New Chapter Folders

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
1

I can’t figure out how to create new chapter folders within then novel format. No matter where I am in the binder, when I click on “add” I get a new blank document, not a new folder. I can’t find the answer in the help file. What should I be doing?

Thanks.

2

To create new folders, you can use any of these methods, whichever is easier for you:

  • Click and hold on the green “+” button in the toolbar.
  • In the Documents menu, select “New Folder”
  • Use the keyboard shortcut, Cmd-Opt-N
  • Right click on the file you created and Convert to Folder

In the novel template, if you want to replicate the design of the sample folders (they have a chapter title text area in them, hidden behind the Corkboard), use “Simple Duplicate” in the Documents menu. That will create an exact duplicate of the selected item, but without any of its children.

3

Thanks for the answer - I was just going to ask this question too. An ancillary question: where it says

CHAPTER (with elbow brackets and $W)

should I replace that $W with the number of the chapter, or let it do it automatically?

Incidentally, I kind of expected this template to open in Courier 12pt, but it didn’t; is this standard?

4

The <$w> will get replaced automatically when you use Compile.

Regarding Courier 12 point, that is handled at the Compile stage, too. One of the main points of Scrivener is that you write in whatever font you want and then get worry about formatting at the Compile stage. So when you compile, the font will be changed to Courier 12 point then.

Best,
Keith

5

Ah, great - thanks, Keith, and Amber.

6

Incidentally that <$w> thing will get turned into the word form for each number, so if you prefer numerals instead of “Chapter one; Chapter two”, change it to <$n>.

7

Small tangent: Anyone remember that company who was making “programable shirts”? The idea was that you would blue tooth a design to the shirt. I suddenly have a desire to obtain said shirt and compile a story onto the shirt one <$n> at a time. Performance art meets written art.

If only technology lived up to our dreams.

8

Be careful, or your shirt might end up looking like:

9

Or a blue screen.

Actually a classic memory error kernel panic from a Sparc box…

MEM err on CPU0: unable to access; forced panic by PID

That line alone describes 90% of Mr. K’s existence.

10

Each of the chapter folders is just called CHAPTER, is that right? And each of the scene folders is called Scene? I don’t have to differentiate the titles?

11

You could auto-number your chapters and scenes, which you can read about in Scrivener’s Help under “Auto-Number”.

H