I’ve created a font style (actually edited the one called ‘body’) however whenever I start a new scene the font is with no style. I wonder if there is a way to make the ‘body’ style the default font for new scenes?
I know I can make the same font the default font however it will still be with ‘no style’ - so to make clear: I want the style to be the default font. This way if I ever change the font for this style the entire document will change its font.
The default formatting called No Style is the default formatting. So, when you set the default formatting in File > Options> Editing > Formatting, you don’t need a Body Style. 
We do not recommend using a “body” style, as it tends to create as many problems as it solves.
However, if you insist, make sure that it’s the “next style” in its specification.
To amplify that (and if you’re on a Mac you need to go to Scrivener > Settings… > Editing > Formatting and set it there as a default for all new projects. That said, you can also set the No Style font for an individual project, if you want it different from your main default, in Project > Project settings… > Formatting.
The point is, unlike Word and other word processors, Scrivener is not actually WYSIWYG. In Word, what you see is what will be printed and so everything must have a style, hence Body.
But in Scrivener, you can use font and size settings which you feel comfortable to work with in Scrivener, but then compile to a different font and size for sending on to your editor/supervisor/whoever.
With that in view, creating a Body style is actually counter-productive. When you compile to DOCX, all paragraphs in No Style will become Body (or Normal when compiling to RTF, for example). So you should reserve styles for things like headings, block quotes and other paragraphs or stretches of text which differ from the main text.
Furthermore, give any styles you make the minimum of necessary information: for instance Block quote should be set to Save paragraph style rather than Save all formatting, and Set font family and Set font size should be left un-ticked, so that block quotes will have the font and size as the rest of the text on compiling.
You can keep your Body if you want—you need to redefine the style and in the dialog pay attention to the dropdown at the bottom to set the “Next style” to Body. But if you do that, you may well be back when you compile asking why all your italics are disappearing.
Mark
What problems it creates?
Only the body style or any style creates problems?
Body definitely, but if you specify any style too closely, it can throw up discrepancies when you come to compile.
Your body style will have “your-font-choice” “regular” “size-whatever” baked in. That means that on compiling it will override any italics and bold face you have entered in the editor to begin with.
Trust us… there have been many, many posts over the years of people asking precisely how to solve that.
Mark
The big one is the interaction between a body style and the Compile command. One of Scrivener’s major features – the ability to change formatting of your output document without changing the underlying text – works most easily with unstyled text.
Styles offer a lot of useful features. But it’s best to use them mindfully for specific purposes, rather than automatically assuming that because Word uses a Body style Scrivener should, too.
Got you. Thanks for explaining.
So, Iv’e created a new style in order not to use the ‘body’ one. Set the ‘next style’ to be the same as this one however, whenever pressing enter when in a scene for creating a new scene it does not start with this style but again has no style. I am probably doing something wrong but do not know what.
Note that using a style for most text is not recommended regardless of what it’s called.
We’d be happy to look at the project directly. Please open a support ticket, here:
You can email a project by using the File → Backup → Backup To command, and checking the box to create a ZIP backup.
Refer to §17.1, Think Different, in the user manual PDF, for a rundown on how styles in Scrivener are for exceptional formatting, not body text. While one is absolutely free to try and force the matter otherwise, as you’ve already noted it is awkward since new text sections will always start at “No Style”, and what you might not have noticed yet is that you’ll have to learn how to manually adjust every single compile Format you use, too.
Might as well just go with the flow on this one. “No Style” in Scrivener really just means “Normal” in Word. You get all the same benefits. We went that way with it so people didn’t have to learn styles in order to use Scrivener.