It works best if you put each scene in its own file … then you can move those around in the cork board view, or even in the default view over in the left hand menu list of files. But there was a learning curve.
Scrivener has saved my derrière many a time. I do use pen on paper for edits and when I'm trying to work out a complex problem/scene/moment. I find I brainstorm best when I can do lots of curving arrows and scribbling outs.
I should take a picture of my last lot of edits. I was on the train and hadn’t packed a notebook so in addition to all red lines saying “move this scene to page 37”, I had additional text all around the margins. So much fun getting back into the computer.
Oh yes, my drafts get very colorful. Pass 1 is in red ink, 2 is green, 3 is purple, 4 is teal...by then I need to get all of that entered into Scrivener or I'm going to be sunk.
Ok, that sounds really pretty and a bit too chaotic. I type in my changes, do a fresh read (printout) and make more edits, until there’s nothing more to be found but typos. But I do like using my brightly colored gel pens for it. A Grail for Eidothea was a pastel blue, A River Trembles was red, and the new story is currently hot pink!
I’m *finally* on the Scrivener train and wish I’d gotten aboard sooner. The learning curve was not nearly as steep as people suggest, and the impact on my writing process is invaluable!
Thank you for that compliment! You might like it for the ability to keep a world building “binder” and to keep all your characters straight, in addition to moving scenes around.
"the next conflict soon loomed large: the book needed to fall into the timeline of real history" A familiar problem with my historical fiction! Nobody else told me I had to fit a certain timeline, but I stuck myself with it and now I have to go track U-Boats around the Caribbean...
Papercrafting is absolutely beyond me (failed scrapbooker) and I'm in awe of all the skill that goes into making your props. They're beautiful!
Oh I was not much good at scrapbooking but I do love bookmaking and collage! How do you track U-boats around the Caribbean? Weren’t they stealthy type things? Once I am past this book three the timeline is going to go off the rails. I just have to get through this book first!
Oh, quite stealthy in real-time! The confusion in what passed for an intelligence community at the time is what I'm really writing about. But now we have archives and archives of dispatches and records of where they attacked and visited during the blockade, and I want to have my background right even if my characters are mostly being misled.
Ok, you guys… I haven’t switched over yet. I’m still holding out, although I know I’m going to love Scrivener once I get started. That’s kind of what I’m afraid of. I love to organize. I can see myself organizing until I realize I’m behind on my writing schedule and then freaking out. But I’m giving myself a little two week space between seasons after next week, so that could be the time to take that Scrivener plunge. (Or I’ll hold out until the next book. We’ll see.)
Maybe hold out until the next book? Although copy and paste-to-match-style is pretty easy. Not to enable you or anything. I feel like I’m actually more productive with it but um… my deleted scenes are currently running at almost 4 weeks work of serial fiction soo…… 🤷♀️
It's interesting to me what you say about Scrivener and how it helped you sort out your snafu... I will give it a second try...
It works best if you put each scene in its own file … then you can move those around in the cork board view, or even in the default view over in the left hand menu list of files. But there was a learning curve.
Scrivener has saved my derrière many a time. I do use pen on paper for edits and when I'm trying to work out a complex problem/scene/moment. I find I brainstorm best when I can do lots of curving arrows and scribbling outs.
I should take a picture of my last lot of edits. I was on the train and hadn’t packed a notebook so in addition to all red lines saying “move this scene to page 37”, I had additional text all around the margins. So much fun getting back into the computer.
Oh yes, my drafts get very colorful. Pass 1 is in red ink, 2 is green, 3 is purple, 4 is teal...by then I need to get all of that entered into Scrivener or I'm going to be sunk.
Ok, that sounds really pretty and a bit too chaotic. I type in my changes, do a fresh read (printout) and make more edits, until there’s nothing more to be found but typos. But I do like using my brightly colored gel pens for it. A Grail for Eidothea was a pastel blue, A River Trembles was red, and the new story is currently hot pink!
Sounds like some synesthesia going on there!
Possibly? Or my old eyes need bright colours to stand out from the page.
I’m *finally* on the Scrivener train and wish I’d gotten aboard sooner. The learning curve was not nearly as steep as people suggest, and the impact on my writing process is invaluable!
Welcome aboard!
Hearing two recommendations for Scrivner. I'm going to have to go ahead and get the license.
It would help me keep my stories straight.
Thank you for the behind the scenes look at your writing.
You are a great writer.
Thank you for that compliment! You might like it for the ability to keep a world building “binder” and to keep all your characters straight, in addition to moving scenes around.
"the next conflict soon loomed large: the book needed to fall into the timeline of real history" A familiar problem with my historical fiction! Nobody else told me I had to fit a certain timeline, but I stuck myself with it and now I have to go track U-Boats around the Caribbean...
Papercrafting is absolutely beyond me (failed scrapbooker) and I'm in awe of all the skill that goes into making your props. They're beautiful!
Oh I was not much good at scrapbooking but I do love bookmaking and collage! How do you track U-boats around the Caribbean? Weren’t they stealthy type things? Once I am past this book three the timeline is going to go off the rails. I just have to get through this book first!
Oh, quite stealthy in real-time! The confusion in what passed for an intelligence community at the time is what I'm really writing about. But now we have archives and archives of dispatches and records of where they attacked and visited during the blockade, and I want to have my background right even if my characters are mostly being misled.
Ok, you guys… I haven’t switched over yet. I’m still holding out, although I know I’m going to love Scrivener once I get started. That’s kind of what I’m afraid of. I love to organize. I can see myself organizing until I realize I’m behind on my writing schedule and then freaking out. But I’m giving myself a little two week space between seasons after next week, so that could be the time to take that Scrivener plunge. (Or I’ll hold out until the next book. We’ll see.)
Maybe hold out until the next book? Although copy and paste-to-match-style is pretty easy. Not to enable you or anything. I feel like I’m actually more productive with it but um… my deleted scenes are currently running at almost 4 weeks work of serial fiction soo…… 🤷♀️
Yeah, I’ll probably wait… it will give me something to look forward to after I finish this book.