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Today’s guest is Megan Wagner,

Author of the recently released Fighting FIRED with Fire: A Guide to Coping with Job Loss, Rising from the Ashes and Igniting a Career You Love.

Megan’s book is written from experience and she’s sharing her story – and her love of Scrivener – with us today.

Where did this journey start, Megan?

As a 12-year marketing communications professional, I’d always dreamed of a more meaningful career and owning my own business. So, I began my marketing business as a side hustle in 2015. Then one fateful day, my dream was forced into fruition, when I was let go from my job as a communications director. Fired!

I felt a million different emotions over the next few months – everything from relief to anxiety and fear. I didn’t have a clue what to do next except get to work and build the business I’d always wanted to create.

But, that life-jarring experience inspired me to share my experience and the result is: my book, just published. And, now, nearly two years later, I’ve come to realize that my dismissal was the best thing that could have happened to me.

I’m living my dream: owning my own marketing consulting business and sharing my personal story with others who might be experiencing job loss.

Wow! Good for you …

Where does Scrivener come into play?

When I started writing my book, I’d never encountered such a project before. I thought everyone used plain, old, boring, Word. Meh.

As I starting building out my story, I felt like my ideas and research were all over the place. I had no idea if my word count goals had been met and the entire writing process felt so basic. I was uninspired.

Since this was my first time, writing a book, I needed to change the tools that I was using – and Scrivener was just the app I needed!

Scrivener to the rescue!

There were four ways that Scrivener saved my story.

#1: Scrivener kept my goals in reach

Thanks to Scrivener’s handy project statistics feature, I felt that my daily writing goals were much more attainable (and visible) than using Word. I set my custom draft completion date and Scrivener worked backward to automatically breakdown my daily word count goals into digestible chunks.

There might be other apps out there that do this, but it was helpful to have this feature directly where I was writing. I was able to keep on point, based on my deadline!

#2: Scrivener kept my story organized

In my book, Fighting FIRED With Fire, I had to research a lot of statistical information, including unemployment rates, survey data, job loss resources, and more.

Scrivener’s ‘Research’ and ‘Notes’ sections kept my sources in one, easy-to-find, place so I could refer back to them and incorporate the information in my story.

I could also brainstorm my ideas and place them right in the document for easy reference.

The export feature was also helpful for when I shipped my first draft to the editor.

#3: Scrivener allowed me to sync between devices

One of my favorite features about Scrivener is the ability to sync a story between devices. So if I didn’t feel like lugging my MacBook around, I could continue writing on my iPad on the go. My additions, edits, etc. were automatically saved to Dropbox and then reflected the next time I opened my story on another device. Very handy!

#4: Scrivener gave me the inspiration to be a real writer

Since this was my first publication, the notion of writing a book was completely new to me. Scrivener held my hand along the way and helped me to break down section and chapters, mark a status for each chapter, generate an outline, store all my ideas and resources, and Scrivener kept my writing goals on track. I had the feeling that I was a real writer, long before I ever published my book!

You are a Scrivener fan, Megan?

Yes! Whether you’re writing your first book or 107th book, Scrivener is built just for you. It gives writers an easy, well-organized platform to build your story. I felt so much more organized and could better focus on my book and get it published more quickly that if I had used another platform.

I agree 100%. Best of luck with your next book!

More about Megan’s first book

Megan’s book is available on Amazon, in both print and Kindle versions.

More about Megan

Megan’s received a B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing from Indiana State
University and a M.A. in Integrated Marketing Communications from St. Bonaventure University. Along with putting her marketing knowledge into everyday practice, Megan also shares her talents with up and coming professionals as an adjunct professor at St. Bonaventure University.

Born and raised in southwestern Indiana, Megan’s also a painter, blogger and photographer. She resides in Upstate New York with her husband, Ben, and dog, Sammy.

To discover even more about Megan, please visit her website. There’s also a free-to-download Vision for Your Life worksheet available.

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a step-by-step exploration of how Scrivener can change how a writer writes.
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