Creating an Editable Glossary in Scrivener

Scrivener
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Requirement
I’d like to use footnotes as endnotes to create a Glossary of definitions for foreign language words or terms used throughout my script. - (Got that working.)

Question
Is there a way to create a Glossary “document” from endnotes without going through the Compiler that would allow me to save the endnotes into a Scrivener Back Matter document? - (Compiler basically exports to a desired format, which requires me to import back into Scrivener.)

I’d then clean it up directly in Scrivener, deleting numbers and sorting things alphabetically at the appropriate time.

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I just created a glossary file (doing scifi so same issue) and put in the back matter folder and when compile use the as is setting to retain your formatting. That should work.

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Here is how I create lists of terms and such things in Scrivener. This method produces a more traditional glossary though, not something that is functionally identical to endnotes or footnotes.

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Thanks. Excellent.
So what I’ve now done is create Glossary as a Text Document in Back Matter, instead of as a Folder.
So each time I do a ‘Append Selection to Document’ > Glossary, it places the word or phrase at the end of my file.
If I’ve defined certain words and sort alphabetically, etc. whatever I add doesn’t interfere with what was previously saved but simply sticks what is new at the bottom of the document.
Added bonus is no links to tidy up afterwards.

Links are useful to me when I find a plot hole on a specific topic or situation in my Novel and need to gather and reference all the related pieces throughout the script into a common document, which I store under Notes. Since links are circular, I have a backlink to my work through Bookmarks in the Inspector from my document in Notes. Of course, I use ‘Link to Document’ in this instance.

Thanks again. Another problem solved. And really as easy as pie.

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Thanks.
My workflow for this is now as follows:

  1. In Back Matter, create a Text Document, not a Folder, called Glossary.
  2. Select a word or phrase in your manuscript/draft you wish to place in your Glossary.
  3. Using the contextual menu, i.e. right-click and select Append Selection to Document and select Glossary (created in point 1 above).
  4. With each successive append it adds the selected word or phrase to the end of your Glossary.
  5. You can work on you Glossary at your leisure, in other words right now, later, whenever and multiple times.
  6. So, you can do your edits and sort you Glossary alphabetically, and any word or phrase added doesn’t affect what was previously saved, but simply adds it to the bottom of your document for you to integrate, at your leisure again.
    I now have what I was looking for without footnotes, links, colours, endnotes, folders and separate documents, all in one document. In four easy steps:
    Select | Right-click | Append … | Glossary.
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Am I doing this wrong?

choosing Append Selection to Document ▸ New... . Set the Destination to your glossary folder and just leave the name alone. That’s it. The word will get added as a child document to “Glossary” and you can continue typing

When I follow these steps, using a folder as a target, it does not get added as a child document.

The text gets appended to the Editor portion of the folder, which is hidden from view. If I convert the folder into a document and refresh the view, the appended text appears in the Editor section.

Has this behavior been changed since you wrote the instructions? How can I get the selected text to be added as a child document to the target folder?

Thanks

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@popcornflix: When I follow these steps, using a folder as a target, it does not get added as a child document.

I still get the described behaviour, are you definitely selecting the “New” option as indicated (it should result in a dialogue box)? If you just pick a folder that already exists the command will do precisely as it states, and append the text to an existing item.

The text gets appended to the Editor portion of the folder, which is hidden from view. If I convert the folder into a document and refresh the view, the appended text appears in the Editor section.

You can also just turn off the corkboard/outliner with the same shortcut you would use to switch to it. That switches to the text editor.

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Nope. That was my mistake – thank you, all working fine now.

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The alphabetical sorting part is what seems to be a manual process in your workflow. Cutting and pasting?

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I append words to a Glossary document on the fly while writing. It’s hardly a distraction. When a book is done, I add definitions to the content and sort the words that required a definition alphabetically selecting everything and using Edit > Sort and the Glossary is done.
I also have a Characters list document, one per book, which I have available all the time as a Project Bookmark. I sort the characters as well using the same process.
I have a Series Resources project and I link each character name in a particular novel’s Project Bookmarks to character sheets in the Series Resources project. There, Edit > Sort sorts the Binder, but by selecting the parent folder or document. The character list is available in the preview window below Project Bookmarks when I click on the Characters bookmark. The preview is editable, so I’m able to edit the list (add names or change names) on the fly when inventing a new character. I fill out character sheets when I’m in a different mood and sort the linking. It all depends on where I decide to take a character. The way I write, I backfill a lot of character info. I never first flesh out a character. That’d be too stifling for me.

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