “Aspiring writers: Borrow the bashed up bike”).

The trend today is actually to move away from complex tools like Scrivener and Microsoft Word toward distraction free writing software. See the online reviews at Five Best Distraction-Free Writing Tools.

If you’re doing a lot of research and your writing entails complex plots, ask yourself why your own marvellous subconscious cannot cope with the complexity. Is it that you have not yet internalised your research or perhaps that your plots are too complex so that your readers won’t follow it either?

Leaving the biggest reason for last, I really feel that the very worst thing you can do while writing a first draft is to stop every few paragraphs and get sidetracked by filling in notes or reading them. It’s akin to jumping out of the shower every few minutes to answer the door. The extra cognitive load that creates is like drying off, putting on clothes, going downstairs, then getting undressed and back in the shower again. Not optimal!