I know there have been several threads somewhat related to this topic, but none of the ones I have read have really helped me do what I am hoping to do, though maybe there is no way to do what I am hoping to do. Perhaps someone can help me narrow down my options:
I want to be able to make a Scrivener project with multiple manuscripts, described in other threads as multiple books in a series. All the character notes and other research items are the same for each manuscript, but I want to be able to have everything in one project, including the multiple manuscripts, one for each book in the series. One way I have found that kind of works is to use the Novel with Parts template and make each “Part” a different book. I then duplicate the Title Pages, change them accordingly and line them up in each part. Then when compiling, I only compile the part that is the book I currently want to compile.
I’m hoping there’s a better way to do it, but even if this is it, I just need to know if this will work as I’m suggesting.
However, it doesn’t totally fulfill my need because there is one other variation that would be helpful… if each “Manuscript” in a single project could be of different types. For example, in one project having a Novel manuscript AND a Screenplay manuscript, for if you are writing a screenplay adaptation of your novel (or vice versa). They would obviously need access to the same research and even each other for reference.
Any ideas on these variations?
Why not have a primary project (for example the first novel of your series) where you keep all your research and notes. Then start a new project for novel two but have the other window open. It would need only a short change of windows to access your research. I haven´t tried, but I´m sure you can drag and drop and copy and paste between the windows.
What you describe for containing multiple books in a single project sounds like the standard way to go about it: essentially, have a folder inside the Draft for each of the books, then compile just the folder for the appropriate book. The front matter for each will have to be set up for each book and contained in that folder for now, although in the future we’ll be bringing in a special feature for grouping your front matter together and then being able to select from that at compile time.
You could use the Novel with Parts template to start setting this up, if you liked; I tend to just start from blank and then create what I want from there, but if you like some of the starters in the NwP template like the Characters and Places folders and sheets, etc. then it makes sense to use that as a base and adjust things to what you really want. (You’ll definitely need to make adjustments to the compile settings, since it’s got prefixes and whatnot based on the original template settings for Part folders, Chapter folders, etc. and you might get some surprising results when you compile your manuscript after changing all this.) You could then create your own “Multi-Book” project template as well using File > Save As Template so that you wouldn’t have to go through all the futzing if you start up another similar project later.
It’s possible to have both script and non-script documents in the same project, so you could have one folder in your Draft dedicated to the screenplay version of your book, etc. You can only use one script format in a project, though–you couldn’t have both Screenplay and Stage Play. If you needed to do something like that, your best option is to use “Save As” to fork the project and start the script there, where you’d have reference to your book and research materials but wouldn’t need to be updating them so much on their own, so you can gear everything toward the best way to pull the material together for the script.
In the case of having both the script and the prose books compiling out of the same project, you’ll definitely need some different compile settings, so you’ll probably want to make sure you use the “Save” button in File > Compile to save your various settings as a preset to make them easy to switch between when going from prose to script.
@GrahamGrun,
I considered that option previously, and you can paste between projects, but you also create larger and larger files with copies of the same thing. Ideally, you could just do it all in one project.
@mm
I will have to play with the Draft options in order to create some compile templates and stuff. Admittedly I am lazy in the sense that I like to use the Templates and then tweak. Inevitably I forget something when I want to start from scratch. The templates give me a good framework to start with, lol.
I have to admit, I’m spoiled coming from the Mac and using “Storyist”. It allowed you to have multiple manuscript types, multiple manuscripts and more all within the same project. Granted, Scrivener has some big ups on the side of compiling and formatting, and likely can do many of the things I liked about Storyist, just not intuitively… at least for me. Scrivener is fantastic, I just still need to adjust to the new workflow. These are some good suggestions though and I am off to mess with creating the kind of template I need now. Thanks!