Using Scapple

An alternative application with which I have been using the Cell-Writing technique is Scapple (by Literature and Latte).

(Indeed, the draft for this page was written using that application.)

Scapple is not unlike a mind-mapping application when used in brainstorming mode. Double-clicking or pressing Ctrl+Enter brings up an on-screen cell into which text may be inserted. Press Ctrl+Enter again and another cell appears immediately below. Unlike Cell-Writing using a spreadsheet, with Scapple one is not limited to a grid of cells. Cells can be placed and moved around anywhere on screen.

There is also a very helpful stacking function. Pressing Ctrl+’ stacks cells one below another in the order in which they are selected. Pressing Ctrl+Enter can also be used to insert a cell within a stack. Simply select the cell below which the new one is to be inserted, first. All cells within the stack below are shifted down as necessary. Text can be easily exported - in a range of file formats - or simply copied and pasted.

Scapple is ostensibly a planning and outlining application from the people who also produce Scrivener. In many respects the applications complement each other. Scapple's main appeal, as marketed, is its many graphic capabilities. For example, each cell can be linked to others via a variety of lines - with and without arrows. Cells can be given coloured fills, outlines etc. There is also a host of other customisable features.

I have come to use it without many of these facilities. I have been using it mainly for its text handling capabilities - of which there are more than detailed here. Indeed, the more I have used it, the more features I find that can be adapted to suit my practice of Cell-Writing.

Perhaps one such feature I should mention in closing is its distraction freedom. Entering full screen mode (by pressing F11) leaves one with very little other than the menu and scroll bars - it being possible to toggle the footer bar on and off. One then has virtually the whole screen with which to work. Navigating this screen is possible using a range of zoom functions, mouse and keyboard controls. Furthermore, if one exits in full screen mode, upon re-opening, the file returns to that mode and one can continue exactly where one left-off.

Scapple is not free but the cost is very reasonable.

(NB I am not employed by Literature and Latte and am not in receipt of any incentives from them to endorse their products.)