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

[RK Wallis]

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.

Mine is linked to the cloud and automatically saves there (so hard to get used to not hitting save). But I understand if people aren't comfortable saving there. I've lost so much in Word (my fault from memory), I'm not that worried about rewriting. Fingers crossed, nothing has gone missing since I started with Scrivener. But I have heart dropping moments where I have thought something is gone. It's always there, just moved to the bottom on some parent file (I'm forever not having the precision to move things around all the time, so have adapted). Any probs, just ask.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

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.

Mine backs up to Dropbox. That's in addition to the hourly Time Machine backups, which go to an external hard drive, and periodic manual backups, which go to a different external hard drive. So theoretically, my documents are stored in 4 different locations. Paranoid? Yeah, probably...

 

[CageSage]

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.

I do a compile at the end of each writing day and save it as a normal doc (and often email it to myself, too). It also helps me learn what stuff looks like after a compile using different stuff in the compiler.
All the notes and stuff also have a copy/paste into a doc in a safe location. I just don't trust most things.
And I also copy the full folder each month to an external drive.
Not paranoid, not at all, just lost stuff once or twice

 

[BarbaraUS]

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.

Consider using something like Idrive..a cloud based service that can back up your whole computer. It's reasonably priced and easy to use. OneDrive is another cloud storage site through google.
Those scrivener files are huge with many subfolders and can take up alot of room on your hard drive. Email and memory stick are ok and what I used to do too.. but I think you want something more rigorous to save all that hard work.
I like to keep several versions of the story..as I've needed to go back and grab bits here and there I want back in.. and i like knowing I've got them in the cloud.
Take it from one who lost several hours work (thankfully only that) when computer died and the back ups I thought I had in place were not there. I eventually got access to a version of my scrivener files that was a few hours shy of what I had completed..and spent hours piecing even that back together.

I'm done with scrivener on this novel but for awhile there I was compiling 1 to 2 x per day, thinking that if the worst happen and scrivener or computer crashes..I'd at least I'd have the latest word version. I didn't go back and forth.. just had the compile for safekeeping.
Paranoid much? No. Not me!

I've gone back and deleted several compiles and scrivener folders now, but still have a few older versions saved..
and well marked..bc you never want to edit an older file by mistake. Nope. Never done that.

Anyone else use Pro Writing Aid together with Scrivener? That's another whole level of fun!

 

[RK Wallis]

Anyone else use Pro Writing Aid together with Scrivener? That's another whole level of fun

It was my birthday present (I just did a year to start, but think I'll go next level next year). Love it! Pain to switch for different things, but I understand why, so it's ok. I use the find function in Scrivener a lot and it's not in the Scrivener ProWritingAid. So, I'm not using it as much as I'd like. I mainly use it for pacing and to make sure I have a wave of tension, getting smaller, and hence faster.

 

[BarbaraUS]

@ScrivenerApp | Facebook | Linktree

Linktree. Make your link do more.

linktr.ee

Free (past) webinars here. Can book free live webinar for groups.

 

[Jonny]

Latest update.

I upgraded after using the trial for around a week. I'm getting used to it. It's letting me work in a less constricted way. Previously I have written every novel idea linearly from A-Z, but now with every chapter having its own self-contained document, I have for the first time opened up a new section in the binder, called it part two, and it's were I have been working on something further along the line of the arc.

And yes, this can all be done using Word or Pages or whatever, but nowhere near as easily or without opening and closing and cutting and pasting and so on. It's all there within the one project which you don't really have to leave.

Also, when watching an online tutorial I happened to see a 20% off code which was still active - so at £37.60 it seemed a bit of a no-brainer.

 

[Jonny]

I have another question though.

When I have done some test compiles into Word, and even though I have spell checked in Scrivener, when the MS lands in Word it shows spelling problems. For example character names and variances between UK & US dictionaries. Is there a way in Word to disable spellcheck to save me having to look at any red squiggles?

I was originally using the US dictionary, as unbeknown to me, it's Scrivener's default. I have now downloaded the UK dictionary so I imagine this may not be such an issue in future.

But it got me thinking. What are the typical tidy-ups you find you have to do when you are setting up a 'finished' Word doc for submissions etc?

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I have another question though.

When I have done some test compiles into Word, and even though I have spell checked in Scrivener, when the MS lands in Word it shows spelling problems. For example character names and variances between UK & US dictionaries. Is there a way in Word to disable spellcheck to save me having to look at any red squiggles?

I was originally using the US dictionary, as unbeknown to me, it's Scrivener's default. I have now downloaded the UK dictionary so I imagine this may not be such an issue in future.

But it got me thinking. What are the typical tidy-ups you find you have to do when you are setting up a 'finished' Word doc for submissions etc?

I spell check with all three of the programs my MSs go through during the process--Scrivener does the first round, then I double check it in Word, and then I check it in Affinity Designer, just to make sure no little mistakes crept in. Yes, I have to go through and deal with things like names and whatnot--it's time-consuming--but it lets me take advantage of the little differences among spell checkers. I also add all the bells and whistles for my interior design (glyphs, chapter heading images, TOC, etc) after exporting. It's possible Scrivener 3 deals with these things better (I just upgraded from 2 and haven't explored all the changes), but it was never designed to deal with much more than text.

If I'm preparing for submission, not self-publishing, I still do things like headers and footers, margins, widow/orphan control, etc. after exporting. And an extra round of spell checking.

 

[Jonny]

That’s very helpful, Robbinne and good to know the process you go through.

I had figured it might be necessary so I’ll use it as another layer of checking.

@Robinne Weiss

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I keep my active Scrivener files in Dropbox, and I keep the backups in it too. I used to export the Scrivener projects to Word each day and save them in Google Drive but Dropbox has been so dependable I stopped. I do all this on Macs but after the Brittney Spears leaks, I have not trusted iCloud.

 

[Hannah F]

I keep my active Scrivener files in Dropbox, and I keep the backups in it too. I used to export the Scrivener projects to Word each day and save them in Google Drive but Dropbox has been so dependable I stopped. I do all this on Macs but after the Brittney Spears leaks, I have not trusted iCloud.

It's raining Britney Spears? I must check social media.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I have another question though.

When I have done some test compiles into Word, and even though I have spell checked in Scrivener, when the MS lands in Word it shows spelling problems. For example character names and variances between UK & US dictionaries. Is there a way in Word to disable spellcheck to save me having to look at any red squiggles?

I was originally using the US dictionary, as unbeknown to me, it's Scrivener's default. I have now downloaded the UK dictionary so I imagine this may not be such an issue in future.

But it got me thinking. What are the typical tidy-ups you find you have to do when you are setting up a 'finished' Word doc for submissions etc?

How is it going now? Spellcheck is not Scrivener's best asset. The best is organizing texts into parts, chapters, and scenes.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

It's raining Britney Spears? I must check social media.

Her Apple account was hacked years ago, and her sex videos were published. It was a bit of a scandal for her.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I spell check with all three of the programs my MSs go through during the process--Scrivener does the first round, then I double check it in Word, and then I check it in Affinity Designer, just to make sure no little mistakes crept in. Yes, I have to go through and deal with things like names and whatnot--it's time-consuming--but it lets me take advantage of the little differences among spell checkers. I also add all the bells and whistles for my interior design (glyphs, chapter heading images, TOC, etc) after exporting. It's possible Scrivener 3 deals with these things better (I just upgraded from 2 and haven't explored all the changes), but it was never designed to deal with much more than text.

If I'm preparing for submission, not self-publishing, I still do things like headers and footers, margins, widow/orphan control, etc. after exporting. And an extra round of spell checking.

Do you use ProWritingAid, Grammarly, or any other apps such as these?

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Consider using something like Idrive..a cloud based service that can back up your whole computer. It's reasonably priced and easy to use. OneDrive is another cloud storage site through google.
Those scrivener files are huge with many subfolders and can take up alot of room on your hard drive. Email and memory stick are ok and what I used to do too.. but I think you want something more rigorous to save all that hard work.
I like to keep several versions of the story..as I've needed to go back and grab bits here and there I want back in.. and i like knowing I've got them in the cloud.
Take it from one who lost several hours work (thankfully only that) when computer died and the back ups I thought I had in place were not there. I eventually got access to a version of my scrivener files that was a few hours shy of what I had completed..and spent hours piecing even that back together.

I'm done with scrivener on this novel but for awhile there I was compiling 1 to 2 x per day, thinking that if the worst happen and scrivener or computer crashes..I'd at least I'd have the latest word version. I didn't go back and forth.. just had the compile for safekeeping.
Paranoid much? No. Not me!

I've gone back and deleted several compiles and scrivener folders now, but still have a few older versions saved..
and well marked..bc you never want to edit an older file by mistake. Nope. Never done that.

Anyone else use Pro Writing Aid together with Scrivener? That's another whole level of fun!

I use Dropbox.com to back up everything. It lets me move to a new computer with no hassle at all.

 

[RK Wallis]

Do you use ProWritingAid, Grammarly, or any other apps such as these?

I use Prowritingaid with Scrivener like this: How to Use ProWritingAid's Desktop App to Edit Scrivener Files

It's helping me with my pacing

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I use Prowritingaid with Scrivener like this: How to Use ProWritingAid's Desktop App to Edit Scrivener Files

It's helping me with my pacing

Thanks. The process looks seamless. Any problems with the .scriv files being corrupted?

 

[BarbaraUS]

I use Prowritingaid with Scrivener like this: How to Use ProWritingAid's Desktop App to Edit Scrivener Files

It's helping me with my pacing

I also use prowriting aid with scrivener, as an addon to WORD, and via their online site, set with the Thriller genre. The online version produces a fabulous report. You can also compare with specific authors. I bought the lifetime version as part of a writing summit so won't have to pay again.

I also use grammarly premium add-on with WORD.

Both have great suggestions and some annoying ones you will want to ignore.

For the past few months, I've been working exclusively in WORD with these tools. My scrivener version is woefully behind, but I'll use it again for next project.

Barbara

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I also use prowriting aid with scrivener, as an addon to WORD, and via their online site, set with the Thriller genre. The online version produces a fabulous report. You can also compare with specific authors. I bought the lifetime version as part of a writing summit so won't have to pay again.

I also use grammarly premium add-on with WORD.

Both have great suggestions and some annoying ones you will want to ignore.

For the past few months, I've been working exclusively in WORD with these tools. My scrivener version is woefully behind, but I'll use it again for next project.

Barbara

Curious why you bother to keep the Scrivener version updated, when you work in Word?

 

[RK Wallis]

Thanks. The process looks seamless. Any problems with the .scriv files being corrupted?

I've had no problems to date and I'll switch between Scrivener and Scrivener with ProWritingAid quite a few times in an editing session. You just can't have them open together, but it prompts you if they're both open.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Do you use ProWritingAid, Grammarly, or any other apps such as these?

No. I was taught grammar by a brutal editor (my mum) when I was a kid. I have little use for an app. My editor catches what little I miss--maybe one actual grammar mistake per book. My biggest editing bugbears are continuity errors (a character's eye or hair colour changing, or the spelling of a name or made up word shifting by a letter), and NZ English vs American English errors (I write in both, and spell check doesn't catch errors where either spelling of a word is technically correct, but one is the common modern usage, and the other is archaic use).

 

[BarbaraUS]

Curious why you bother to keep the Scrivener version updated, when you work in Word?

One word answer..laziness
Caveat: with excuses
I was working with an editor and also had some Contest deadlines and the changes were coming fast and furious. Should've just worked in scrivener and done compiles as needed.
But (excuse)... I also was running the Grammarly premium add-on in word, which i don't think? works with scrivener. Then I started running the PWA in word as well. So there ya go.

This was all in S2 for PC. I have looked at S3, but my brain wasn't ready to make that switch in appearance at the time I downloaded it so I finished up in S2.

Will start next one in S3 though.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

One word answer..laziness
Caveat: with excuses
I was working with an editor and also had some Contest deadlines and the changes were coming fast and furious. Should've just worked in scrivener and done compiles as needed.
But (excuse)... I also was running the Grammarly premium add-on in word, which i don't think? works with scrivener. Then I started running the PWA in word as well. So there ya go.

This was all in S2 for PC. I have looked at S3, but my brain wasn't ready to make that switch in appearance at the time I downloaded it so I finished up in S2.

Will start next one in S3 though.

I've been experimenting with the Grammarly free version in Scrivener 3, and it works.

 

[BarbaraUS]

I've been experimenting with the Grammarly free version in Scrivener 3, and it works.

Cool.. Good to know

 

[Jonny]

How is it going now? Spellcheck is not Scrivener's best asset. The best is organizing texts into parts, chapters, and scenes.

Getting used to it, Peyton, it and I completely agree. The ability to organise parts, chapters and scenes is its standout feature for me. It has allowed me to write in a nonlinear way without losing focus on the project overall.

 

[Mel L]

@Jonny, have you been able to resolve the formatting issues (fonts and indents)? This was my biggest bugbear with Scrivener. For now I'm forging ahead with a deep edit of my WIP in Word. Will probably go back to it but no denying the time investment needed.

 

[Jonny]

@Jonny, have you been able to resolve the formatting issues (fonts and indents)? This was my biggest bugbear with Scrivener. For now I'm forging ahead with a deep edit of my WIP in Word. Will probably go back to it but no denying the time investment needed.

It seems to be working OK for me now Mel. When I open a new item the ruler defaults (as per the photo - sorry it's very pale) and that works for me.

I also found that if you "select all" within a chapter / section or whatever you call your chunks of prose, you can then manipulate the sliders to suit your requirements. In my case that margin on the left and 6 on the right.

But formatting's not my strong suit so I may be still doing it wrong. However, when I compile to Word it looks 'right'.

 

[RK Wallis]

View attachment 12546

It seems to be working OK for me now Mel. When I open a new item the ruler defaults (as per the photo - sorry it's very pale) and that works for me.

I also found that if you "select all" within a chapter / section or whatever you call your chunks of prose, you can then manipulate the sliders to suit your requirements. In my case that margin on the left and 6 on the right.

But formatting's not my strong suit so I may be still doing it wrong. However, when I compile to Word it looks 'right'.

That's how I've done it for a few years, but at the beginning of this thread, I invested the time to find the quick way.

For MAC, go to Preferences/formatting (or watch the video at post #14 of this thread).
For PC, go to tools/options/Editor.

That sets margins for anything new, so say a new scene or MS. Still have to do it the old way for current stuff, but it's so nice not to fiddle with new scenes.

 

[BarbaraUS]

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).

yes - that's exactly what I had, with Parts, then chapter folders, then scene texts within that. And since I'd created a spreadsheet per my Story Grid training - the outline form was consistent with that. Color coding my scenes for POV helps, but yes, that word count in each section is quite valuable.

If anyone is interested, I came across a template for Story Grid users to use in Scrivener.