Novel (with Parts)

Scrivener
1

What is the difference between a Novel and a Novel (with Parts)?

Thank you

2

Plain novel has Manuscript folder, chapters, scenes. Manuscript with parts has those and parts (which could also be Acts based on your story structure). You would have to add more, but suggest duplicate till have enough as this would preserve the section type and avoid those type of issues when compiling.

3

In addition to @GoalieDad ‘s suggestions -

Whenever I have questions about a built-in template, I create a throwaway project based on it, to give me something to test and play around with.

2 Likes
4

And with the Merge All Windows function, different templates can be compared and contrasted in one Scrivener window.

1 Like
5

To make the intended hierarchy difference between the two templates explicit, you either have

a series of scenes constitutes a chapter and a series of chapters constitutes your book

or

a series of scenes constitutes a chapter, a series of chapters constitutes a part, and a series of parts constitutes your book.

3 Likes
6

Well, each project will still appear in its own tab. If you want to see a side by side comparison, separate windows might be better.

It’s important to remember that Scrivener’s templates are just starter projects. You can get all the same functionality by building a three level hierarchy in a Blank template if you want.

1 Like
7

Oops, I meant ‘tabs.’

8

And in fact it’s not even that hard to go from “Novel” to adding parts to it, because all of the wiring for that is already set up. You just have to group your chapters into part folders, and then tell the project that’s what you want with one simple setting adjustment. Even the compiler is set up already.

  1. The first thing to do is select all of the chapters in the sidebar that should be in part one. Often the easiest way to do that is to select the main Draft folder and switch to Corkboard mode. This shows you a flat view of its contents.
  2. From here, select the first chapter, then hold down Shift and select the last chapter that should be in part one. This will select the whole range between the two points.
  3. Now use the Documents ▸ New Folder from Selection menu command, and name it whatever you want.

If you expand that new folder in the binder you’ll see all of the selected chapters are now “nested”, or indented, beneath the new part folder.

Once you’ve got everything organised the way you want, go into Project ▸ Project Settings, in the Section Types area. You’ll note there is already a “Part Heading” type in the list for your convenience, but you could add one here if you started with “Blank” or something else.

Next go into the second tab, “Default Types by Structure”, which is where you tell Scrivener what kind of structure you are using. You’ll see a “Chapter Heading” here at “Level 1 folders and deeper”. That means any folders you make in the Draft will be considered “chapters”, even if you indent them beneath others like we just did. If you click on that and then click the + button again, it will make a “Level 2 folders and deeper” section.

You can leave that one alone, you want the stuff indented like you saw to remain chapters. So select the Level 1 folders line, and switch that to “Part Heading”. If you click between the two you’ll see how they highlight the different binder levels they apply to.

That’s it, but if you do want to see how compile works, open File ▸ Compile.... and click on the Assign Section Layouts... button below the middle preview column. Here you will find your “Part Heading”, “Chapter Heading” and so on. If you click on those in the left sidebar, you can see what layout they will use to print themselves. Like I say it’s already set up with a default choice, but say you don’t want to print the folder name, and just want “Part One”. The “Part Number” layout in the right list does that. Click on it to select it, click OK, and then hold down Alt/Option on your keyboard, and click the Save button, which will replace the Compile button, to save your settings without compiling.

So to answer the original question: the “Novel (with Parts)” template basically just has the above already done.

3 Likes