How Do You Use Scrivener to Track Progress in Creative Projects Without Feeling Overwhelmed?

[StefanuAdomas]

I’ve been using Scrivener for a while now to organize my writing projects, and I love how it allows me to structure my ideas and thoughts. However, I’ve been wondering about the best way to keep track of progress within the tool itself. For example, when working on a lengthy manuscript, it’s easy to lose sight of how much I’ve accomplished versus how much I have left to do.

One thing I’ve tried is creating a simple progress tracker. I use document labels or a custom metadata field to mark the stage of each section—like “Draft,” “Revised,” or “Finalized.” Sometimes it feels a bit clunky because I forget to update the labels, or I end up spending more time adjusting the tracker than focusing on the actual writing. I’ve also experimented with word count targets for each section, but I find it distracting when I start prioritizing numbers over the quality of my work.

I started thinking about running trackers recently. These are tools that people use to measure their progress during runs. For example, some trackers offer live running metrics and distance tracking, which provide real-time feedback on performance and progress. This idea inspired me positively, as it made me wonder how I could break my writing sessions into smaller, measurable tasks while keeping a clear view of my overall goal.

I’m also struggling with how to use Scrivener’s corkboard and outline views effectively to get a better overview of where I stand in the project. Sometimes it feels overwhelming when I look at everything at once, and I wonder if I’m missing out on features or workflows that could make it easier.

How do you all manage your progress tracking in Scrivener? Are there specific features or techniques that help you stay on top of things without making it feel like extra work? Have you tried breaking your tasks into smaller steps or using a mindset similar to running trackers?

I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts and tips for using Scrivener in a way that balances structure and creativity.

[RuthS]

Hi StefanuAdomas, and welcome to the forum.

I’m a pantser when I write. My approach is the writing equivalent of wandering through a dark forest with a flashlight that has weak batteries. I can barely see where I’m going, and I hope I’m headed in the right direction.

In practical terms, here’s how I typically approach my fiction projects.

I’ll start out writing a small collection of scenes while I try to figure out who my characters are and what story I’m telling.

Once I have a several scenes that give me general sense of the characters, I’ll stop writing new scenes to spend a little time on worldbuilding. This is when I draft character sheets with details about their appearance and personality. It’s also when I write my settings documents as I start getting a handle on those details for my story.

I’ll use keywords to tag each scene with the names of my characters who play a role in that scene. That way, I start to get a sense of which characters are main characters and which won’t be around much.

I might also use keywords for the settings or I might use custom metadata to track where each scene takes place. It depends on how detailed the settings are and how many locations I have.

I don’t think about tracking my progress in the book or word counts until I’m fairly close to a first draft. Then, I’ll use Scrivener’s Labels & Status tools to track which round of revisions each scene has gone through.

I also use Scrivener’s revision mode to change font colors with each round of revisions. Depending on the project, I might also change the font I’m using to help keep tabs on the revisions. If needed, I’ll make a legend document in the binder to help me remember which font and font color was used for each round of revisions.

I don’t think about word counts late in the revision process because my approach means I’m writing a lot more text than will ever make it into the final manuscript. I’ll write thousands of words that don’t make the cut because it’s all backstory while I’m trying to figure out who my characters are and what’s happening.

It’s not orderly or neat. And it is not fast. But, it’s how my brain works.