Plotting With Scrivener

When writers write, it's not just about the words on the page. Many of us collect pictures of our characters and storyworlds. We have links to videos and webpages from the research we've done. And we have all kinds of documents to keep track of--previous drafts, already-critiqued chapters, and downloaded research files. No matter if it's fiction or non-fiction, we are trying to keep track of so many pieces of information, that it's sometimes difficult to manage. And then write, of course.

So, I thought I'd tell you about my favorite writing program. It's not free, but it's not expensive, and you get to try it for free for a while. It's called Scrivener. The name comes from a word meaning "scribe", and it has become my favorite way to write.

Scrivener used to be a Mac-only program, but in January, they'll release the PC version. And if you want to buy it for 50% off, find out how in this post.

Organization
Imagine your writing room has a giant corkboard. You have room to tack up index cards for each of the scenes or chapters in your book. You post all the pictures that inspire you to write, and run strings of yarn between the pictures and the scene in which those characters appear. Use more tacks to attach the various pages of research files and previous drafts, and you might feel inspired--or overwhelmed.

Scrivener does all of this on your computer screen. You've got actual-sized index cards on a virtual corkboard. Give each one a title, and write in a summary of the scene. Is this scene in the point of view of your female protagonist? Change the tack color to pink. If the next scene is in the male protagonist's point of view, you might choose a blue tack. At a glance, you can see if you might have too many scenes in one point of view. I can also drag any card to another spot if I choose to rearrange my scenes.

Inspiration
Since my current novel is set in a real place, I've got many photos of my storyworld (you can see a few of them here). I've also collected photos of my characters. Not only can I keep these images in a file within Scrivener, I can attach any picture to any given scene.

Let's say I'm writing a scene set in a particular castle, with two of my main characters. As I'm writing, those pictures are enlarged on the side of my screen to inspire me.

Memorization
There often is a scene in which I want to make some significant changes. But I'm not really sure they'll work. Scrivener allows me to take a "snapshot" of that version of the scene. Then I go ahead and make all the changes I want without worry, because I can always revert to my earlier snapshot. I can even compare the two versions side-by-side.

And Much More
Scrivener allows you to keep track of your word count, even if you've added words to many different documents in your project. It identifies the words you use, and you'll be able to see at a glance which words you may have overused. Scrivener will estimate how many pages your project will have in paperback and hardback. And to help you focus, you can black out your entire computer screen except for your document and photos.

If you'd like to read testimonials from published authors (both fiction and non-fiction) who use Scrivener, go here.

Check out these video tutorials so you can see how Scrivener looks and works.

Has anyone else tried Scrivener, or other writing programs? What do you think?






14 comments:

  1. I started using Scrivener over the summer and I really love it, for all the reasons you describe. (Although I'm still learning the ropes and you've taught me some new things here too--I didn't know about snapshots! That will definitely come in handy for me.) I wish I'd started using it years ago. It would have saved me some sanity with trying to keep my novel research and drafts organized.

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  2. Jenn, I've discovered snapshots are my friend! It's so nice to slash a scene with the comments from my crit group, then compare it to the previous version. My crit group is always right!

    I also love the graphic for word frequency. Go to View>Statistics>Text Statistics and click the arrow next to Word Frequency. It will give you a bar graph of usage for every word in that selection. Eye opening!

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  3. Oh, wow. This program sounds incredible. I need it desperately! Thanks so much for this post. I think I'll try it out. =)

    Tessa
    www.christiswrite.blogspot.com

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  4. Tessa, you'll be hooked in no time. If you're still a student, it costs less. If you sign up for Nanowrimo, they'll give you a great deal, too.

    Congrats on the contract!

    ~Debbie

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  5. I have heard about the software and have not tried it yet but plan to. Thanks.

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  6. Give the trial version a try--you'll be glad you did.

    ~Debbie

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  7. Interesting! I'll have to look into this program. Wasn't familiar with it before. Thanks for the info' :-)

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  8. I hope you try the free month. They're very generous with it. Using it for a "day" only counts when you close the program. So if you keep it open for a few days, that still counts as just one day of the free trial. It really gives you a chance to see if it's a good fit for you.

    ~Debbie

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  9. When I got Scrivener about six months ago, I immediately imported twenty files, each a chapter for a mid-grade novel I was writing. By using Scrivener's "split," "merge" and "corkboard" features, I was able to solve several difficult organization problems quickly and easily. I'm still learning useful features and eagerly await Scrivener II.

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  10. I agree. I love the corkboard. It works better for me than actual index cards. I'm editing a book for a client, and I imported the entire manuscript and used the split feature to divide it in chapters. The thought of trying to do that in Word is exhausting.

    ~Debbie

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  11. I had heard of this program but always wondered if it was as good as people say it is. I think i'm going to try the free trial version and see if I like it.
    Thanks for the recommendation!

    Mayra

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  12. Let me know what you think. Definitely make use of the tutorials, or you may miss some of the coolest features.

    ~Debbie

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  13. You've inspired me to try the 30-day trial. At first I was overwhelmed, but after reading this post, I'm ready to give it another whirl.

    What's also nice is that the 30 day free trial means 30 days of actual use. If you use it once a week for 30 weeks, it thus becomes a 30 week trial. Nice bonus.

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  14. Yes, Julie, you can milk that trial for all it's worth. I can't wait to try the 2.0 version!

    ~Debbie

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