organizing Scrivener
Think of using Scrivener in the same way you build a house.
You start with the same set of foundational tools, such as a concrete foundation, plumbing, electrical, wooden framing, windows, and siding, yet people will create drastically different houses from these same basic building blocks. There are multiple tools inside Scrivener which people will use in dramatically different ways. The Binder is a way of looking at small pieces of a large project that’s easy to navigate. So a 120,000 word novel can be easily traversed in just seconds between various parts within the binder.
Scrivener works best when you break your novel into small chunks. These pieces are easier to tie data to and search for in this manner and help you quickly navigate your project, no matter the size.
The Editor
The Editor behaves like a word document editor such as Microsoft Word but you can also view multiple documents at once, in a combined view, called the Scrivening view. Individual files such as scenes or chapters can be viewed in different ways, such as corkboard/index cards or view your files in an outline structure with multiple columns of information which can be customized to include any type of data field. You can include information such as locations, characters, scene purpose, momentum shifts, timeline data, editing status, to do lists, or plot points.
The Inspector
Then the Inspector supplies in-depth information about an individual file which can be a scene or a chapter. The synopsis is a brief description of your file which can be displayed on your corkboard cards or in the outline to give a glimpse of a scene’s purpose. You can have keywords that are tied to characters, locations, time of day, or plot themes. You have the ability to add notes about information missing while writing, or areas to research to finish your file. You can add comments to highlight individual pieces of text. Or add links (bookmarks) to other files pertinent to the current scene. These could include research files for your novel, character templates, or even the last scene the character was in to refer to while writing the newest scene. You also can backup older versions of scenes as a snapshot and compare as your scene evolves.
Visual Cues
Your Binder is a catalog of files and folders which you can colorize to give a visual organization such as colors for your main characters to identify the scenes they are in. Each file/folder will have an icon in the Binder. These can convey information as well. You have default icons, but can add custom ones. An Icon could represent editing information, characters, or anything your imagination can create.
How do you organize?
This is really up to your imagination and what fits your way of thinking. People are endlessly creative, and you want a program which inspires and helps your creativity. You can also have a world building Bible if you have a series of books as well. This is a complex piece of software and as you learn the product, you will change how you use it.
How you organize is determined by your philosophy, writing goals, and the technology you utilize.
Philosophical approach to writing
A Book Series- All in one project vs Project Bible and separate book projects.
Single book project
Blogging series
Academic writing (I will not discuss this as not my field of expertise.)
Working by self or with collaborators.
Technology
Two and three Monitor setups-Now easy to set up a two or three monitor set ups which greatly enhance work flow. This allows multiple projects to be open and visible on different screens. You could have the active novel project open and a series bible on a different monitor screen to refer to. Also multi monitor setups allow Quick Reference Panels to really shine.
Verbal dictation software such as Dragon Dictation
Writing/Editing Aids like Prowriter’s Aid and Grammerly
Companion Software-
Mind-mapping (Scapple is one that is made by L & L)
Plotting software such as Plottr and Aeon Timeline which can greatly assist with novel timelines. However, you can use metadata to create your own timelines and display in the Outliner.
Organizing Scrivener occurs on many levels
Overall visual Data
Icons as visual clues
Labels as visual cues
Keywords have visual and non-visual aspects
Synopsis which show visible brief file descriptions
Scene and Chapter Titles
Scrivener Writing Themes
Writing Targets
Collections (POV characters, Locations, Themes) Dynamic vs Static
Overall non-visual Data
Status
Keywords
Custom Metadata
Synopsis (searchable)
Notes (searchable)
File (document) Level Data- Visual Information
Inline Annotation (Removable at Compiling)
Highlighting (Removable at Compiling)
Comments (Removable at Compiling) these can be color coded by use and can be used to pinpoint key information for the story to track later, or used as editing notes to point out areas needing work
Scrivener Software Related
Layouts for workflow
Composition Mode
Scrivening Mode
Corkboard and Outliner views
Themes
Use of QRP’s (Quick Reference Panels)
Scratchpad
Bookmarks and Links
Project Templates
Document Templates
Chapter Templates
Project Search
Search and Replace
Collections
In this Organizing series I will give one possible approach which hopefully will help you develop your own system to organize your writing and assist the creative and editing process. I also welcome feedback from others with different thoughts. We all can learn from each other. The Literature and Latte site has forums, webinars, blogs, and a built in tutorial project and software manual to help you learn. The forums are always a constant source of information and different approaches to this great software.