jane lane

My favourite things about Scrivener

1. Navigation. You can see all your chapters, scenes, character & setting planning at one glance and switch between them very easily - compared to scrolling up and down in one long word processing document. Every file can also be a folder, so you can have collapsible items underneath it.

2. Word count targets. The “Project Targets” are particularly useful for NaNoWriMo so you don’t have to keep looking back at the website to see how you’re doing for the day, but more so outside of it, when you want to keep yourself working to a target but don’t have Nano’s charts and daily word counts. It also gives you a nice ding when you hit your session target.

3. How many pages? I only recently discovered this, but it’s very nice to be able to see in Project Statistics approximately how big your manuscript would be in pages without worrying about formatting. 

4. Outlining. Scrivener has two methods of outlining - one is Corkboard, which is exactly what it sounds like, a digital corkboard with notes pinned on it that represent your chapters/scenes with their summaries. The screenshot above is called ‘outliner’ and lists collapsible chapters/scenes with various statistics you can select as shown in the tick menu. Generally I prefer Corkboard, but Outliner is useful if you just want to see everything in a clear order. 

5. Full screen. I get distracted very easily when writing, so the full-screen writing mode is wonderful for me to avoid that - but you can still choose certain windows from the normal Scrivener view to show up. I have my targets and my summary, so I can stick to my plan when I’m writing and also see what progress I’m making.

6. Notes. No screenshot, but it’s a simple post-it note style box to the side of every document (chapter, scene, character etc.) that allows you to add notes. This may sound very simple, but it’s far more useful than I’d expected. During NaNoWriMo when I’m not meant to be editing at all, but I know something needs fixing, I will jot down something in the side like ‘Take out the horse’ so that when I go through again to edit I know exactly the things to focus on immediately but which would have taken too much time before. It’s linked to the scene so I don’t just have a pile of notes in one document at the end and then have to work out where it needs fixing.

Overall

I downloaded Scrivener for the first time two years ago, and now I can’t imagine working without it. It’s so nice to have the planning and the writing all combined into one place where I can easily switch between the two. I haven’t yet got as far in a novel created in Scrivener to use the compile features so I can’t comment on those, but so far all my experiences of it have been good.

One thing to note is that if transferring project between a Windows and a Mac version of Scrivener, it’s generally best to zip the file first.

old people: let me speak to your manager. This never would have happened in my day. And yet you all want the minimum wage raised. I’m going to kill you.

cashier: I’m sorry it’s going to be a 5 minute wait for your food

So I walk past the woman and put money in teen's tip jar. Haven't even gotten ice cream yet.

Woman looks at me. Turns back and yells some more with the teen. I put more money in the tip jar.

i've been thinking about claude and his sort-of association with stars (e.g. his personal combat art is fallen star, the crest of riegan is called the star dragon sign, the boss battle theme on his route is called god shattering star).

in his A support with byleth, he tells them:

Claude: At times like this, I just gaze up at the stars to clear my head. I've been that way since I was a kid. Looking up at the big, starry sky makes my dreams feel small... which makes it feel like I can actually make them come true. I didn't believe in gods when I was a kid. Maybe that's because the night sky took their place for me.

byleth's presence is what seemingly makes the difference between the successes of each route, and in the course of the route, they develop a unique relationship with the respective lords.

claude does admit to you that at first he only planned to use you for the sword of the creator in order to make his dream come true, but as your support chain develops and as the story progresses, he comes to trust you as more than someone he can use. he comes to regard you as a friend. like hilda says in her A support with claude, "I've only seen you genuinely smile a handful of times. Like when you're talking to the professor."

and more than that, is this unshakable belief that claude has. even though he witnessed byleth getting banished to another dimension, he's firm in the belief that you're still alive and that you could come back. even though you've been missing for five years, he didn't give up on the hope that you would come back to the goddess tower to fulfill a five year promise.

remember how byleth/sothis is called the fell star?