Although I have written technical manual content before and been involved with using programs like Ready Set Go and Quark Express in the distant past these were always projects done for others.
This is the first time I have begun writing for myself. I picked up Scrivener about a month ago on some excellent support advice from Amber and more recently finally upgraded my laptop to a new MacBook Pro. This is going to be a godsend for me as I am constantly on the go and toting my 27" mac everywhere i went was not an option. The Scrivener/MBPro option is a match made in heaven for me.
Before diving in completely I peeked at a few of the video tutorials, actually checked out an online Scrivener course in Udemy and have downloaded a few Scrivener ebooks for reference… but like most guys basically just ignored the roadmaps and started writing.
For whatever reason I chose the Novel Format, and while I am not writing a Novel in the classes sense of the word it seemed like the right format for me. Now I’m not so sure but have already got 7 documents of preamble as well as over 21 chapters. There are also a good couple of dozen documents that could follow the actual chapters, perhaps in appendix form.
Truthfully I didn’t think it was going to be this long and as it is as much an instructional sports manual as anything else I believe to keep the attention of my readers it will have to be broken up into a minimum of 3, perhaps 4 separate books. Each book will have a specific theme… i.e. Technical Delivery, Tactics and Strategy etc. so it won’t be difficult sorting using Scrivener that way either. My intent is publish in electronic form only, and to compile in various forms for both iBooks and Kindle then add graphics and video in each of those formats. I can also publish in pdf but it won’t have the same pizazz as the iBook without the videos.
The overall title of the book will be the same lead title for all volumes… with a subtitle indicating which component is contained within that specific volume (i.e. Technical Delivery)
So, my question is: Was the novel format the correct format for me or should I have started in another format. If so, which one would be best suited and is it possible to switch to that format this far into the project.
The templates are just convenient collections of typical files/folders/layouts used for different purposes. Flexible guidelines, not rigid frameworks.
As the user is omnipotent, the user can adapt any template as they see fit: bending it to their will.
You’re not bound by the template’s original name. You will be able to modify the project and output your work in the way you want.
Thanks Briar
Thats a bit of a relief… however looking at my present setup is that it appears the material i imported originally didn’t find its may into any of the folders within the novel setup. I see Manuscript with its Parts folders, and Characters and Places, Front Matter with its obvious folders. However what I imported came in directly under the Novel heading (which contains the instructions on how to use that setup) but before the Manuscript heading.
I’m thinking this will be a problem for me when compiling my final output?
As it stands now I don’t have any folders… just mostly files and a couple of file groups.
I think i may be taking a trip back to the tutorial to familiarize myself with the different components of Scrivener before proceeding much further.
When it is time to compile, Scrivener will look to compile the folders and files in the Manuscript folder. You can choose whether to compile all the files and folders (in the Manuscript folder), or just a selection of them. It will also compile the front matter documents, if the user tells Scrivener to do exactly that.
The manuscript folder can be renamed to anything you want. Scrivener will remember that it is the folder that has the work you want to output.
If you don’t need or want other objects - such as Characters, Places, etc - you can happily delete them (so long as you haven’t stored anything inside them that you want to keep).
If your content is outside of the Manuscript folder, that’s fine, because everything inside a Scrivener project can be moved using drag and drop. Just click on your content and move it into the Manuscript folder. You can reorder your work to your heart’s content.
So long as you move your content into the Manuscript folder (now or in the future…there’s no time constraint), you will be able to compile what you want, when you want. You can do a test compile at any time (to PDF, Word, ebook, etc): it is a non-destructive process, and testing different settings can help with (1) getting to understand how Scrivener works, and (2) learning how to structure your content to get the best out of the final compile.
Scrivener is a powerful tool and it puts a lot of power in your hands. If you’re not sure how to get it to do what you want, the manual, forum, and tech support people at L&L are all great resources. We’re all in the same boat. We all want everyone to succeed.
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Happy writing!