Sorry to ask a fairly obvious question but it is something I have overlooked.
The total word count of a project. Is this only the “draft” folder or does it include the notes, planning folders etc ?
I have been assuming it was only the “draft” folder (as that is the actual story - not the research, notes, character plans etc) but something came up that made we question this assumption.
Can anyone quickly clarify ? Thanks in advance.
Where are you looking?
The Project Statistics pane is driven by the Compiled (Manuscript folder) word count, subject to the options associated with that pane. The Draft Target and Session Target panes have their own options, so they may or may not give the same count as the Project Statistics pane.
The count at the bottom of the Editor pane will include whatever is currently in the Editor window. The count in the Quick Search bar at the top of the Scrivener window is driven by the Project Targets.
Im looking at the Quick Search bar at the top. I have a Project Target of 80,000 words and have achieved 75,000. But is that 75,000 only what is written in the “draft” folder or is it included notes , planning folders etc outside of the draft folder ?
Not at computer but go project> project settings and look at options here as well as statistics. Usually the number you are counting are documents in the draft folder that are marked to compile. ( check middle pane of metadata in the inspector)
Again, check the options in the Project Targets pane to see exactly what is included in the Quick Search count.
What is causing you to question the number that you’re seeing?
If an exact count is important, Compile to whatever format your editor/publisher wants you to use, and use whatever tool they recommend. Not all word count algorithms will give the same results, and the final content of the output document will change depending on your Compile settings.