Having completed a fairly polished draft of my novel, I decided I’d begin to rewrite and expand a novella for somewhat younger kids. As I began work, I chose the novel template rather than the standard format I’d been using for two years or more. And - I’m very confused. How do I manage chapter titles? Add new chapters? (It is very easy to add new scenes under the “chapter” folder, but I don’t think they are chapters, are they? If they are, I would like to merge them. If they are scenes with scene breaks, they’re fine as they are -but then how do I add a chapter? Is each chapter supposed to have its own folder?)
What I think I’d really like to do is to scratch this novel template thing and get back to the standard draft I am used to. Is there a way to do this while keeping the text intact? I did look through the tutorial, but it doesn’t seem to cover the templates in depth. Failing that, I just want to be able to tell the difference between scene breaks and chapter breaks and figure out how to add new chapters, when I get that far. Well, I am that far now, having just started chapter two.
I don’t know if this makes any sense, or if you understand what I’m asking. Will try to add a screenshot so you can see what I actually have.
Didn’t manage it - still trying. I guess what I don’t understand is this: There is a folder labelled “chapter” and under it I have the four scenes that make up the first chapter. When you look at these on the corkboard, they are in a stack. That seems okay. But then - how do you add a chapter, rather than a scene? It just doesn’t seem very obvious.
Method 1
Select the existing Chapter 1 or 2 folder in the binder and choose “Duplicate”?
Rename new Chapter folder as “Chapter Template”; remove Chapter 1 text from both Chapter Template folder and embedded folders/documents.
Duplicate “Chapter Template”, rename it “Chapter 2 or 3” and get writing within it. Each time you want a new chapter, duplicate “Chapter Template” again and proceed as just said.
Method 2
With one of your existing Chapter folders selected in the binder, choose “New Folder” from the Document menu; name it “Chapter No.-whatever” and move it to where you want in the hierarchy.
While that is selected, choose “New Text” from the same menu. It should be created immediately below your new Chapter folder. Name it and move it to the right (down a level in hierarchy) making it a daughter of Chapter.
Get writing.
Keep in mind there is nothing special about templates. You can use the same techniques you’ve been using for two years to make folders and text files. Just because a template calls them chapters doesn’t mean they are anything other than folders.
My confusion was that the green “plus” button does not automatically add a folder - it seems to add scenes. There ought to be a way to add a new chapter and new scenes within a chapter. I wish I could figure out how to do a screen shot, so you could see what I’m talking about!
For my novel, in the standard “Draft” template, I used one index card for each chapter. For the novella, I’m using an index card for every scene. The first chapter shows up as a folder, and, on the corkboard, you can see it as a stack of cards. The next chapter (two scenes so far) consists of two separate cards on the corkboard, not stacked. And there is no chapter folder. The template doesn’t seem to understand the difference between chapters and scenes within chapters. I’d like all my chapters to show up the way the first one did - a folder, and scenes within it. Mark, I’m going to try your suggestions before I get too much further on. But I don’t understand why I can’t add a new folder automatically from that little green “plus” button. I also can’t see how to title chapters.
Could anyone give me a hint as to how to take a screen shot? I’d like to be able to show you what I’m talking about. Thanks!
If you hold down the green add button, a menu will drop down and you can choose “add new folder.” Without this selection the default is to add a text file. You can also use the “[folder image] +” icon at the footer of the binder to add a new folder (the + alone adds a new text; the folder + adds a folder).
However, in Scrivener, any document can be any of a number of types–a file and a folder and a file group are all the same thing, really. So you can also right click on the “scene” file in the binder and choose “convert to folder.”
You might benefit from checking out the new document templates feature in 2.0. Try creating a folder in your research area, and selecting Project/Set Selection as Templates Folder. Now create another folder in there and call it “Chapter <$n>” or whatever, and put a scene or two in it, whatever starting structure you prefer. Now go back to your draft, and position the selection where you want to insert the new chapter, hold down the green button for a moment, and you’ll see a new option for New From Template. This will show both the chapter and the scenes you created in that research-area folder. If you select the folder from that menu, it will also recreate the child structure, too.
This feature will duplicate all aspects (except snapshots) such as labels, keywords, notes, starting text—of anything you put into that template folder, so feel free to go crazy with it.
