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The Ultimate Writing Duo: Freewrite & Scrivener

Annie Cosby

November 19, 2024 | 6 min read

We asked more than 3,000 writers around the world how they stay focused, as part of our Write Focused Giveaway, a collaboration with the team over at Scrivener.

Here are their answers, plus key tips for building the ultimate focused writing workflow with Freewrite and Scrivener.

Focus Is a Global Problem

An online troll recently said to us: "Focus is free."

Our response? No, it's really not. Especially not in the twenty-first century.

Do you ever feel unfocused and listless when you're supposed to be writing? Even though you want to write, you find yourself scrolling?

Writer Elizabeth put it best:

"Halfway through a sentence, I open up Facebook. I don’t even want to. I just do. There’s still no new notifications for me. But two days ago, I vaguely saw a neighborhood watch group feud about leaf removal, so I’ve gotta check if it’s still going."

Does Elizabeth "just need self control"? Nope, it's a lot more complicated than that.

Modern humans are fighting every minute of the day against algorithms that are designed to trap us. We're also struggling with information overload and decision fatigue. Every distraction in your environment requires a bit of mental effort to overcome. While that effort may be tiny individually — it all adds up.

In fact, the research is clear how the constant use of smart devices and attempts to "multitask" are affecting our brains.

Spoiler alert: It's not good.

But if you don't want to read the research, just listen to what writers around the world say:

"The modern writer’s environment is a labyrinth of notifications, pop-ups, and the relentless lure of the internet." Utz

"You know when you Google one thing and suddenly you’re caught in the social media doom scroll?" Iliyana

"I want my creative energy back again." Angela

"One day, I’ll be a writer. Once I can focus longer than a goldfish’s attention span." Ernie

“Easiest way to stay focused? Well, I’d love an answer myself…” K.L.

[And there's more where that came from.]

It's clear that as writers in the digital age, we all face some of the same challenges.

So how are your fellow writers combating these issues?

Top 3 Strategies to Stay Focused

It would take us weeks to share all the insightful responses we heard from all the talented writers out there.

But there were three tips that were repeated again and again:

1) Separate the drafting from the editing process.

When it's time to sit down and create new words, you'll find yourself drifting to easier tasks, like editing — correcting your spelling, tinkering with words — or reading that web page that is most definitely "research" for your book ... right?

There's a simple reason for that. It's because consuming is easier than creating for your brain.

Kevin says:

"I frequently want to stop to research the things I'm writing about to make sure I've got details right, but I tend to get lost down rabbit holes so I've taught myself to just keep writing and make a note to come back and do the research later..."

To prevent yourself from procrastinating away all your writing time, you must separate the different steps. Allocate time to:

Research and record notes
Draft on a distraction-free device like Freewrite
Revise in an organizational tool like Scrivener

And then do each assigned task with focused dedication.

"I dedicate specific blocks of uninterrupted time to drafting and separate ones to organizing or editing," says Utz. "For instance, a morning session might be 60 minutes of non-stop drafting ... followed by a break and an afternoon Scrivener session focused on restructuring and initial edits."

You may have to fight the urge to take the easy way out during each period, but with the proper tools and plan in place, we promise you can do it. And it'll be worth it when you finally finish your book!

2) Use specialized tools.

"The computer is distracting," says Renee, "emails, endless web browsing, videos to watch..."

Most computers and smart devices these days have a "focus mode." But that's not enough. Because for the person who can turn on focus mode (you), there will always be a temptation to turn it off. (Remember what we said earlier above about decision fatigue and mental effort?)

Instead, seek out tools specifically designed to help you in each task.

Draft completely distraction-free (and using the supremely satisfying keyboards) on Freewrite, focusing only on raw output. Then edit and organize your freewriting in Scrivener.

Just like an athlete or a professional chef has specialized tools for each task, so too do authors. As Michelle says: "Having the right tools is a lot like dressing for success, when you have what you need to feel like a writer, it puts you in the zone."

There are tools out there to make your writing process easier. Use them!

[Freewrite even has a free in-browser writing sprint app called Sprinter. Try it out!]

3) Let go of perfection and just write.

Once you have your tools lined up, put your phone and tempting books — even it's "research" — in another room. Maybe put on some music to set the scene.

Setting a word count goal may help you stay on track and have an objective to focus on.

But the truly important part is that you just keep writing. It's OK if you write something different or shorter than you planned in a session, as long as you're putting words on the page.

Remember: There will be time to edit later.

As user Beatrice says:

"My top tip for staying focused during writing sessions is to show up. I know, Stephen King said it first. It's true though."

The Ideal Workflow: Freewrite + Scrivener

Countless writers describe their ideal workflow as dedicated drafting on a Freewrite device followed by organized editing in Scrivener.

Freewrite is specifically designed as a dedicated drafting environment that not only removes all the distractions of modern devices but also functions as an unconscious and consistent signal to your brain that — "hey, when we sit down at this thing, it's time to write!"

"I love the way Freewrite promotes forward-focused writing," Cara says, "not rereading and dwelling on where you're coming from in the narrative or the ideas, but pushing on to the next idea. I find it makes my Freewrite drafts both wide-ranging and more thoughtful."

As Seanan F. says:

"Freewrite is the dream machine: distraction-slaying, simple to use, and light and portable enough to carry without a rucksack…"

Scrivener is a suite of tools for outlining and editing work on your computer. It's praised for its organizational capabilities in structuring and editing large writing projects.

Experienced writers often choose these tools to work together in an excellent workflow that addresses the common challenges mentioned earlier in this article.

Simply draft on Freewrite and save your work to Postbox as plain text (.txt) or Microsoft Word (.docx) files. When you're ready to edit, open your Freewrite draft in Scrivener and use the advanced organizational tools to revise and refine your writing.

With these two tools, you'll have a polished draft in no time!

Write More with Freewrite + Scrivener

This fantastic duo not only enhances your productivity and creativity, it brings the joy back to writing.

We'll leave you with this poem from Vishaal:

Freewrite will keep distraction at bay
Scrivener will help outline
A pot of coffee always brewing — the trio
Make my writing shine!

See below for even more focused writing tips from the Freewrite + Scrivener community.

JOIN A CHALLENGE

"My pro tip to stay focused is to enter challenges or give one to yourself (words per day, a chapter per week, a deadline, etc) and log your progress." Nohemi

Freewrite often hosts writing challenges to help you stay focused. For example, check out our NaNoWriMo Leaderboard.

WRITING SPRINTS

"Right now the only way I can get anything done is the good ol' Pomodoro Method of setting a timer for 25 minutes and forcing yourself to focus on the task at hand, and rewarding yourself by scheduling a break." - Danielle

Freewrite Smart Typewriter and Traveler models both have a secondary screen that can display a timer so you can do writing sprints! Freewrite also free hosts community sprints from time to time.

WRITE IN NATURE

"Imagine drafting on a hay bale, free from the pull of notifications and the temptation of cat videos. It’s the ultimate combo of rustic charm and writerly focus!" Orysia

"My top tip for staying focused is to limit your distractions, which I do by getting away into nature." Meghan

There's a reason Freewrite devices save your work while you're offline. And Traveler is designed to be light and portable, with an insanely long battery life. Go, travel, see the world — and WRITE!

UTILIZE MUSIC

"Toss on a pair of headphones and find a study or classical playlist to tune out the outside world and let the inner demons crawl onto the page." Jared

"My best focus tip is listening to brainwave music with binaural beats! It works!" Boris

Classical music and movie scores are great for writing. The Freewrite team is partial to rainy soundscapes, too! Find all of these options and more on YouTube or Spotify.

Annie Cosby

Writer

Annie Cosby is the Marketing Manager at Freewrite, a former fiction editor, and the author of seven books — and counting. Her work deals with Celtic mythology and has twice won the YA Indie Author Project in Missouri.

The Haunting

Hitting “publish” on an essay or a blog always stirs up insecurity — the overthinking, the over-editing. The fear that someone will call me out for not being a real writer.

I initially hesitated to make writing part of my freelance work. My background is in photography and design. Writing was something I gravitated toward, but I had no degree to validate it. No official stamp of approval.

Like many writers, I started with zero confidence in my voice — agonizing over edits, drowning in research, second-guessing every word.

I even created a shield for myself: ghostwriting.

I even created a shield for myself: ghostwriting.

If my words weren’t my own, they couldn’t be wrong. Ghostwriting meant safety — no risk, no vulnerability, just words without ownership.

I still remember the feeling of scrolling to the bottom of an article I had written and seeing someone else’s name, their face beside words that had once been mine.

The truth is, I always wanted to write. As a kid, I imagined it. Yet, I found myself handing over my work, letting someone else own it.

I told myself it didn’t matter. It was work. Getting paid to write should be enough.

But here’s the thing: I wasn’t just playing it safe — I was slowly erasing myself. Word by word. Edit by edit. And finally, in the by-line.

I wasn’t just playing it safe — I was slowly erasing myself. Word by word. Edit by edit. And finally, in the by-line.

The Disappearing Act

This was true when I was writing under my own name, too. The more I worried about getting it right, the less I sounded like me.

I worried. I worried about how long an essay was (“people will be bored”), finding endless examples as proof of my research (“no way my own opinion is valid on its own”), the title I gave a piece (“it has to be a hook”), or editing out personal touches (“better to be safe than be seen”).

I built a guardrail around my writing, adjusting, tweaking, over-correcting. Advice meant to help only locked me in. It created a sentence rewritten to sound smarter, an opinion softened to sound safer, a paragraph reshaped to sound acceptable.

I built a guardrail around my writing, adjusting, tweaking, over-correcting.

But playing it safe makes the work dull. Writing loses its edge.

It took deliberate effort to break this habit. I’m not perfect, but here’s what I know after a year of intentionally letting my writing sound like me:

My work is clearer. It moves with my own rhythm. It’s less shaped by external influence, by fear, by the constant need to smooth it into something more polished, more likable.

But playing it safe makes the work dull. Writing loses its edge.

The Resurrection

The drive for acceptance is a slippery slope — one we don’t always realize we’re sliding down. It’s present in the small choices that pull us away from artistic integrity: checking how others did it first, tweaking our work to fit a mold, hesitating before saying what we actually mean.

And let’s be honest — this isn’t just about writing. It bleeds into everything.

It’s there when we stay silent in the face of wrongdoing, when we hold back our true way of being, when we choose work that feels “respectable,” whatever that means. It’s in every “yes” we say when we really want to say “no.”

If your self-expression is rooted in a need for acceptance, are you creating for yourself — or for others? Does your work help you explore your thoughts, your life? Does it add depth, energy, and meaning?

My work is clearer. It moves with my own rhythm. It’s less shaped by external influence, by fear, by the constant need to smooth it into something more polished, more likable.

I get it. We’re social creatures. Isolation isn’t the answer. Ignoring societal norms won’t make us better writers. Often, the most meaningful work is born from responding to or resisting those norms.

But knowing yourself well enough to recognize when acceptance is shaping your work brings clarity.

Am I doing this to be part of a community, to build connections, to learn and grow?

Or am I doing this to meet someone else’s expectations, dulling my voice just to fit in?

The Revival

Here’s what I know as I look back at my writing: I’m grateful for the years spent learning, for the times I sought acceptance with curiosity. But I’m in a different phase now.

I know who I am, and those who connect with my work reflect that back at me — in the messages they send, in the conversations we share.

I know who I am, and those who connect with my work reflect that back at me — in the messages they send, in the conversations we share.

It’s our differences that drive growth. I want to nurture these connections, to be challenged by difference, to keep writing in a way that feels like me. The me who isn’t afraid to show what I think and care about.

So, I ask you, as I ask myself now:

If no one was watching, if no one could judge, what would you write?