Question: All you Scriveners... Please Help! :-)

[Jonny]

Hi all Scriveners,

Last year I downloaded the trial version of Scrivener but in the end its fiddliness defeated me, if being honest. I could see one heck of a lot of good in it but it didn't "work" for me. However, after seeing it mentioned here recently I thought I'd give it a go again.

One of the good things is Scrivener's clearly got great organisational and planning features (not that I need them because it's not as if I'd start working on the wrong version of my MS. No not me... definitely not me... )

Pros
It's nice to have each chapter as and individual document within the project file and as it's possible to fly them around in terms of changing the running order or say, if you're stuck but know what's going to happen later in the story you can crack on and write that and then catch up marrying it all together seamlessly. When you're finally all done it collates the whole shebang into on complete MS.

All fabuloso.

Now I know all of this can be done manually but the beauty seems to be that at the work in progress stage it's all there in one project without faffing around opening and closing files, cutting and pasting left right and centre.

Cons
But after a day using it filled with euphoria and frustration a few things have emerged I'd love some thoughts on.

Existing material.
I tipped 12 chapters of my WiP in. Now they had been living inside one continuous Word doc. So to facilitate the individual file per chapter in Scrivener method, I made 12 separate Word files and imported each into Scrivener one at a time. Looked OK but I then noticed that several had transferred in a font different to what I'd used in Word (Times New Roman) while others had kept TNR. Anyone know why this might be?

Also, in Scrivener's editor they looked compressed into the middle of the window with oodles of room to the left and right. And the .75 idents I use seemed to vary between .5 and 1.00 to suit itself on import. Again, anyone know why this might be?

This makes me nervous because were I to press on I'm concerned that when I then collate the chapters at the end of the writing process I'm sure this will give me major formatting issues?

New Work
I was doing a standalone chapter of something else this afternoon and thought, "I know, Scrivener's the very boy for me," so used it to do 1500 words. My impression is that working with it to create a piece from scratch has a cold feel. And in the end I just cut and pasted it back into Word to do the edits.

Now, I'm sure this is operator error on if not all then most of these shortcomings but any input would be much appreciated.

 

[RK Wallis]

Hi all Scriveners,

Last year I downloaded the trial version of Scrivener but in the end its fiddliness defeated me, if being honest. I could see one heck of a lot of good in it but it didn't "work" for me. But after seeing it mentioned here recently I though I'd give it a go again.

One of the good things is Scrivener's clearly great organisational and planning features (not that I need them because it's not as if I'd start working on the wrong version of my MS. No not me... definitely not me... )

Pros
It's nice to have each chapter as and individual document within the project file and as it's possible to fly them around in terms of changing the running order or say, if you're stuck but know what's going to happen later in the story you can crack on and write that and then catch up marrying it all together seamlessly. When you're finally all done it collates the whole shebang into on complete MS. All fab

Now I know all of this can be done manually but the beauty seems to be that at the work in progress stage it's all there in one project without faffing around opening and closing files, cutting and pasting left right and centre.

Cons
But after a day using it filled with euphoria and frustration a few things have emerged I'd love some thoughts on.

Existing material.
I tipped 12 chapters of my WiP in. Now they had been living inside one continuous Word doc. So to facilitate the individual file per chapter in Scrivener method I made 12 separate Word files and imported each into Scrivener one at a time. Looked OK but I then noticed that several had transferred in a font different to what I normally use (Times New Roman) while others had kept TNR. Anyone know why this might be? Also in Scrivener's editor they looked compressed into the middle of the window with oodles of room to the left and right. Also the .75 idents I use seems to vary between .5 and 1.00 to suit itself. Again anyone know why this might be.

This makes me nervous because were I to press on I'm concerned that when I then collate the chapters at the end of the writing process I'm sure this will give me major formatting issues?

New Work
I was doing a standalone chapter of something else this afternoon and thought, "I know, Scrivener's the very boy for me," so used it to do 1500 words. My impression is that working with it to create from scratch has a cold feel. And in the end I just cut and pasted it back into Word to do the edits.

Now, I'm sure this is operator error on if not all then most of these shortcomings but any input would be much appreciated.

Jonny, if someone doesn't beat me to the punch, I'll find some YouTube videos to help you. It's late here - off to bed. I'm biased. Scrivener is amazing, but I'd be lying if it was the thing for everyone. Are you using a MAC or PC?

 

[Jonny]

Hi Rachel PC.

Sweet dreams.

 

[BarbaraUS]

Existing material.
I tipped 12 chapters of my WiP in. Now they had been living inside one continuous Word doc. So to facilitate the individual file per chapter in Scrivener method, I made 12 separate Word files and imported each into Scrivener one at a time. Looked OK but I then noticed that several had transferred in a font different to what I'd used in Word (Times New Roman) while others had kept TNR. Anyone know why this might be?

@Jonny - next time just put something like a hashtag # between the chapters - when you go to import it, select IMPORT AND SPLIT - the default "split" is a "#" and you should be good to go! I'll check if I can help on the other things - I'm not a novice, but I'm not that brilliant with it either. I usually google and find answers. They oftentimes have free webinars where you can ask questions.

This lady has a helpful blog post with an interesting handle: HOMEPAGE - ScrivenerVirgin -

 

[BarbaraUS]

Hi all Scriveners,

Last year I downloaded the trial version of Scrivener but in the end its fiddliness defeated me, if being honest. I could see one heck of a lot of good in it but it didn't "work" for me. However, after seeing it mentioned here recently I thought I'd give it a go again.

One of the good things is Scrivener's clearly got great organisational and planning features (not that I need them because it's not as if I'd start working on the wrong version of my MS. No not me... definitely not me... )



Also, in Scrivener's editor they looked compressed into the middle of the window with oodles of room to the left and right. And the .75 idents I use seemed to vary between .5 and 1.00 to suit itself on import. Again, anyone know why this might be?

This makes me nervous because were I to press on I'm concerned that when I then collate the chapters at the end of the writing process I'm sure this will give me major formatting issues?

The indents can be dicey. I have manual fixes for these after playing with it a bit, but for whatever reason, the odd indent appears here and there. Once I correct though, it seems to stay put in my WORD compile. I'd call them minor formatting issues - but a pain nonetheless.

BTW - I use FOLDERS for chapters and TEXT DOCS for scenes within the chapter. Is that what you are doing?

If you want to get really fancy, you can color code for POV. However, I have made SO many changes in the past few months outside the program, this particular novel probably won't return to Scrivener. Now trying to get started on a new one and this time hope to start in S.

 

[izi 出久]

working with it to create a piece from scratch has a cold feel.

I was getting a little distracted with all the panes.

One option is just to close them while drafting:
View -> [uncheck panes you don't want]


Another option is to enter Composition mode (top right corner):

Esc gets you out.

Not sure if either of these help you at all.

Sorry, I can't offer you more help with the importation. I've been slowly importing my first ms chapter by chapter, and it hasn't been super fun :/ Hopefully someone has a helpful recommendation for that.

 

[izi 出久]

BTW - I use FOLDERS for chapters and TEXT DOCS for scenes within the chapter. Is that what you are doing?

If you want to get really fancy, you can color code for POV.

I've been doing both of these. Wonderfully helpful. Along with adding time and location in the outliner. And synopses / notes / etc. For an epic that spans multiple books, I think the added organization of S is invaluable.

 

[BarbaraUS]

I've been doing both of these. Wonderfully helpful. Along with adding time and location in the outliner. And synopses / notes / etc. For an epic that spans multiple books, I think the added organization of S is invaluable.

Good point.I put time and location in.. but in chapter or scene names. I also group a set of folders into Act 1, etc., can then monitor word count for each section more easily.

@StaceyDale .. are you using the newest version? I got used to 2.0 ( windows). Am having a hard time getting used to 3.0.

 

[izi 出久]

Also, in Scrivener's editor they looked compressed into the middle of the window with oodles of room to the left and right. And the .75 idents I use seemed to vary between .5 and 1.00 to suit itself on import. Again, anyone know why this might be?

Not sure if this helps, but you can fiddle with margins in File -> Options... -> Appearances -> Main Editor

Ah darn it's blurry... oh well.

@BarbaraUS I'm using 3.something.something

 

[izi 出久]

I also group a set of folders into Act 1, etc., can then monitor word count for each section more easily.

I have wordcounts listed per scene. And my chapters are sorted under parts. But I also track my project targets, and then I can look at the entire project or just the selected document(s).

 

[Hannah F]

The more I read about Scrivener, the less inclined I am to use it. I'm going to stick to the "if it's not broke don't fix it" train of thought.

 

[izi 出久]

@Hannah F I'm an obsessive plotter. And it really works for me. But I can also see how it wouldn't be for everyone.

 

[BarbaraUS]

I'm an obsessive pantser (other than a high level overview of a few key plot points) and it works for me. So there ya go!

Having said that, I devoted a few weeks solely to playing with S only after I finished my first draft and after creating a spreadsheet listing each scene (Story Grid style). I had tried S early on, but learning the craft, trying to get words on a page, etc., and learning S was too much to tackle at the same time.

That spreadsheet I made from scratch is basically the "outline" in Scrivener. Hoping it all goes more easily the second time around.

 

[RK Wallis]

Existing material.
I tipped 12 chapters of my WiP in. Now they had been living inside one continuous Word doc. So to facilitate the individual file per chapter in Scrivener method, I made 12 separate Word files and imported each into Scrivener one at a time. Looked OK but I then noticed that several had transferred in a font different to what I'd used in Word (Times New Roman) while others had kept TNR. Anyone know why this might be?

@Jonny - next time just put something like a hashtag # between the chapters - when you go to import it, select IMPORT AND SPLIT - the default "split" is a "#" and you should be good to go! I'll check if I can help on the other things - I'm not a novice, but I'm not that brilliant with it either. I usually google and find answers. They oftentimes have free webinars where you can ask questions.

This lady has a helpful blog post with an interesting handle: HOMEPAGE - ScrivenerVirgin -

With a little prep time. You can watch how quickly it works here - what BarbaraUS means:

Scrivener's editor they looked compressed into the middle of the window with oodles of room to the left and right. And the .75 idents I use seemed to vary between .5 and 1.00 to suit itself on import. Again, anyone know why this might be?

Try this (this is MAC, this box on PC is found at Windows/Options/Editor):



I noticed on my PC, setting this only works for new docs PS, I've been doing this manually, like a numpty, until today - so thanks for asking the question. I'm sorted going forward I find with indenting, with Compile, the right indent needs to be set in to about 16in so when it complies to something like Word, it fits on the page. Compile is another mind bender, but watch YouTube. You can compile as many times as you like (in 30 secs or less) until it's the way you want.

Composition mode

I've been using 4-5 years, and I just discovered this - I love it! My cursor jumps a little, but I'm still around the same area, so I can live with that. And I made it look pretty thanks to this:

 

[RK Wallis]

Story Grid style

I've done that too! I love Story Grid, especially their YouTube videos of the last few months

 

[BarbaraUS]

Nice finds here @RK Capps !! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

You might also check the Scrivener forums or contact Literature and Latte for support.

I use Scrivener for most of my writing--anything over a few pages--from initial notes, world-building, research, and outlining through final revision. For nonfiction, I use it with Zotero to handle citations and footnotes.

I try to avoid going back and forth between Scrivener and Word. I do all the writing and editing in Scrivener and then use the Compile feature to export a clean version in Word when I want to share or submit a piece. Compile can export the text, correctly formatted, with chapter headings, but exclude any annotations or comments you have added. That is how I produce the Word documents I submit in Litopia.

If someone annotates a document I have exported, such as we do in Litopia, I drag their annotated Word file into Scrivener and put it close to the chapter or chapters they commented on. Then I exclude their version from Compile so it doesn't mess up my final output. Then I can view their comments side by side with the live text I am editing.

Probably more than you wanted to know. If you have already moved your WIP into Scrivener, I would recommend using it for a few months before deciding it is not for you. Like Word, it has more features than you will ever need, so learning it is a matter of finding the features you need and mastering them while ignoring the others. There are some good blogs about using it. I recommend Scrivener Help as the best place for fiction writers to begin. Gwen Hernandez writes fiction with Scrivener and gives good advice.

 

[RK Wallis]

I drag their annotated Word file into Scrivener and put it close to the chapter or chapters they commented on. Then I exclude their version from Compile so it doesn't mess up my final output. Then I can view their comments side by side with the live text I am editing.

Ooo, that sounds so cool! I'm so under using Scrivener. I'm checking out that link. Thanks for the it

 

[RK Wallis]

What a great link @Peyton Stafford This is a feature I adore: Scrivener Split-Screen Magic | Writers In The Storm. Wish I'd found this earlier, it would have saved me fumbling around in the dark.

 

[Jonny]

Hi all,

Many thanks for all the great info, advice, links and videos. I will try and absorb it as best I can.

As I have 30 days of free usage I am devoting it to my WiP and won't use Word from now (on WiP) until I get close to deciding if Scrivener is for me.

I used it for drafting the beginning of a new chapter yesterday and surprised myself by quickly getting used to the new look and working environment. Everything that I use in Word is there - it's just in different places. One thing I do like (really small point) seems to be if you tell Scrivener to ignore a deliberate spelling mistake for whatever reason (maybe new name that Word won't allow you to add to the dictionary) it ignores it every time and doesn't keep flagging it up. Word's ignore once really ticks me off. There's probably a way to override it but I have never found it if there is. I know, I know, I should get some anger management help.

But would definitely agree there's no argument about Scrivener's power and versatility. I'll let you know how I'm getting on as I navigate my way through the labyrinth.

@RK Capps @StaceyDale @BarbaraUS @Peyton Stafford

 

[Hannah F]

Hi all,

Many thanks for all the great info, advice, links and videos. I will try and absorb it as best I can.

As I have 30 days of free usage I am devoting it to my WiP and won't use Word from now (on WiP) until I get close to deciding if Scrivener is for me.

I used it for drafting the beginning of a new chapter yesterday and surprised myself by quickly getting used to the new look and working environment. Everything that I use in Word is there - it's just in different places. One thing I do like (really small point) seems to be if you tell Scrivener to ignore a deliberate spelling mistake for whatever reason (maybe new name that Word won't allow you to add to the dictionary) it ignores it every time and doesn't keep flagging it up. Word's ignore once really ticks me off. There's probably a way to override it but I have never found it if there is. I know, I know, I should get some anger management help.

But would definitely agree there's no argument about Scrivener's power and versatility. I'll let you know how I'm getting on as I navigate my way through the labyrinth.

@RK Capps @StaceyDale @BarbaraUS @Peyton Stafford

Word on my computer gives me the option to ignore all.

 

[Jonny]

Word on my computer gives me the option to ignore all.

I thought there must be some such option Hannah.

You've nudged me to check out how to do this and I have sussed it. My screen remains intact for at least another day.

 

[BarbaraUS]

Hi all,

Many thanks for all the great info, advice, links and videos. I will try and absorb it as best I can.

As I have 30 days of free usage I am devoting it to my WiP and won't use Word from now (on WiP) until I get close to deciding if Scrivener is for me.

I used it for drafting the beginning of a new chapter yesterday and surprised myself by quickly getting used to the new look and working environment. Everything that I use in Word is there - it's just in different places. One thing I do like (really small point) seems to be if you tell Scrivener to ignore a deliberate spelling mistake for whatever reason (maybe new name that Word won't allow you to add to the dictionary) it ignores it every time and doesn't keep flagging it up. Word's ignore once really ticks me off. There's probably a way to override it but I have never found it if there is. I know, I know, I should get some anger management help.

But would definitely agree there's no argument about Scrivener's power and versatility. I'll let you know how I'm getting on as I navigate my way through the labyrinth.

@RK Capps @StaceyDale @BarbaraUS @Peyton Stafford

Good luck @Jonny ..And you know they count just the days you use it vs 30 sequential days!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

The important thing to know about Scrivener is that when you compile a document--to export it to .docx or other formats--you can change EVERYTHING about the formatting. What you see on the screen when you're writing has little to do with what you will see in the exported document. I'm still learning all the cool things you can do when exporting (and have just upgraded from S2 to S3, so am learning all over again). You can override all fonts with something different, you can change how the chapter headings look, set all your indenting (including setting the first paragraph no-indent for each chapter and section), you can decide which bits get added to the document (so you can create different versions with different front matter or whatever, or cut that chapter you decided to cut without actually deleting it) ...

Because I self-publish and do all the interior design work for the final product. I generally export my books from Scrivener to Word, and then dump them into a dedicated publishing software (Affinity Publisher), which gives me the best of both worlds--the fabulous text editing in Scrivener and the design capacity in Affinity (so I can add my cute glyphs, double-spread maps, etc).

 

[Jonny]

Yes thanks, I did Barbara. I still had 25 days left from last year but deleted that installation and reinstalled as there was a bit of a mess where it had driven me mad last year

Early days, but am warming to it. The facility to have two windows open side-by-side is excellent when cross referencing two different chapters.

Hmm… thinks about looking down back of sofa for £47 quid.

 

[RK Wallis]

The facility to have two windows open side-by-side is excellent when cross referencing two different chapters.

One of my favourite features. What I do when, say I want to tighten a character arc, is in the top right search box, type say "Emilia" then only Emilia scenes show up (but also your iceberg work which I ignore). Then I have the two windows open in horizontal view and I can make sure she's being consistent.

Game changer for someone like me. Controlling the mouse to flick between 100s of pages in Word is hard for me - my control is sporadic. Some days are better than others (my brain very much works like 50 First Dates, just not memory. It's physical movement), but it's a mammoth effort just switching my arm/hand from keyboard to mouse everyday. The less I have to do that is a win

 

[Jonny]

Yes, it’s a great feature, Rachel. I can see how helpful that must be for you too. It can be very tedious at the best of times opening and closing difference sections to check continuity.

Also the video for loading the WiP was great so that’s what I did. I now have it set up the way I want.

Now comes the tricky bit - adding to it. Why Scrivener can’t take our basic idea and simply write the story ”good to go” seems to be a bit of an oversight by Literature & Latte, though.

Still, maybe version 4 will take care of that

 

[Jonny]

The important thing to know about Scrivener is that when you compile a document--to export it to .docx or other formats--you can change EVERYTHING about the formatting. What you see on the screen when you're writing has little to do with what you will see in the exported document.

That is great and very reassuring to know, Robinne.

It was something that was concerning me. Fretting I could spend months creating draft and redraft, only to find the finished doc was out of whack for sending out and I would then have to drop it back into Word for an overhaul and spruce up.

 

[RK Wallis]

That is great and very reassuring to know, Robinne.

It was something that was concerning me. Fretting I could spend months creating draft and redraft, only to find the finished doc was out of whack for sending out and I would then have to drop it back into Word for an overhaul and spruce up.

I've only mastered the basics of compile, enough to get my doc into Word, so the formatting sounds cool!

 

[Jonny]

Another question.

Where do you back up your files in Scrivener? In Word I will always save the latest version of what I'm working on, and in addition to keeping it on my laptop hard drive I will send it to a memory stick and also email it to myself.