Write in one or one hundred of them! Select Draft and create a few with the + button. Scrivener lets you choose which of these make the manuscript cut and will format them according to your desired output, be it PDF, ePub, HTML, etc. We refer to these writings as Subdocuments, and they can be chapters, sections, beats or whatever you like. It’s simply a folder of writings-Scrivener nicknames them “ scrivenings”-that will be combined into a manuscript. Writers who come from Word or a linear word processor struggle with the Binder. Open Scrivener and create a “Blank” project. If you are unfamiliar with Scrivener’s interface, fear not! There are three features you need to know before churning our your master outline. Scrivener give us tools to please both mindsets. Plotters use outlines to sketch out these waypoints-and pansters discover as they write their characters. Your muse may then sing toward the next map marker, and then the next and next until you have completed your manuscript. The key is to leave room for epiphany when heading to the next waypoint.
Both approaches are lovely and need not be exclusive-this article will teach you how to ride a unicorn over charted terrain. Plotters are cartographers, etching every narrative detail into a map before bleeding ink. Some writers swear they cannot write if they know where they are headed and write by the seat of their pants. There’s the age-old distinction between two writing styles: plotting and pantsing. What she didn’t know is that she could have saddled that magical beast. Epiphany like this is a unicorn: rare, unruly, essential to remarkable prose, and often incompatible with long-form writing. She suffered from a case of “pantsing gone wrong.” You’ve been there, helpless to an idea that abandoned you as quickly as it took hold. With elated fingers her inner muse fueled every word, singing for three pages-and then silence. Three weeks ago, a friend of mine had plunked down to write her next novel. Our own Ferol Vernon was recently featured on the podcast – check out the interview and enter to win a free Freebooksy or Bargain Booksy feature.
Leonard is the author of the Modern Rituals urban fantasy series and hosts/produces Bleeding Ink, a podcast for indie authors.