How do you use Scrivener for story planning?
I’m messing around with another app for planning a story (synopsis, characters, etc.) but would like to keep this in Scrivener as I like using it and writing in it.
Would love to hear how you use it for this purpose and any suggestions.
Thanks
Hello.
Outliner:
There is also the corkboard, which represents documents as index-cards, and that also has a free item positionning mode.
Both allow you to set the editor to follow the document selection.
Bottom left of the Outliner or Corkboard :
. . . . . . . . .
And then there are keywords, labels, icons etc. to further detail what is what and make it make more sense if needed.
However you want?
Sorry for being glib, but there are as many story planning methods as there are writers. Probably more, because not all writers use the same method for every book.
Rather than enforcing a particular approach, Scrivener offers a very flexible tool box that can support whatever method works for you.
Is there a specific task that you had in mind?
I’m a combination plotter/pantser. Plantser? Plotser? Pantter? I find Scrivener useful to go back and forth between the two methods, based on my mood.
I’ve used the Outliner is for plotting; but I can also use the Notes section of the Inspector (below the Synopsis) to pants out scenes.
I am currently trying to use the Save the Cat thing to plot out a novel; in the Binder there’s a document containing the StC Beat Sheet and I’m plotting out the basics as suggested by the beats; I’m also panting out dialogues and descriptives. (This all can be copy/pasted into the Synopsis/Notes of the manuscript’s Inspector.)
If you set up a collections of documents which contain your research information for a character, locations, world building, magic, save the cat etc. You can do review these while writing. If you have more than one monitor then you can have the scene your writing open on a quick reference panel on monitor 2 while the collection of research is up on Monitor 1 and it is easy to switch between research documents as you write by clicking on a collection document and opening in the editor view on Monitor one. You can also drag documents from the collection into the Bookmark section of the quick reference panel. in the upper right corner is the option to split its view between bookmarks and the editor.
You could also do this in a split editor view as well. The multi monitor setup makes the viewing area easier to negotiate.
I planned my multi-novel fantasy story in Aeon Timeline and, once I was satisfied that I had the bones (Save the Cat! plot structure, characters, settings, magic system, etc.) far enough along, I started a new blank project in Scrivener. Using the sync-to-Scrivener function of Aeon Timeline, I sat back and watched it set up the Novel > Chapter > Scene > Passage structure in Scrivener for me, exactly as I had created in Aeon Timeline. Not only that, it populated into Scrivener my Save the Cat beats, labels, summaries, colors, start dates, end dates, notes, backstories, characters, character groups, locations, objects, magic system such as spells, themes, prophesies, goals, B Story, plants and payoffs, etc.
Once that was done, I set about writing the narrative in Scrivener while using Aeon Timeline for structure. The cool thing is that changes in either Scrivener or Aeon Timeline are reflected in the other program through syncing. I keep both apps on my screen as I write, taking advantage of an ultrawide monitor.
For me, Aeon Timeline is the best tool for organizing the elements of my story, and Scrivener is the best for writing the narrative. The syncing that Aeon Timeline provides lets them work very much like one app.
There is a learning curve, of course – but, for me, the payoff was well worth it.
Save the Cat?
Pantser?
I will have to look up these terms!
@SCN You’re making me jealous here. I wish I could buy AT.
A book on story planning.
Someone who writes without outlines.
For the sake of completeness… Plotter: Someone who writes without pants.
OK, this was very funny.
Can they wear underpants or is that too much pantsing?
Thanks for all the great input here!
I basically want a way to jot down a story idea with characters and story beats.
Save the Cat story beat method is handy. It’s a book, but many other writer sites talk about it. This one’s good with some free helper stuff to download and she goes on about it more here. (She also pitches for some books and coursework she sells, but there is interesting free stuff offered.)
Scrivener’s corkboard is very handy for setting up story beats. (Although, as a chaotic pantser, I did that after I’d done significant writing. YMMV.)
IMHO, Scrivener’s ability to use a document for anything from one word to an entire novel is its superpower. Every screnwriting app that has tried to copy Scrivener misses the boat by insisting on a card-scene equivalence.
It’s great to be able to brainstorm story beats then just merge them together into one scene.
Have you tried this approach? (This is how I initially brainstormed my novel series.)
The Triscuits are optional, but highly recommended.
If you do go the Triscuit route, you are going to need something to drink with that – conspicuously not shown here.
