I use a fairly basic layout when actually writing. It is just the left column for chapters, notes, research etc, then two equal width editing windows.
Unless I’m missing something (which is entirely possible!), there seems to be no way to load the text into the two editor windows automatically based on current and last chapter. For example, I’d like to write in the right half, but always see the previous chapter in the left half. So, if I’m writing chapter 10, I’d like to see chapter 9 alongside. When I create a new chapter (11) and start to write, I’d like to automatically see 10. The previous chapter doesn’t even need to be editable, I’d just like to have it there for reference. I hope that makes sense.
As it stands, I have to manually load the previous chapter in the left half before starting to write in the right half.
As it stands, I have to manually load the previous chapter in the left half before starting to write in the right half.
To address this part first, there is a shortcut to loading two items into each split very simply: click normally on the thing you want to work on, then hold down the Alt or Option (on Mac) key on your keyboard and click on the thing you want to reference, in the other split. So what you’re wanting is two clicks away, which is about as efficient as it is going to get.
That said, have a look at the options in the Navigate ▸ Binder Selection Affects ▸ submenu. There is nothing quite like what you’re looking for, but you might find it more useful to force the binder to only automatically load stuff into one side, leaving you to manage the other split with Alt+Click.
As for why there isn’t something like what you describe, the overall problem with the idea is that you’re mapping a very human interpretation of something (a chapter) into something that has no real mechanistic “understanding” of what a chapter is. There wouldn’t be a simple (or even really complicated) way for the software to know what “Chapter 9” actually means, in terms of how your work is structured in the binder. Bear in mind, this program isn’t for exclusively writing books, never mind books with chapters in them. It’s a general purpose writing tool. If that doesn’t make sense, this longer post goes into how varied the concept of a chapter might be.
Of course you are right, @AmberV, a Binder item is not necessarily a chapter. And not just, as you said, because the manuscript might be of a type that has no chapters at all. It might very well have chapters, but the user might be using the Binder more granularly, a Binder item might only hold a paragraph, even just a single line of poetry.
But if we put @JohnnyOneNote’s feature request in broader terms—a menu entry/keyboard shortcut to a) load the current Binder item into the other Editor pane and b) create a new, empty Binder item in the current Editor pane—this indeed is a feature that could be helpful for some workflows.
(If you were to argue that this might be going too far, even for Scrivener, which is already so wonderfully customisable, I’d say: Maybe, but then at least on the Mac side of things, scriptability would come in handy).
That said, I have three very different suggestions for you, @JohnnyOneNote:
You could change your perspective. — We talk about a workflow because at best there are no obstacles of any kind, it just flows. But unlike machines, we humans need breaks[1]. Assuming that your chapters aren’t very small, each completed chapter is an important step (obviously I’ve left the flowing water metaphor now) on the way to your goal. A reward routine after every finished chapter might include getting up, breathing deeply, stretching, moving, etc. And the more than one step process of creating a new Binder document and loading the previous one into the other Editor pane could be part of that routine—but seen as part of the reward, not as an obstacle. (Please note that I am not at all insinuating that Scrivener is perfect as it is, but that your brain is somehow working wrong).
You could switch between the Editor panes for writing. — Meaning: You write Document 1 in, say, the right pane. When you are finished, you create the new, empty Document 2 in the left pane and write it there too. The right pane would then become the reference pane, without having to load anything into it, as it already contains Document 1. Later, you create and write Document 3 in the right pane, and the left pane with Document 2 becomes the reference pane, and so on. Would I recommend this? Well, me, I would probably go mad because my brain needs things to be in their place, like writing left, reference right. But brains are different.
Use Scrivenings View. — An Editor pane can hold only one Binder item, but it can also hold all the documents in a folder (including the entire Drafts folder) in Scrivenings View. You could set your reference pane to the Drafts folder in Scrivenings View and lock it. Then you would not have to load anything into it manually, because every existing document would already be there, and every new document would appear in its proper place in the project. You would have to scroll though, but assuming your chapters are not so short that you can see them as a whole in the Editor window, you will have to scroll anyway if you want to look up something in the previous chapter.
Every once in a while someone posts that they have worked on a project for 20 hours straight. You can do that but, I suppose, only with help. Healthy it is not. And usually—and not at all coincidentally—you will find such statements in topics like “Help, inexplicably my whole project is gone!”. ↩︎
Your point 2 is actually pretty much what I do, but moving the chapters around has to be done manually. I know it’s oh so trivial in the big scheme, but I’d love it to be automated, so that the left pane is the previous chapter and the right pane is the editable chapter. On creating a new chapter, the right pane content would automatically shift to the left, and the right pane automatically loads the new chapter for editing. In short, a previous chapter review pane and an editing pane.
Like I say, I know it’s trivial, but I’m a big fan of streamlined workflows and like to use as few steps as possible. I also fully apreciate my workflow isn’t everyone’s workflow, same with my preferred window layout. I just thought I’d ask in case there was something I wasn’t seeing. It doesn’t look like I am, and I know there are much bigger roadmap fish to fry
And right so. It is the general concept of Scrivener not to force a workflow onto the users but to adjust to their needs. Which made it so feature rich that there are possibly not many people that are aware of every single one of these features. (Plus: We all got our blind spots.) Hence, we visit this forum full of super helpful users and support staff.
Isn’t point 3 of any use for you? Naturally, it does not provide what you were asking for. But instead of “a previous chapter review pane and an editing pane” you would get “a previous chapters review pane and an editing pane”, which is not very different from what you wanted, just one letter actually…
Thanks for the suggestion, but it’s really no quicker that what I’m doing now. What I do is only 2/3 clicks (see? trivial…), so the actual improvement is very little in isolation, and more of a workflow issue for me. It’s the automation I was trying to achive, really
I am absolutely sure I barely scratch the surface of what Scrivener can do, but it still helps me tremendously in keeping notes, character lists etc. very organised. Before, I had separate Word docs, or notes on my phone, or on scraps of paper. Having it all there in front of me is a good enough reason to appreciate what it does for me. There are one or two niggles, such as having no way to edit the spelling error other than dashes or wave, neither of which are especially easy to see without looking. Being able to customise the colours would be a big help. Again, nowhere near a deal breaker, of course.
Seems like two keystrokes to me. ⌘⌥N followed Swap Editors, which will need a shortcut assigned. This can easily be automated with BetterTouchTools (BTT) (and Keyboard Maestro, I expect).
If the expectation is for scripting in Scrivener, then you’re probably whistling in the wind. I’m pretty sure the development effort, which would be substantial, wouldn’t return much. And, as mentioned, there are cheap tools that can do this and a lot more.
Aside: I use Scrivener’s annotations to maintain a to do list – I just tag the annotation with TODO:. Then I have a Collection that lists all of those tagged Annotations. Using BTT, I have a shortcut to create the Annotation with the tag (I just add my text), and a shortcut to toggle between the To Do Collection and the Binder. Doing all that manually and repeatedly is a nuisance, but automated it’s pain-free. My point is that if streamlining/automating repeated processes is something you long for, then you can do it today – and you can do it across all your applications.