Take Control of Scrivener 2

Finally, write your novel or screenplay with Scrivener 2!

In this ebook, you'll take a creative voyage with Scrivener, a unique and popular content-generation tool. Scrivener supports wordsmiths of all types, and it's designed especially for long-form writing projects—scripts, novels, academic works, and more.

Author Kirk McElhearn walks you through using Scrivener to create and manage a writing project on your Mac. You'll learn how to use Scrivener’s Binder, Outliner, and Corkboard to develop characters and settings, collect and organize research materials, and arrange your scenes. Kirk even explains how to keep yourself on track by switching to Full Screen (Compose) mode and by setting daily progress targets, all on the way to helping you produce a polished, submission-ready manuscript.

Which Scrivener versions? This ebook was last updated when Scrivener for the Mac was at version 2.4. The developers of Scrivener are putting a lot of effort into bringing the Windows version into feature parity with the Mac version. This ebook has info for Windows users so they can tell which features will work for them, with the ebook last updated for version 1.2.5.

More Info
Contents & Intro
What’s New
FAQ
Blog

You'll learn how to handle each aspect of the flexible Scrivener manuscript-generation process:

Set up: Add reference materials to your project for easy access—videos, audio files, PDFs, Web resources, and more. And, if you've already written bits of text, you can import those items too, including OPML outline files (such as from OmniOutliner Pro). Beyond importing from the Finder, you can use Mac OS X Services or Scrivener's handy Scratch Pad panel. Or, you can use the Import and Split feature to import a long document into multiple chapters or segments in Scrivener.

BONUS! The ebook has inspirational testimonials about Scrivener from published authors who have embraced Scrivener, including James Fallows, Jason Snell, Jeff Abbott, and Michael Marshall Smith. Who knows, maybe you'll be next!

Organize: Use the Outliner, Corkboard, Collections, and Binder to mix and match your content into the perfect final arrangement. For example, you can:

Ignore the concept of a traditional file and break your manuscript into sections based on character, theme, topic, scene, or whatever you like.
Organize your manuscript linearly in the Outliner.
Use search Collections to search for a character, location, or phrase and see just those texts.
Organize ideas by dragging and pinning index cards on the Corkboard.

Write: Learn how to hide distractions so you can wordsmith in peace, whether in Full Screen mode in Windows or the Mac, or Compose mode on the Mac; set up Typewriter Scrolling to keep your writing focus at the center of the screen, not the bottom; and view more than one part of your project at once, so you can write in one section while referring to another. Also, use Scrivenings view to write one thread of a story all at once in a single view, even if it is broken up in multiple scenes or chapters in the final manuscript.

Format: Optimize the formatting you see when you work in Scrivener for your eyes and your screen, and understand how this can differ from the formatting in a "compiled" version of your manuscript.

Revise: Use revision marking and the useful Snapshot capability to experiment with and compare the effect of different revision strategies, while still being able to roll back to a previous version.

Be Mobile: Work on your project using more than one computer, or on an iPad.

Compile: Don't worry if the term "compile" is unfamiliar; it enables you to assemble your manuscript into linear order, in a form that can be printed or converted to common file formats. Scrivener supports RTF, Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, Final Draft, PDF, MOBI, and EPUB.

Should you buy this book? If you are already using or intend to use Scrivener then absolutely. It’s utterly worth buying and reading to discover how best to use the software. —Miraz Jordan MacTips book review

Specific questions answered in the ebook include:

What’s the difference between a Scrivener folder and a file?
How do I change which columns appear in the Outliner?
How do I open the Inspector and control what appears in it?
What is the relationship between Corkboard index cards and Finder items?
How do I monitor character, word, or page count?
How do text format presets work?
How do I track changes when I revise a draft?
How do I change the color of a revision level?
What is the difference between an annotation, a comment, and a footnote?
How do I export in an ebook format from Scrivener?

Book Info

113 pages
Version 1.1
Updated Oct 26, 2012
2.9 MB download
ISBN: 9781615421343
Free sample with Table of Contents, Intro, Quick Start, and section starts.

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About the Author

Kirk McElhearn is a freelance writer, specializing in Macs, iPods, iTunes, digital music, and more. In addition to having written or co-written a dozen books, he is a Senior Contributor to Macworld magazine and he contributes to several other Web sites and magazines. He reviews classical CDs for MusicWeb and audiobooks for Audiofile, and he is a translator from French to English.

Book Reviews

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Author Interviews

Read Me First
Introduction
Scrivener Quick Start
Call Me Scrivener
Plan Your Project
Write Your Masterpiece
Take the Helm of Your Project
Share and Synchronize Your Project
Revise and Edit Your Work
Compile Your Work for Print and Export
What’s Next
About This Book

Read Me First

Literature & Latte’s Scrivener is an innovative program for writing fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, and other long-form texts. This book helps you start writing your masterpiece with Scrivener, presenting the program’s basic concepts and features, and showing you how to get the most out of the program. This book was written by Kirk McElhearn, edited by Michael E. Cohen, and published by TidBITS Publishing Inc.

Introduction

Writers have a nearly endless choice of tools. The number of word processors, text editors and other text applications available today is staggering. But most of them are designed for linear writing, where you start at the beginning, then write until you get to the end.

Scrivener is designed with the assumption that most writers of long-form works—novels, non-fiction books, theses, screenplays, and so
on—don’t write that way. Scrivener provides a unique environment that frees you from the strict constraints of beginning, middle, and end. You can start at the end of your work, then write the beginning, then fill out the middle if you wish. As you write, you can easily move around scenes, sections, and chapters, until your work is exactly as you want.

In addition, Scrivener provides an easy way to store items such as research material, character sketches, and setting information in the same project file as your writing, giving you instant access to all this material.

As a writer of either fiction or non-fiction, you have myriad options for the tool you use to record your words. However, you may find that Scrivener can replace the current app you use for writing, and provide you with powerful features that your current writing app doesn’t offer. Welcome to the text app that may become your essential writing tool!

In this book, I look at Scrivener from the point of view of a writer about to embark on a project. This project could be fiction or non-fiction; it could be a screenplay or a collection of short stories. I show you how you can easily start working with Scrivener, leverage its powerful organizational and text management features, move ahead as you write, then forget that you’re using the program. For, after all, when writing, what counts most is the words. Your tool is important, because it is the scaffolding around which you create, but you need to focus on your text, not your tools.

In order to present a realistic project in the examples used in this book, I have chosen Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, the classic novel of obsession and the quest for redemption.

Scrivener Versions for Mac and Windows

This ebook discusses Scrivener 2 on the Mac. It was developed using Scrivener 2.4

Scrivener was initially a Mac-only program, and it remained so for many years. But Windows users, jealous that they had no similar tool, convinced Scrivener’s developer to work on a Windows version. The first Windows version of Scrivener saw the light of day in November 2011, and the current version, as of this writing, is 1.2.5.

Windows Users: Read the Blue Boxes!

The Windows version of Scrivener will be behind the Mac version for a while, so if you are using the Windows version, you may find that some of the features mentioned in this ebook are not available. (If Literature & Latte’s plans come to fruition, the Windows version will eventually have all the same features.) Throughout this ebook, you’ll see sidebars explaining which features are not available to Windows users. Bear in mind, however, that the vast majority of Scrivener’s features are the same in both the Mac and Windows versions.

All the screenshots used to illustrate this ebook were done using the Mac version, but you’ll find that the Windows version is essentially the same.

One thing to note is that I present Mac keyboard shortcuts in this book. For the most part, these shortcuts use the Command key. In Windows, you’d use the Control key instead. So, to save a project in Scrivener, you’d press Command-S on a Mac, but Control-S in Windows.

Also, when I mention accessing Scrivener’s preferences to change the way the program works for you, in Windows, you need to choose Tools > Options, not Scrivener > Preferences.

For more information about the Windows version, check the Literature & Latte Web site.

Scrivener Quick Start

Scan the Quick Start below to get an overview of what you can learn in this ebook. It tells you how to use the unique features of Scrivener for all types of writing: fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, short stories, and more.

If you are new to Scrivener, I suggest that you read about learning the program’s environment, brainstorming and organizing, and how to start writing in one session. After that, read the rest based on your interests and needs.

If you’ve been using Scrivener for a while, the early chapters offer you an overview of the program’s essential features for preparing to write, and explanations you need to feel more comfortable with the program’s interface. Read those if you feel they’ll be helpful, and then pick from the remaining topics to hone your knowledge.

For all readers, before you get too far into your masterpiece I especially recommend Take Snapshots of Your Text, since it could help you sail around leviathan-sized problems.

Learn the Environment

Become acquainted with Scrivener’s writing environment in Call Me Scrivener, where you can Understand the Scrivener Philosophy and explore the program visually in Discover the Scrivener Window.

Use the Right Structure

Scrivener includes a number of templates for writing different types of texts: novels, short stories, academic documents, screenplays, poetry, and more. See Create a New Project.

Brainstorm and Organize

The left-hand Binder sidebar in Scrivener offers opportunities to brainstorm and organize (see Understand the Binder and Collections), and the powerful and flexible Corkboard and Outliner give you even more brainstorming and organizing capabilities:

With Scrivener’s unique Corkboard you can brainstorm and organize ideas, then switch either to writing or outlining. Read Use the Corkboard.
The program’s Outliner integrates perfectly with your writing; you can switch back and forth between the outline and the full text. See Use the Outliner.

Start Writing

With the Scrivenings feature, you can write your document in small sections, yet view it as though it were a single document. Writing and editing flow more smoothly. View and Edit Multiple Files: Scrivenings View explains this feature.
You can move and reorganize documents (chapters, scenes, etc.) by drag and drop, rearranging large chunks of your project in seconds. Learn how to do this in Reorganize the Binder.

Avoid Distractions

Many of Scrivener’s interface elements can be hidden, to give you more screen space for writing or to reduce distractions. Read Show and Hide Interface Elements.
Composition mode blocks out everything other than your words. You can write without distractions from menus, buttons, windows, icons, or other programs that may peek out from behind your text. See Work in Composition Mode.

Try a Do-over

Snapshots allow you to make periodic backups of different versions of your text. You can go back and see what previous versions contained, and restore those sections that didn’t sound so good at first, but sound better now. Take Snapshots of Your Texts tells you how to use this feature.

Go Further with Scrivener

Scrivener has many more powerful features that help you write. Some of these help you to Work with Revisions, Use Collections to Organize the Binder, Use Annotations and Comments, Add Footnotes and Endnotes, Sync to iPad Apps, and more.

Wrap Up

When you’ve finished writing, you’ll want to get your project out of Scrivener in order to either print out a draft or to save in a different format that you can share with others. Compile Your Work for Print and Export covers this essential process.

What’s New in Version 1.1

When version 1.0 of this ebook was published in June 2011, Scrivener on the Mac was at version 2.1. In the 18 months since then, Scrivener on the Mac has seen several updates. While the majority of this ebook remains the same, I have revised it for Scrivener 2.4, which is due to be released by Literature & Latte soon after this ebook update is published. I am releasing the ebook somewhat in advance of Scrivener 2.4’s release (with Literature & Latte’s blessing) so that you can have it before NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) begins this year.

In addition, Literature & Latte has released a Windows version of Scrivener, so I wanted to bring Windows users more fully into the ebook (Windows users, be sure to read Windows Users: Read the Blue Boxes!). While I mentioned the Windows version of the program briefly in the first version of the ebook, Scrivener for Microsoft Windows was still in beta at that time. It was released in late 2011.

The most important changes that I’ve added are these:

I call out differences between the Mac and Windows versions of Scrivener. Windows users should pay attention to the blue boxes that will alert them to key differences that they need to know about.
There have been a number of minor interface changes to Scrivener, and I have updated those screenshots that reflect these changes. Some buttons have changed, and the names of some items have been altered. For example, what was previously called Full Screen mode is now called Composition mode, since OS X has its own Full Screen mode (which Scrivener supports). This is called Full Screen mode in the Windows version. (See Work in Composition Mode and Use Mac OS X’s Full Screen Mode.)
The Project Templates window now provides direct access to both the Scrivener User Manual and the program’s Interactive Tutorial.
Scrivener can now import text files with extensions other than .txt, such as Markdown files with .md or .markdown extensions. A setting in the program’s preferences allows you to tell the program which extensions to accept. (See Import Text Files.)
You can view Web pages in Scrivener’s editor by dragging them onto the Header Bar above the Editor pane. This is a good way to view Web pages in Scrivener without importing them into your project. (See View Web Pages Without Important Them.)
Scrivener’s Preferences window has been tidied up, and it now has a toolbar containing icons for the different groups of preferences. In Windows, these icons are in a sidebar of the Options window.
Mac users can add two new types of files to the Scrivener Binder: photos, taken with a built-in iSight camera on a Mac, and audio notes, recorded by speaking into a microphone attached to your Mac. (See Create New Files and Folders in the Binder.)
I describe a new method of displaying a QuickReference window for any item in your Binder in the first paragraph beneath Figure 24.
Scrivener now supports OS X’s Notifications feature for project targets. You can also have Scrivener tweet your daily session goal. (See Set Targets.)
On a Mac, Scrivener can now automatically take snapshots of your project when you manually save it by pressing Command-S. (See Take Snapshots.)

If you wish to see a full, detailed list of all the changes to Scrivener, you can go to this page on the Literature & Latte Web site.

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