How Do You Outline/Brainstorm in Scrivener?

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
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That is, how do you outline/brainstorm in Scrivener, not how does one outline/b. in S!

Just downloaded the program, watched (some of) the videos, read the tutorial. Have been searching the forums, and read a few discussions about outlining. Some are using the Binder, some the Outliner, some third-party outliners or brainstormers (for mind-mapping, whatever). If anyone’s willing to talk about her or his personal process, I’d love to read it.

I’m a midlist author, with two novels out, another on the way, a fourth under contract. So far, I’ve used Word. I’ve used it so long that I don’t really remember my complaints about it anymore–but I have the sense that another software package might help. Usually I work off outlines I make using the technological marvel known as the ‘numbered list.’ I just throw down numbers 1-50, then fill in that cool reversal I thought of at 30 and that inciting incident at 5 and that devastating failure at 45 and the final twist at 48 or whatever. But there’s gotta be a better way!

What I was looking for when I started downloading Scriv (and Storymill, and Storyist, and Jer’s) was really just an outlining tool, the result of which I could then expand into a full novel. I’m definitely an outline-first writer (though the outline changes tremendously during the process). But when I started poking around Scriv, the idea of keeping all my research in one place seems pretty awesome, too. (And frankly the tutorial and the community on the forum here are huge selling points.)

Anyway. I’m certain that there’s someone out there who approaches writing more-or-less the same way I do, and I wanna crib your work! (I’m in the middle of a project now, and don’t want to spend much time poking around new software–I need to keep writing.) For example, if you use the Outliner, do you turn off all the meta-data? Those ‘meta’ columns seems like a huge amount of wasted real estate given my process (great for someone else’s, of course). Do you just use the Binder? Do you use it in some less-obvious way?

Any insight into how other people use this pretty tool for outlining/brainstorming the shape of a story would be much appreciated.

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Hi,

(Given that I’m just a struggling writer who never manages to finish anything, my advice here is obviously given as the developer of the software.)

From what you say, you could easily extend your current workflow into Scrivener using either the outliner or the corkboard (and yes, you could turn off all the other meta-data columns in the outliner if you don’t want to use them). The process would probably be something like this:

  1. Click on the Draft folder in the binder to show its contents in the main editor. Switch to either corkboard or outliner mode, whichever you prefer (the corkboard can only show one level of documents, whereas the outliner can show full hierarchies, but if you are starting with a flat list of around 50 items then it doesn’t make much difference at this stage).
  2. In the corkboard or outliner, create new documents for each item in your outline. These will appear as rows in the outliner, or cards in the corkboard. Add a title and then add a short description of what will happen in the synopsis field (the main text area of the index cards in the corkboard).
  3. Once your outline is done and you are ready to start writing, you just select each document in the binder (those documents you created in the corkboard or outliner will be available under the Draft folder in the binder).
  4. Reveal the inspector on the right - the synopsis you created in the outliner or corkboard is now available right alongside the document as you come to write it.

You can break things down further, of course, but this is the general way you can go about outlining before writing in Scrivener. I know you’ve watched some of the videos, but be sure to watch the ones on “Outliner & Synopses” and “Corkboard & Synopses”, and possibly the one on “The Flexibility of Folders in Scrivener” too if you haven’t already. These should give you some a good basis for outlining in Scrivener as well.

Hope that helps.

All the best,
Keith

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Yes, you clearly have trouble finishing anything!

That screenshot thread is tremendously interesting, and answers many of the questions I didn’t know I had. Particularly liked how one person used the binder to outline, and no outliner, and another used the outliner to bind (well, you know what I mean) and no binder! V. flexible. I’ll start with your suggestion in outliner mode, though–after I watch the rest of the videos. Thanks for the response.

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There is a thread called “Post your Scrivener Screenshots here” over in “Feedback” which is a source of inspiration how Scrivener may be used.

Link: [url]https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/post-your-scrivener-screenshots-here/7084/1]

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If that’s a jibe about Scrivener 2.0, it’s on its way, honest!

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2.0, novel, mowing the lawn, drinking that beer… wait, I think you got that last one.

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Thanks, Andreas. That thread is fantastic–and your use of the outliner, in particular, really got me thinking. I’m gonna spend some time trying to dream up my own perfect writing software, for the idiosyncratic way I write novels, and try to figure if I can make Scrivener do exactly that. After seeing those screenshots, I kinda suspect it’ll work.

And no, Keith, it’s not a jibe about 2.0–it’s a jibe about the fact that you finished Scrivener 1! Rest on your laurels a bit.

But should a new user who is also a bit technologically-challenged wait for 2.0? I don’t care about paying for the upgrade, but I’m afraid of facing two learning curves in a matter of four months.

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That’s a tough one to answer. Scrivener 2.0 is essentially still Scrivener, but I’ve worked hard at making things easier and more intuitive. So where in Scrivener 1.x you might be in corkboard mode and wonder why you can’t access the outliner or Edit Scrivenings from that particular combination of documents, for instance, in Scrivener 2.0 it should just work. Likewise menus have been rejigged to appear less intimidating. There are lots of new features but they are not at all “in your face” and the main thing with Scrivener 2.0 is that it should - I hope - feel a lot easier to get going. So if you’ve learned Scrivener 1.x, there should be very little learning curve for 2.0. It will be a matter of getting used to a few new menu placements and discovering new features as you need them, but other than that it should be a straightforward jump, with things just being more easily available. That’s the idea, anyway. I hope to post more specific details at the beginning of August.

All the best,
Keith

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Which is, you know, when the beer runs out.

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First a disclaimer – after years of trying to force myself to write by the seat of the pants, I’ve accepted the fact that I’m a control freak, so my method of plotting may be tremendous overkill to other writers.

I brainstorm using the corkboard. I changed the Label option to Storyline. I create a “label” for each storyline/plot thread in the book, assigning each a unique color. Then I start creating index cards for every scene, giving it a short title and synopsis, along with notes of any important details to include when I get around to the actual writing. I don’t worry about chapter breakdowns at this point, just getting all my ideas onto cards and labeling them with storylines. I know exactly where I want to position some scenes, so I add those in order. Sometimes I focus on one storyline and add cards to plot that out. I keep a blank card on the screen, and any scenes that haven’t yet been positioned into any particular order go after the blank so I can easily locate them and move them into place when I realize where they belong. What I wind up with is a very colorful corkboard filled with all the scenes in my book. By looking at how the colors break down, I can see at a glance if a sub-plot was given short shrift and can add scenes (or realize that a sub-plot isn’t as important as I initially imagined), or can see if I’ve spent so much time on one sub-plot that another has been left hanging too long. Once I’m happy with the overall flow of the story, I think about chapter break-downs, which often results in a bit more tinkering before I’m ready to move the index cards into chapter folders.

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Thanks, Keith. I think I’ll hold off for 2.0 … but I might go ahead and buy the current version and just start packing things into the Research folder.

And I don’t know how anyone writes by the seat of their pants, JennK–unless they treat the first draft the same way I treat an outline. I’m definitely a plotter–and a plodder. I’m prejudiced against corkboards and notecards for some reason (I’m not a big visual thinker,maybe that’s why), but your approach sounds v. interesting, and I might give it a whirl. Thanks!