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Scrivener has your back How you structure your book depends on what you're writing. Whatever you're writing, and however you prefer to write, Scrivener will support your strategy. A bottom-up approach might suit you if you're writing a novel. I tend to establish what scenes I need, based on my character sketches. Since I usually only start a new novel in September for that year's NaNoWriMo, I aim for 100 scenes...

I’m now hard copy editing (i.e. on paper) and my main focus is on pruning, but Scrivener still has a role to play. Three tools come to the fore at this stage. Searching Collections Styles For those keen to learn how I use these tools: scroll down towards the end of this post where I share specific examples. Meanwhile, this blog post explains how to create collection when you do a search. ...

Editing is a series of fixes Once a first draft is written, my strategy is to apply a first-fix approach as explained in this series of posts.In brief, I apply the RedPen Editing cycle to individual scenes, identifying four types of tasks and leaving myself comments including the key words: TASK GLOBAL TASK LOGIC TASK RESEARCH TASK STYLE Searching on these key words allows me to set up collections of scenes that...

I'm aiming for a SMART start to 2022. First, though, let me wish you a Happy New Year! People - not just writers - fall into two camps. Those who write New Year Resolutions Those who don't I'm with the first crowd, even though I know and accept the argument of those who don't: it's never long before you break those resolutions. So what's the point? Good question! What's the point of a...

Festive Greetings to one and all It's that time of year again and I am having a longer break than usual. I'm hanging up my blogging pen until Monday 3 January. Put it down to advanced age, or the fact that, what with what we've all been through the past 21 months, I need to devote more time to rest and relaxation. Meanwhile though, I have Christmas gifts for you! Christmas gift of Scrivener...

Scrivener, your nag buddy A week into NaNo and it's 'normal' to start wondering why. Why did you ever think you could maintain a daily production of 1666 words? Why didn't you do more preparation? Why? Why? Why! Frankly, having started, I'd recommend you press on. The rewards - the sense of achievement, the fact that you have a lot of words which will form the core of your next novel -...

Three weeks to go NaNoWriMo starts on 1 November. Until then, we can't start writing for real, but now is an excellent time to start planning that next novel. And, if you are keen to use Scrivener, now is the time to start learning how to create the perfect writing space. What is NANO? NANO, short for NaNoWriMo, is the National Novel Writers Month. Writers all over the world spend the 30 days of...

Styles: a way of categorising your text Although section types are important in determining whether your material starts on a new page, and general formatting of the text (font style and size), it's also possible to set up styles in the Editing pane, so you can see what the finished effect might be. You can also finalise - or fine tune - the formatting once you reach the Compile stage. Paragraph formatting...

In the Scrivener Mindset series so far, I've focused on what goes in the Binder, and how your decisions can be carried through to Compile to achieve whatever formatting you want for the various output routes you need. If you've not read and absorbed this information, I recommend you check out these blog posts. You'll then be ready for what I am now going to address: what goes in the...