Outliner - a second text column?

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
1

Hi, all. Thanks again for Scrivener and for this great forum. I’ve searched the archives and found some related info for my query, but not exactly so I thought I pose this to you.

I’m done with a draft of my novel. (I’m using Scriv 2.4.1 and Mac OS X 10.7.5) What I want to do is to “reverse outline” the scenes/chapters with two elements in the outline: a description of each scene (nicely handled by the synopsis function) and then a second text box where I can assess the usefulness of this scene, with a note or two about how it fits into the overall narrative arc. (My idea being that this will force me to understand which scenes are useful, and which need to go!). I’ve played around with the columns in Outliner but all the available presets (other than title/synopsis) are specific columns with narrow pieces of information (word count, labels, etc). Is there anyway to set up another text column where I can include these notes about usefulness of each scene?

I know I can add notes in the Inspector panel for each scene/chapter, but I’d like to see this info spread horizontally across an outline. Are there any workarounds if this second text column isn’t possible? (Maybe… different colors for a sentence or two underneath the synopsis?) Or…

Thanks for your help!

best,
Emily

2

Hi Emily,

just an idea. If you open the inspector and click on custom meta-data (the baggage tag), in the drop down menu you choose Edit Custom-Metadata Settings. It will open a window where you can press plus to add a new Meta-Data Title. Give it a name and tis name will appear in column chooser in the outline. Check it, and you have a new column where you can write whatever you want.

Cheers,
Mats

3

Mats, that totally solved my problem!!! Many thanks. I had no idea that feature was there (such a wealth of good stuff in Scrivener)… and you pointed me to the exact place - now I have an Outliner set up exactly as I want it.

Thank you!!

Emily