I’m working on moving a novel into Scrivener that had become way too huge to deal with in OpenOffice.
Each chapter starts with a date and any flashbacks have dates too. (There’s quite a bit of time-jumping in the book.)
I did the tutorial a couple years back and have been working with Scrivener on and off since then. In the past I never used the Outliner, but realized it would help. So I created a custom meta data field for dates.
Sigh This always seems to happen when I’m trying to get organized. Now I have to go through every bloody file and with a split screen, copy/paste the dates into the Outliner.
So my wish:
Make it so that we can highlight a piece of text, then right click and in that menu have the option to “Add Selected Text to Meta Data” with an arrow to determine which field it should go into.
I have a feeling this would be a major boon to writers who are migrating into Scrivener, as well as to folks who have been using it for a longer time and just (re)discovered meta data or for those who suddenly decided to add a new field they didn’t think of.
I might be missing something: how would this be more efficient than just using Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V? It sounds like you’ve replaced two commands that are infinitely flexible with a mouse-dependent sub-menu that only allows one to copy data to a single area of the project, from select areas of the interface that would work with such a method.
Locate the next piece of data. Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V. Repeat until done with that file.
Open the next file I want data from. Rinse/repeat steps 4-6 till I’ve gone through the entire project.
Here’s the process as I’m envisioning it:
While editing an old file or working on a new one, notice that I’ve got/am adding a piece of data that is not yet in my meta data, but should be there.
Highlight that piece of data.
Right-click>Add Selection to Meta Data>Name of Field to Add To
I’d like to be able to do this without even opening the Outliner or messing around with split windows.
Oh! In reading your list of steps, I realise you may not be aware of the fact that you can work with custom meta-data right in the Inspector. There is no need to split the interface and set up columns and all that. It’s the little “suitcase tag” icon along the bottom of the Inspector. Does that make things easier for you?
By the way Ctrl-Shift-I toggles the Inspector, and it remembers what you were using last, so when you’re going along working in a file and notice something you want to file, just hit that shortcut and then drag and drop the text over to the right field (or copy paste).
I actually looked for a button in the inspector to do exactly that. Not sure why I couldn’t find it. Pretty sure I tried/moused over every one of those icons at the bottom a couple times.
I spent about 3 hours today, just trying to figure out how to add meta data. Lots of pages on how to add custom meta data fields, little info on how to populate them. A single mention that there SHOULD HAVE been an icon in Inspector, Not a single pic so I could figure out which darn icon it was, or a description of what it looked like.
I went back and read the Scriv tutorial on meta data and all it mentioned was populating it via the Outliner. Might want to add in your much easier version on how to do it.
LOL even in Outliner, I was having challenges getting the program to let me click in the right place so I could populate the field. Which sent me back to researching on the web for another half hour before I gave up and posted here. (That’s probably just my system being touchy.)
Thanks so much Amber, you’ve made my day. I truly appreciate the quick help.
I officially withdraw my wish-list request.
I’ve been using Word and then OpenOffice for years, and the thing that frustrates me about both is how challenging it is to organize anything. Do I go with 300 different files or do I go with one huge file that I have to scroll through? Eeek!
It could be worse - when I started writing, personal computers didn’t exist. (I’m almost 52 and was writing at age 8.) My first electronic typewriter held a whole 10 pages of memory. Need to write a different story? Delete everything and type in something new. Need to go back to the first article? Delete it all again and type the same older stuff again.
Scrivener, in contrast to all of the above is an absolute writer’s dream. I adore this program and as I’m getting to learn it better, am adoring it more and more each day.
Excellent, glad to hear that was the missing piece of the puzzle. The Outliner certainly can be more efficient for some things like typing in bulk data, since you can tab through cells as one might in a spreadsheet. I’ll have to double-check the tutorial, the first mention of custom meta-data should be in fact where the Inspector in general is discussed in the multi-step 5.
Anyway, thanks for the kind words in regards to the software. It’s funny how much the process of writing has changed, at least when it comes to the mechanics of it, even within our lifetimes. Back when I started it was making sure the levers in my manual were well-oiled (I started at a very young age as well, though mostly it was just banging on the red ribbon because the red ribbon was always superior to the black ribbon!). Now it’s all about finding the most efficient method to tag a paragraph of text in the middle of a 500 page book.
Red ribbon and black. Oh heck yeah. And correction (white) ribbon and White Out. I used to spend a good chunk of my allowance on White Out – that junk dried out so fast! (Fortunately my Mom is also a w4iter and was generous with supplies!)
Still learning Scrivener, but it pretty much answers every wish list I could imagine.
I remember some company came up with a brilliant idea to replace Wite*Out that was a thin sort of opaque adhesive tape that could be applied with a hand-held device, much like applying correction liquid with one of those little sponge brushes—but no mess!
Unfortunately it was invented in the late '80s. :mrgreen:
