Hello! A.J. here. I was chatting in one of my writers’ groups the other day about how I organize my Scrivener files for fiction projects and wanted to compile all that information in one place, so other people could benefit too! I’ve also made a Scrivener Template with all the features I mention below over on a (free) Patreon.
I start by using Scrivener’s “Novel (with parts)” template. This allows you to nestle Scenes within Chapters within Parts within your main Manuscript. I number my Chapters, as I find it hard not knowing what number I’m on, and then if I need to switch content around, I drag-and-drop the Scenes rather than the entire Chapter folder.
After I’ve created shell chapters, I immediately go into the Outliner view. From there, I right click the top bar and check off the sections I want to see, which includes pre-made metadata fields like Title and Synopsis, Project Status, and Total Word Count.
But the best part is adding your own sections.
In order to add your own fields, go to Project Settings>Custom Metadata. This metadata will also appear in the third tab of your Inspector bar, as shown below.
I put multiple plotting structures into my projects to help myself keep track of what needs to happen. I mostly use the Save the Cat beats, but I have found eight basic Plot Points helpful for guiding new projects, which include:
Point of Entry
First Plot Point
Rising Action
Midpoint
Second Plot Point
Pre-Climax
Climax
Resolution
I use the Label List within Project Settings for my POVS, adding a color-coded field for each main character as well as a multi-POV option that I use if there happens to a be a chapter with a perspective shift. (You would label the Scenes with different POVs in that case).
Next, I add a metadata field for Story Change (Positive, Negative, or Flat) and Scene Structure (Action or Reaction). I also have an open-ended text field for Internal Want and External Need, which are handy to fill out if you need some direction within a chapter, though I usually forget to do so.
My most used custom metadata fields are Setting and Timeline. For Setting, I create a dropdown list with established settings that range from the country itself to a specific place within that country. Timeline is usually an open text field. My final (favorite) custom field is the Outfit tab, which allows me to write in what the character was wearing last, since I am a forgetful human being who cannot remember if I put my characters in linen or cotton or silk.
Going back to my Binder (all of the stuff in the very left-hand column), I have a section directly under my full Manuscript devoted to what I call the “Graveyard.” It’s content that has either been cut or not yet used.
I should probably call this the Zombie Graveyard, as usually I put content in there that I’d like to resurrect. Think whole descriptive paragraphs that didn’t work where they had been, but could work elsewhere. More trivial editing changes I keep track of by using Scrivener’s Snapshot feature in the fourth bar of Inspector, which records exactly what the Scene looked like at the time of the Snapshot. You can then compare it to past or future versions.
At times, I have moved whole Scenes or Chapters underneath the “Cut” tab. This is because I refuse to truly ever cut anything–it always lives on in some way in case I need to reference it later. “Misc” serves as a chaotic compilation of random drabbles that I source when I need inspiration. At some point, I added a tab called “Phrases” as well, which was a place during edits to look out for overly used phrases.
In every project, I also have a section for my Query Package, as sometimes it’s good to get ahead of your package even if the story is unfinished. Laying it out like this makes it easy to copy-paste over when submitting to agents on QueryTracker, since sometimes they leave open fields for things like Target Audience, One Sentence Pitch, and Social Media Handles.
Here’s what I include (which fun fact, you could also easily copy-paste over to your own Scrivener file):
Query Letter
Synopsis
First Ten Pages
Target Audience
Biography
Comps
Social Media Handles
One Sentence Pitch
Social Pitches
Content Warnings
Individual Queries
Agent Template
Agent 1 Letter
Agent 2 Letter…
Note for Individual Queries, I copy-paste my original Query Letter over, then customize it for each agent: “Dear [AGENT,] I am submitting [NOVEL] to you because…” This is an easy way to keep track of what pitch I submitted to what agent.
And please if you find this helpful, I would love it if you hit subscribe! Thanks!
little inconsistencies that at first you assume "oh, the author must have fucked up", but then later on you realize that no, it was on purpose, they wanted you to think they fucked up but they hadnt
As an author this is my favourite thing to do to people. It feels like cheating and I love cheating.
It does have one horrible side effect though, which is that after your readers have shrugged, politely overlooked and forgotten a couple of tiny "plot holes" only for you to shank them in the back later using them as deliberate clues for a twist, you never get a real tiny plot hole overlooked again, because you have trained readers to treat every inconsistency they can find as deeply complex foreshadowing and they will actively seek and memorise them.
A writer's relationship with their own work goes: this is genius, this is garbage, this is genius, this is garbage, i should never have been born, okay actually this line is good
watch movies that make you uncomfortable read books that make you uncomfortable go to plays that make you uncomfortable watch tv that makes you uncomfortable look at paintings and sculpture and artwork that makes you uncomfortable. it is spiritually and morally and ethically and artistically really really good for you. think about why you are uncomfortable. what biases do you bring to art? what biases does the art bring to you? how do you reconcile this? how does your worldview grow and expand and change? all this and more will be answered and available to you if you just engage with art that does not coddle you and treats you like an intelligent human being that can sit through discomfort
writing is so funny because i could write nonstop for 9hrs and then hit a block where im like "how do i transition between this moment and the next?" and then i just dont touch it for 6 months
It is so annoying when authors try to make their characters seem tough by making them sleep deprived and then just having them "power through it" with no side effects besides feeling REALLY tired. Your characters had five hours of sleep over three days, they're not just "tired". They're forgetting shit. They're passing out at random moments. They're probably hallucinating. And they are certainly not going to win a fight when their reaction time is somewhere between "next Tuesday" and "never".
changing your mind about stuff over time is embarrassingggg but especially when it happens in relatively short time and then u have to be like oh yeah that thing i said 4 months ago? i don’t believe any of that anymore. yeah i know i sounded really confident at the time my bad.
yousharknotpass
snowghoul
titsay
baratheonpilled
jbbartram-illu
