(I’m using the Mac version of Scrivener, v 2.2)
This one is going to sound like a no brainer, but believe me, it really streamlined how I break up scenes.
Here’s my fake project:
Notice I’m working with 4 chapters, each with 3 scenes (or Scrivenings). If I am writing, and I realize I need to start a new scene/break, I could go up to the giant green ( + ) button at the top to add a new blank scene, or I could just hit Command K where I need my new scene to begin.
So, say I have a killer ending to the scene and need to take up the story the following morning. I just type something like, “The next morning”, place my cursor before the ‘T’ in ‘The’, hold Command, and press K. This splits the current scene and creates a new one:
Notice in the 1st screenshot that I was in Chapter 4, Scene 3. Now I am in Chapter 4, Scene 4. Also, Scrivener puts me in edit mode for the scene’s title. Right now, it’s a copy of Scene 3’s title, but I can change that easy enough.
Simple as that. 🙂
This is particularly useful when you are converting your old Word docs to Scrivener. Just import the doc, then scroll through making your scene breaks where needed. From there, it’s fairly easy to do Chapter folders too and have everything looking nice and neat in the Binder.
More Scrivener Tips coming (every Monday?)
Don’t have Scrivener? You can try it free here (no, I don’t get paid for pointing you at them!).
~P
4 Comments
“Special K”
Here’s a question for you, o Scrivener expert. Is there something in Scrivener that allows a writer to organize ideas for as yet-unwritten projects. An idea bank, so to speak?
I guess it depends on what you mean by ‘organize’. Your Binder contains your manuscript, but it can also hold all of your project research and notes. There’s even templates for Character Sheets and Places, so you can create detailed descriptions of who people are, where they live/work, what their motives are and their roles within the story.
You could also use it as a sort of Project Wiki or Bible. You can do internal Scrivener links to different documents within (or outside of) your project.
It really comes down to your personal preferences.
My suggestion is to open up a blank project and play around, see what works best for you.
~P
Thanks, Patrick!
I use Scrivener for just such a thing as you suggest. One file holds “seeds” or ideas. I start a new card for each new idea. With the new version I might start a new project, but might not. Seeds are small, see, and you don’t have a place to write on the surface of a new project. If you just hit the green plus sign, or use Patrick’s Command K, you get a nice white (or whatever you’ve chosen) screen to hammer away on.
When a seed begins to grow, I transplant it to its own Scrivener file and continue to march. Just cut & paste the card to a new file. How’s that?
Patrick, I enjoy that you’re doing this. Thanks. :)TX
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