I wrote my first novel (a piece of trash) using pages, and I didn't have any of the problems with it that I did when I used Word to write my Master's thesis back in grad school. However, I did find the transition from Word to Pages to be awkward.

Two things I don't like about Pages: first, there's no auto save -- which I found out the hard way when I lost three hours of work on my first novel. I couldn't believe it. Second, I have yet to figure out how to change underlines to italics and vice versa. Word made this very simple, but with Pages it seems extraordinarily difficult.

David, I curious as to just what you use Pages for when working on a novel. I was under the impression that you moved from Scrivener to Pages when you were ready for the final edit -- after your read-through and major rewrite. But now it sounds like you're still rewriting portions.

I certainly understand that everything is very fluid in this stage, and I apologize if this sounds a bit picky. I find the whole idea of revising a novel very daunting. Right now, it's my biggest hang up as an aspiring writer. Your posts have really helped me see that revision, like writing, is a series of steps and not something to be tackled all at once. Since I've failed so miserably at it before, I've decided to adopt your own approach to revision, which to me sounds very reasonable and orderly, and then modify it to suit my own needs as I go along. You gotta start somewhere, right?

At any rate, thank you for all of these post on writing. It's an eye-opener to see a professional writer at work.