# Scrivener Software: to use or not?



## Masronyx (Nov 4, 2013)

I recently heard about the Scrivener program from a fellow fiction writer on Facebook. Has anyone else used this program for their manuscripts? I'm thinking about purchasing it, but I only have a laptop and am not sure how much space on my Dell it's going to use. 

I've done some research into it, and it looks like something I could use to (finally!) organize my notes and stories in something other than notebooks and Microsoft Word. I just want others' opinions on the software.

Thanks!


----------



## Penpilot (Nov 5, 2013)

I've been using Scrivener on the Mac and PC for about three years. The program is great. It's a great organizational tool. You can use a corkboard view so it looks like you're using note cards. You can put all your research, pics, video and links, all in the same place. You can export your manuscript into various formats, pdf, word, epub, etc. One of my favorite functions is the snapshot. You can take a snapshot of the text you're working on, so you can keep multiple versions of a scene and revert back if you want. It's pretty small on the install. I can't remember the exact size, but it wasn't large at all. 

For me, Scrivener replaced three programs I used to use, Supernote Card, Wikipad, and Word.

If you want any more info, just ask. I'll be glad to answer.


----------



## A. E. Lowan (Nov 5, 2013)

I've heard a lot of good things about Scrivener, but I've never used it.  Instead I use Word and OneNote, which does all the organizational things that Penpilot described - pics, video, full articles with automatic links, all in a very customizable format.  I love this program and am using it to organize our notes for our massive (and by that I mean 12 - 15 book) series.  The reason I mention it is it sounds like you're concerned about having space on your computer, but if you're working with Microsoft Office and writing in Word, chances are you already own OneNote and don't realize it.  That's what happened to me - I stumbled across the program one day.  Now I have no paper notes what-so-ever.


----------



## GeekDavid (Nov 5, 2013)

I haven't tried Scrivener, but I have from time to time used the free yWriter, which seems to have similar features.

You might try yWriter first and see if that style of work works for you.


----------



## Steerpike (Nov 5, 2013)

Scrivener is good.


----------



## Devor (Nov 5, 2013)

I've tried Scrivener - there's a 1-month free trial - but I had trouble getting into it.  There's a couple of cool features, like the corkboard.  But I find that I would rather just use hard-paper index cards.  And for notes I prefer OneNote - having notes in the same program I write in would just be another distraction.

Still, the program is on my computer, and my free trial is still valid (the 30 days only count if you use the program at least once in the day).  Sometimes I feel compelled to give it another try, and each time it warms on me a little.  So maybe I'll end up using it someday.


----------



## Masronyx (Nov 5, 2013)

I have always used Microsoft word and have tried One Note. Since I have my laptop and a tablet with a detachable keyboard, I've got stuff scattered everywhere. Getting my writing organized is my biggest challenge right now. I am still undecided on what to use, but I'm keeping my options open.


----------



## Masronyx (Nov 6, 2013)

A. E. Lowan said:


> I've heard a lot of good things about Scrivener, but I've never used it.  Instead I use Word and OneNote, which does all the organizational things that Penpilot described - pics, video, full articles with automatic links, all in a very customizable format.  I love this program and am using it to organize our notes for our massive (and by that I mean 12 - 15 book) series.  The reason I mention it is it sounds like you're concerned about having space on your computer, but if you're working with Microsoft Office and writing in Word, chances are you already own OneNote and don't realize it.  That's what happened to me - I stumbled across the program one day.  Now I have no paper notes what-so-ever.



I went back and played with One Note a little. Did you know you can link both one note and word? I learn something new every day.

I've been thinking about it off and on today, and I may just stick with one note/word for the moment. I'd still like to try Scrivener out.


----------



## Steerpike (Nov 6, 2013)

The multiple aspects of Scrivener are nice, but honestly I don't even use a lot of the features, I just like it as a nice, light-weight word processor (takes up less room than MSOffice) that allows me to easily organize and move around scenes if I feel like it, and export to certain formats.


----------



## servenvolley212 (Nov 6, 2013)

I'm using it for NaNoWriMo (they have a special trial version for NaNoWriMo), and I love it.

It's got lots of depth - tagging, note cards, etc.

It's also just a brilliant little writing program those that just want to write without the organization.


FWIW, I use it between a MacBook Pro and a homemade Hackint0sh, and I use DropBox and Google Drive to backup the files and open them wherever.


----------



## Steerpike (Nov 6, 2013)

I use it in Linux and Windows. I tried to make a Hackin0sh, but it kept getting hung up during boot. Not sure why - some hardware incompatibility I guess.


----------



## Sam Evren (Nov 8, 2013)

I adore OneNote! If you're using Windows, you can hit Windows-Key+N to pop up a note window any time you have an idea - if you're in a program that doesn't like to play nice, you can just alt-tab to the desktop then do win+N. The insta-note will appear as a small box and then go straight to your unfiled notes where you can sort it later.

It's great for that brilliant spark that pops off in the middle of your day/game/what-have-you.

It does link handily to Word, and it also can handle written notes, audio notes, images, pretty much you name it. You could simply drag a web link in if you need it for a source/reference.


----------



## kawaiitalamoon (Dec 4, 2013)

I went to a writing  work shop a few month ago, and they given out free trial disk of Scrivener, WriteitNow, and Newnovelist all of which are great programs, Scrivener which is about $40 to $45, works on both Mac and PC, Pros: it allows you to create Parts, Chapters and Scenes as well as keep track of characters and locations, it also has a nice name generator and does W.C. and page count. Cons: The character and location pages are like a blank page, so it was just like having my notes in a word doc. WriteItNow is about $70, works on both Mac and PC, Pros: it allows you to create Chapters and Scenes as well as create detail characters(with a build in character creator as well), keep track of events and locations in your writing it even creates graphs of Character relationships, events and conflicts. It also has tabs for your notes, ideas, references, and places you have submitted you M.S. It does W.C. Page Count, readability(general age of reader), and word frequency. Cons: It the most expensive, does not let you add Parts and the location pages are pretty much a blank page. Newnovelist is about $50 and works only on PC, it is a prompt based program and seems to be geared more to someone looking for an ideas for a book, I played around with it but got tired of answering questions instead of writing, so I can't say anything good or bad about it. I use ywriter right now but I'm thinking of getting WriteItNow.


----------



## AnneL (Dec 4, 2013)

I just tried it for the first time a couple days ago on the free trial version and I can see a lot of potential for me in it, but my current WIP is way too far along for it to be more useful than the old-fashioned way. Program says it's really intended for first drafts, and I think that may be accurate. I'll try again next time I start something new. Word is a real pain for moving stuff around, and with Scrivener you can just select a scene and drag it to a different chapter, or split a scene into two different docs.


----------



## Foah (Dec 4, 2013)

I, like a few others here, prefer OneNote over anything else. I recently bought a Surface Pro 2, so having this laptop/pad hybrid, with a stylus, is amazing for my organizing needs. I mean, for my mindmapping and planning I can pretty much use hundreds of pages within OneNote as digital whiteboards. The ages are limitless both vertically and horizontally, so imagine having great ideas over and over again that you want to draw up someplace, and imagine having a 100 by 100 feet whiteboard to go crazy with. It's simply all I need


----------



## Quillstine (Dec 4, 2013)

Scrivner rules.....nuff said


----------



## snabjorn (Dec 8, 2013)

I use OneNote and Word as well. I had no idea that there were cool programs like these aactually, that would make the writing easier. I think that the "WriteItNow" sounds pretty great. Especially since I'm not that far along  maybe I'll try that.


----------



## psychotick (Dec 8, 2013)

Hi,

I don't use the program, just Word 2000. It works well enough for me. But I would just say that on most of the various publishing fora I frequent - Createspace, Kindle etc, there's a recurrant theme that comes through. "Help I have spaces, gaps, funny text etc etc, in my document when I upload and I'm using programme x, y, z." 

It's not a sexy programme by any means, people do hate Microsoft and for good reason in my view, and it can't do a lot of the things other programmes can, but in the end the industry has standardised on Word 2003 (1997 to 2003). If you want to publish it is by far the best platform to upload from. So create your doc in whatever you want, but make sure the upload version is Word 2003. You'll have less (not none sadly) problems.

Cheers, Greg.


----------



## Deleted member 2173 (Dec 10, 2013)

I downloaded Scrivener to check it out.  It appears to be a good thing, but I would want to start using it at the beginning of a project.  To input all the support material and work I already have would take longer than to finish writing the darn thing.


----------



## Bansidhe (Dec 14, 2013)

J'adore Scrivener for Windows! I have a very organized writing process, and Scrivener helps me keep track of ALL THE THINGS. I'm something of a Story Engineer, so I use story construction templates that help me keep my pacing tight. The color coding and status categories let me "mark off" items on my to-do list (always satisfying), but I also keep all my character profiles and plotting, inspiration images, research notes, etc on in one place. I even have project file strictly for my series "bible". I'm especially fond of the corkboard.

In addition to this I use Evernote, so I can sync between devices and add to Scrivener as needed.


----------



## James G Pearson (Jan 11, 2014)

Wow, I seem totally old fashioned. Here I am using Open Office and writing down all my notes as a hard copy. Just a book full of everything and another for character bios and personalities.


----------



## Steerpike (Jan 11, 2014)

James G Pearson said:


> Wow, I seem totally old fashioned. Here I am using Open Office and writing down all my notes as a hard copy. Just a book full of everything and another for character bios and personalities.



Nah. I hand-write my notes and initial drafts in a bound leather journal with a fountain pen. That's old fashioned


----------



## James G Pearson (Jan 11, 2014)

Steerpike said:


> Nah. I hand-write my notes and initial drafts in a bound leather journal with a fountain pen. That's old fashioned



What, no quill and ink well?


----------



## Steerpike (Jan 11, 2014)

James G Pearson said:


> What, no quill and ink well?



I actually had a dipping pen and ink well at one point, but dipping the pen every so often was too much of a pain, so I allowed myself to be dragged into the 19th century and bought a fountain pen.


----------



## James G Pearson (Jan 11, 2014)

I can see how that would be annoying. I'm working on a ten year old laptop, so I can't say anything really.


----------



## skip.knox (Jan 15, 2014)

There are guide books for Scrivener, but I think I see a special niche:  Scrivener for Worldbuilders. I would aim it at fantasy as well as SF writers. It would have templates. And magic spells, but you'd have to find the keyboard combinations on your own.

For those of you who have mentioned it, you are wise to wait for a new project. I wouldn't recommend switching midstream. This is more than just picking up a different word processor, it's picking up a different approach.


----------



## Hagan (Jan 20, 2014)

I've been using the Windows version of the Scrivener program for over a year now (fact check, my receipt says November 2011.. wow, that long) and I can't go back to using MS Word now.  I'm hooked.  I'll only use Word to check formatting etc on files compiled in Scrivener, but other than that it collects digital dust on my hard drive.

Its less a word processor and more a full project binder, white board, research folder and more.  It takes some getting used too (hence the free trial) but I found its well worth having, just so you can see how far along your stories come once you start writing in earnest.  For short stories its useful to help organise your work, for novella and book length projects, it makes what looks like a daunting task in Word a breeze to search, arrange and organise without a great deal of mucking about.

Well worth your time to learn, love and switch too.


----------



## Ginger Bee (Jan 20, 2014)

I tried several writing programs before deciding on Liquid Story Binder.  Fortunately, most of these programs allow a free trial period, so you can see how they suit you.  Some are pretty easy to use but less adaptable, and others (like LSB) have a bigger learning curve but more adaptability.  Clearly, I went the way of adaptability, but I recommend trying out programs with the free trial before choosing one.


----------



## Steerpike (Jan 21, 2014)

Ginger Bee said:


> I tried several writing programs before deciding on Liquid Story Binder.  Fortunately, most of these programs allow a free trial period, so you can see how they suit you.  Some are pretty easy to use but less adaptable, and others (like LSB) have a bigger learning curve but more adaptability.  Clearly, I went the way of adaptability, but I recommend trying out programs with the free trial before choosing one.



I like LSB well enough. The problem is, I don't think Jesse is developing it any more, so the project is basically in limbo. It's a workable piece of software, but I'd like to use something that is in active development, particularly as fast a computing is changing these days.


----------



## JadedSidhe (Jan 22, 2014)

Steerpike said:


> I like LSB well enough. The problem is, I don't think Jesse is developing it any more, so the project is basically in limbo. It's a workable piece of software, but I'd like to use something that is in active development, particularly as fast a computing is changing these days.



I'm a member of one of the LSB yahoo groups. One of the members posted a response from Jesse when asked about future updates: 

> At this time LSBXE is no longer under development. I've long since
> come the the conclusion that LSBXE needs to be completely re-written
> in order to make any further significant updates.
>
> That being said, LSBXE is still actively supported. I'm always here to answer your questions.


----------



## GroundedTraveler (Feb 1, 2014)

Scrivener is a great program. It has a lot of power and with that power comes the learning curve to use it. I have been using it actively for writing for a little over a year and finally feeling comfortable with it. I really like that I can write scenes and cut them and reorder them without doing cut and paste style things. There are highlighters, that even seem to emulate that sickly green=yellow of a real highlighter. I use them for POV checks within scenes.

The biggest feature for me that I haven't seen mentioned in the thread yet is the export features. The button is called Compile, but has tons of settings on how to compile it. You can tell it that your folders are chapters and subfolders are sections and get it then to add chapter and section headings or whatever. I am going the self-pub route and love that it exports directly to epub format that will transform into Kindle quite easily.

Also note they have a "family license". According to their site, ifyou buy a license, your immediate family can use a copy on that license.

The one downfall I see with Scrivener is if you use Windows. It is still a wonderful program and has a lot of features, but that particular version is not as far along as the Mac. The features are minor in places, but still missing. The twitter account says they are working on getting the Windows uptodate this year. Here's hoping.


----------



## AnomanderRake (Feb 12, 2014)

I have been using Scrivener for the past two months and I absolutely love it. It gives you a lot of options and doesn't force you to follow its template or whatever, like other programs.
It has the option of split panes, with which you can be looking at your reference material at the same time you are writing your story, which I really like.
There are a multitude of other features such as corkboard view and Scrivener view which gives the ability to combine any different random scenes together and edit them. 
There is an hour long tutorial go through at first, but its worth it IMHO.


----------



## BrokenFiction (Feb 12, 2014)

I've tried twice to use Scrivener and something about it doesn't click with me. Maybe I'm fighting the UI too much, and the tutorial is a beast. I like Google Docs for portability, but in general any word processor will work for me. I might give yWriter a try though, as I'm a sucker for new toys.


----------



## AWAbooks (Feb 16, 2014)

*Anyone used any of this free software?*

I found an article on 10 free softrware programs for Writers, and was wondering if anyone had specific experience with any of them:

techradar.com/best-free-software-for-writing-10-programs-to-unleash-your-creativity-1141280

Many Thanks 
Tony
AWAbooks


----------



## Penpilot (Feb 16, 2014)

I currently use Wikipad. It's a nice program with a easy learning curve. I use it to organize my ideas before I transfer them into scrivener and start writing. 

I've also used yWriter for a few years before I started using Scrivener. yWriter is basically no frills Scrivener. It's programmed by one guy so it's not as refined as Scrivener. Scrivener replaced the combo of yWriter and Word for me. I didn't actually write in yWriter. I would write in Word and transfer into yWriter to organize my novel.


----------



## writeshiek33 (Feb 19, 2014)

i am trying it but one thing trying to figure if it has is a way to input character to character relationships that one feature i would find useful


----------



## solas (Feb 22, 2014)

I purchased Scivener a while back but got rid of it as I thought it was screwing up my laptop....I wish I could give you better feedback but if you like it, then stick with it.  I purchased  Whitesmoke but found a better program and ditched it.


----------



## e r i (Mar 9, 2014)

I downloaded the free trial to see if it was any good for organising world-building information. I found having multiple word files for different aspects of my world building frustrating. With Scrivener I could organise and access my stuff much more quickly, look up the info that I wanted without having to individually open any relevant looking word document. I'm not using Scrivener at the moment because the trail has expired, but I'm pretty sure I'll go back to it in the near future.


----------



## Wormtongue (Mar 9, 2014)

Add me to the list of Scrivener fans.  I recently moved my wip into scrivener after using Word for years.  Within a few minutes I was better organized than I had ever been in Word.  And as I explore new features I only like it better.


----------



## Rorick (Mar 10, 2014)

I use Scrivener almost as a final markup tool. I find everything distracting when I write, red wiggly lines, menus, the dog, coffee... So I tend to bang everything into a plain text editor like Notepad or gEdit. That then gets uploaded to Dropbox. Notes etc. and worldbuilding goes on a self-hosted wiki powered by MediaWiki on a server at home. This gives you basically a custom Wikipedia for your own stuff. Insanely useful for linking stuff together. (Anyone interested on how this works hit me up).

I then use Word to tighten up the spelling and grammar and track all my changes. I tend to use one file per chapter.

Then I use Scrivener to tie it all together. The utility of it for me really comes at this point as you can then easily drag scenes and chapters around and mark stuff to not compile in the final MS if you want to keep a scene on the "maybe" pile for example. 

TL;DR: I use it in conjunction with other tools to edit and compile at the end.


----------



## Tamwen (Mar 10, 2014)

Scrivener was never a favorite for me. It looked so complicated. I use Google Drive with lots of files and such, but also I've got the demo for Write It Now. I prefer that one's layout: a place for chapters, a place for characters, a place for notes, a place for locations, and easily accessible tabs to get to all of those and more.


----------



## Steerpike (Mar 10, 2014)

Tamwen said:


> Scrivener was never a favorite for me. It looked so complicated. I use Google Drive with lots of files and such, but also I've got the demo for Write It Now. I prefer that one's layout: a place for chapters, a place for characters, a place for notes, a place for locations, and easily accessible tabs to get to all of those and more.



I think all of the features and how it is organized can make Scrivener appear to be more complicated than it is upon first glance. Not that you shouldn't keep doing what you're doing if it works for you, but once you start using Scrivener it turns out that it isn't a very complex program, despite initial appearances.


----------



## Tamwen (Mar 10, 2014)

Steerpike said:


> I think all of the features and how it is organized can make Scrivener appear to be more complicated than it is upon first glance. Not that you shouldn't keep doing what you're doing if it works for you, but once you start using Scrivener it turns out that it isn't a very complex program, despite initial appearances.



I like it when programs have like... places for character creation, and writing out ideas for races and locations and such. A program that's as much about world building as it is about story building, or CAN BE as much about world building. Dunno if Scrivener is like that, but it could just be personal preference.


----------



## Penpilot (Mar 10, 2014)

Tamwen said:


> I like it when programs have like... places for character creation, and writing out ideas for races and locations and such. A program that's as much about world building as it is about story building, or CAN BE as much about world building. Dunno if Scrivener is like that, but it could just be personal preference.



I've used Write It Now, but I like Scrivener more. It's a more refined program, with an interface that's way more simple to use. All those character templates with traits or events with links to characters and all that jazz in Write It Now looked great, but then when I started writing, I found that I really didn't need them. For me, managing all those things became a chore. All I needed was a folder and virtual note cards to scribble on for characters, locations, etc., which is what Scrivener gives me. But if Write It Now works for you, then more power to you.


----------



## kimsmithauthor (Mar 18, 2014)

Glad for the input on Scrivner. Have heard a lot about it on different forums and such but as yet have not tried it. Doesn't it cost something? I mean, it isn't free (except the sample version) right?


----------



## A. E. Lowan (Mar 18, 2014)

kimsmithauthor said:


> Glad for the input on Scrivner. Have heard a lot about it on different forums and such but as yet have not tried it. Doesn't it cost something? I mean, it isn't free (except the sample version) right?



Yes, it isn't free, but there is a thread in one of the forums below discussing a sale on Scrivner.

http://mythicscribes.com/forums/notice-board/11570-scrivener-sale-%2420.html#post162952


----------



## Amanita (Mar 18, 2014)

Not quite on topic, I know, but thank you for pointing out One Note on this thread. I had this program lying around on my laptop for ages and now I've realised how useful it is to organise world-buildung notes and the like.


----------



## A. E. Lowan (Mar 18, 2014)

Always happy to make another OneNote addict!


----------



## eartshala (Mar 19, 2014)

I love this software,  it blew my mind. Especially ideal for scatterbrained persons (like me). It's a perfectionist when you can't be. It doesn't break pages until you compile your files, however. If you like page count as you go then ...yeah...


----------



## AnneL (Apr 10, 2014)

I've been working seriously with Scrivener for the first time today, and the good news is that it makes it really easy to see the weaknesses in my structure. The bad news is (all together, now) it makes it really easy to see the weaknesses in my structure. I suddenly have a lot more work in front of me than I thought I did. Because my WIP is really long already, I'm still making my edits in Word, which is not nearly as efficient at moving from scene to scene as Scrivener, but I don't want to have multiple changed documents. So I'm keeping the Scrivener draft up on one screen and writing on the other. It's almost like revising from a hard copy.

It did do one pretty weird thing when I imported my doc from Word -- I was using Track Changes, and Scrivener imported all the changes that had not been either accepted or rejected yet, so I had to accept all the changes to have a clean doc to work with in Scriv.


----------



## Jason K. Lewis (May 27, 2014)

I've been using Scrivener for year now and could not work without it. It does take a bit of getting used to and you have to persevere and sit through the introductory video but once you get he basics you will fly along. Scrivener is capable of so much that I am still discovering things on a daily basis. A truly beautiful piece of software....


----------



## Bansidhe (May 31, 2014)

One of the many things I like about Scrivener is the side-by-side display option. I'll out my scene or chapter notes/outline in a text file in my research folder, and dock the file to the write while I'm drafting, so I stay on target. This especially helps when I'm writing out of order. Also, I can't get enough of the virtual corkboard, and the auto-formatting for exporting into word or any other file format need for self publishing. 

It's also nice to be able to save formatting templates, so you don't have to set up a new binder every time to start a new Scrivener file, or manually reformat another book within a series, so the look remains consistent. I can even add cover art, and character and location files.

For traditional publishing submissions, I auto-export submission packets by keeping everything within the same Scrivener file and compiling only the needed elements (Certain pages/chapters, synopsis, query letter).

Being a hybrid author, Scrivener makes things ridiculously easy to manage so I can focus on the writing.


----------



## JadedSidhe (Jun 8, 2014)

A year or so ago, I heard they were planning to add grammar/spell check for PC. Have they done that yet?


----------



## Penpilot (Jun 9, 2014)

JadedSidhe said:


> A year or so ago, I heard they were planning to add grammar/spell check for PC. Have they done that yet?



They have spell check, but as far as I can tell, no grammar check.


----------



## Steerpike (Jun 9, 2014)

Penpilot said:


> They have spell check, but as far as I can tell, no grammar check.



That's OK, I hate grammar check on word processors


----------



## skip.knox (Jun 9, 2014)

So here's a Scrivener question for the Assembled: how do you handle multiple drafts?

One way would be just to overwrite as you go, so the manuscript represents the latest draft, whatever it is. I have a hard time with that. Though I rarely pull anything out of an old draft, it's a comfort to know I could.

I'm currently creating another folder, Draft 2, and then cloning files into it. This gets tedious. Plus, since it's still under Manuscript, it's included by default in the Compile. I have to remember to include/exclude appropriately at Compile time.

Another approach would be to make each draft a separate project. I could then import Draft 2 into Draft 3, but that feels like overkill.

A fellow writer I asked says he only does Draft 1 in Scrivener. He sends his manuscript to his editor in Word, and they go back and forth in Word from there on.

Anyone have a preference? Suggestions?


----------



## Kristene Collins (Jun 9, 2014)

skip.knox said:


> So here's a Scrivener question for the Assembled: how do you handle multiple drafts?
> 
> One way would be just to overwrite as you go, so the manuscript represents the latest draft, whatever it is. I have a hard time with that. Though I rarely pull anything out of an old draft, it's a comfort to know I could.
> 
> ...



Scrivener has you covered. There's a feature in the righthand sidebar called "snapshots" that'll save a version of your draft exactly as it is, and then you can just write over your current file, knowing you can revert back at any time, without ever leaving the project file, or moving things in and out of the draft folder.

EDIT: Here is a Youtube video describing the feature. It's using the Mac version, but I believe the Windows version works the same way.


----------



## stephenspower (Jun 9, 2014)

I use Google Docs for nearly everything, including tracking story submissions and saving copies of the stories sent out. This way it doesn't matter whether I'm on my desktop, laptop or phone: I can still work. The only thing I'm doing in Word is making editorial revisions so I can track changes, which unfortunately isn't a feature on the Word app, but I can get by. I also have to remember, after working on a Word doc on my computer, to sync my computer's Google drive folder with the one in the cloud. Not much of a bother. As for notes, I either add a comment to the doc I'm working on or to the Notes doc I keep separately.

My poetry I still write in longhand, transfer each day's edits to the computer, print it out and start again with that draft.


----------



## skip.knox (Jun 9, 2014)

Thanks, Kristine Collins. I have used Snapshots, but it's not really practical when I have thirty chapters with multiple scenes in each. Every one of those would require a separate Snapshot, and I'd never be able to keep things straight. For example, if I rolled back to two Snapshots ago in Scene 3 of Chapter 14, that might impact Scene 5 in Chapter 8. It'd be a mess.

For now, I'm still going with a top-level folder for each Draft, with the all the chapters duplicated. For compile purposes, I then move whatever is the latest Draft into the Manuscript folder. It's clumsy, and I'd love to hear of a more elegant solution.

Somewhat related is when I want to explore down a path. What if I were to switch POV? What if an important character were to die in that scene? It's not really a draft, but it has the potential of forcing the story into a new direction. I think of it as a fork, as the word is used in the programming sense. Versioning.

Oh well. Still better than Word, by a furlong and a nose!


----------

