Advanced Outlining in Scrivener

An update on how I outlined my last book in Scrivener, and the changes I'll be making from lessons learned.

[@rpolisher]

Just found your video and it was EXACTLY what I was looking for as I set up my outline. THANK YOU. You are articulate, funny, and you cut to the chase. I will be combing through all your videos now. A new fan.

[@mel_9346]

I keep coming back to this video over and over again. I hope you know how much you're helping me. I wish you could do more videos like this.

[@JoeGibbs]

Liked the use of metadata fields.

[@dworf6813]

thanks for this! i was struggling to find someone talking about the application of custom metadata rather than how to set it up, and your yes/no breakdown was super helpful 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@SofiaVicares]

The In and Out advice i really absorved it through tv series. It was nice to see it worded like you did. Really helpful 😊

[@joecrieda7555]

Thanks for sharing your Outlining method in Scrivener, I saw a lot of what I am doing at the present and it was scarey. You showed me things I had just done and how they could be so much better. Thanks, I now know how much I needed a "Heads Up" on how to outline. Keep up the good work.

[@bigheartedgal833]

This was helpful. I really liked what you shared about the keywords toward the very end in that you could use it to track threads through your story. Thank you!

[@Jonas_Fox]

Greetings from the future! I appreciate hearing how you go about organizing and thinking through your novel construction with Scrivener. I've been sitting on my notes for years now and Scrivener 3 finally was released so it's time to get to work on it. I'm not seeing a lot of folks walk through this application process. I bet it'd be popular with enough consistency. Not just scrivener tutorials but organizing, planning, and adjusting a project in Scrivener. This was very helpful!

[@Nightheartchan]

It's facinating to see an outline thingy being used. I've never poked one wth a ten foot pole before, I'm one of those pantsers you speak of, which honestly is probably why I'm a little infamous for never actually finishing anything I write lol. I'd enjoy seeing more videos like this, but only if you feel it helps the writing process.

[@da47934]

This was great. You're great. Clear, helpful, chill. Thanks!

[@afribear]

Great video, thank you! I'm a South African guy who decided to write a novel in my free time for fun. I've been doing extensive research that included getting Scrivener, and seeing a practical application has really helped me! All the best with your writing projects.

[@opheliawild]

This is very helpful, thank you!

[@Ant_Gifford]

I'm 20,000 words into a novel; honestly, this system is pure gold. I'm 100% going to take a short break in writing and follow this method because I've been using the outliner quite poorly, and the story has started to get away from me. I can't believe this video is 5 years old!

[@paulblake2167]

I'm about to start outlining a new book and am considering using Scrivener for the first time instead of Word. Your video was really useful to see the potential use of Scrivener for this task. Thank you.

[@j.zacharypike5473]

Happy to help!

[@JS-ij3er]

Thanks for this - it was very useful. I've just started using Scrivener. Could you do a video just on metadata - specifically the tags that you used such as "financial calamity" for trains of thought. It would be great to see how you approach the whole thought process of coming up with these tags. Love your videos - they're straightforward and a real lifesaver :)

[@williamwilkes6212]

This is very helpful. I also need an ugliness to keep my story on track. With ❤the power of Notes that you show, it seems the time is now for me to invest in Scrivener. Thank you J. Zach.

[@williamwilkes6212]

Outline, not ugliness. Sorry, auto-corrupt strikes again!

[@d20gm100]

Good video. I'm going through similar challenges revising my process and trying to use Scrivener more effectively.

[@FEEBOLDEN]

Finding this in 2022, such a gem thank you! Buying one if your books to support

[@kenpodell8494]

Excellent use of custom stuff! Thank you!

[@grayseeker7084]

Thanks for giving this insight into your process using Scrivener! I'm still learning how to use the program to its full advantage, and this has been very helpful. I especially like the time and date tags you're using, and will definitely apply that to my next manuscript. Cheers!

[@tearstoneactual9773]

Brother! where did you go? This was a good video and helpful/useful.

[@WendyMoule]

I just started working with scrivener so these tips really help me. thanks! As you haven't posted a video in a while I would love to see what your working on now

[@mikaelawithers4721]

This was really interesting! I outline, but I'm still finding exactly what works for me. I might have to explore these features in Scrivener when I get down to work tonight!

[@KutWrite]

I don't know if you're still looking, but I used a Scrivener template from Abbie Emmons' channel. I have a blank one which I copy to start a new novel, then fill in the outline as I go. Then, flesh it out.

[@michellelynne5118]

Thanks! I'm using scrivener--love it!--and seeing other people's process is super helpful. Sometimes, I pop an extra text file beneath a scene for plotting. Only problem is, you can turn off its compile feature, but it still shows up in the master viewing document. Right? lol. I also wish I could get that notepad to pull up in central view, instead of staying small and tucked into the corner. If you've found a very obvious solution for that, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, I'll just move all my plotting texts to a "back of the book" section before I start producing pages. Thanks again for this!

[@tyrelstarnes9730]

Thanks Zach, this helped a lot!

[@FrancescoTesei]

Very useful! Thanks for sharing :-)

[@KutWrite]

I liked it. Some good tips, such as the In & Out points and POV. For some reason, my Scrivener (Windows version) didn't take my text on the left and plug it into index cards either in Card View or in the synopsis index cards on the right side. I think there's an "autofill," but I hesitate to use it, figuring it's probably not undo-able.

[@persistentone6816]

I like this video! I found it really helpful, thanks :)

[@larosanegra217]

Thanks for sharing! I'm writing my first novel with Scrivener and I'm kinda overwhelmed about using it correctly, so I can explore all the tools it has in order to make the writing practice easier for me. Actually, I found that I'm not keeping track of the pacing time in my story, that's definitely something I have to fix right away. Keep doing this kinda videos, please! Like and Sub!

[@CiamS]

Super useful, thanks.

[@drutgat2]

Hi Zach. Many thanks for posting this video, and a huge thanks for mentioning your idea about creating 'Day' and 'Time' fields in order to track when the Scene/Chapter was taking place. I have added a 'Day and Time' field to my Outliner in order to emulate your idea, and I know this will help me a lot. How did 'Dragonfired' turn out?

[@hellsravenkane]

Thanks for such a great video. I had a look at your books on GoodReads and they sound really good too. I'll have to add them to my TBR pile. I have never written anything before, but have procrastinated on the idea since I was 31. I remember wondering whether 31 was too old to start trying to write. I'm not 35, so that was a waste of four years. I'm going to start now so there are no regrets by the time I hit 39! Do you have any online courses, etc, that you recommend?

[@Commonsensecommodities]

I write course on technical things such as commodity and options trading. I plan on using Scrivener to write my new course and then chapter by chapter, etc. transfer them into Thinkific as a course. Do you have an ideas who might have done some videos on using Scrivener for technical writing?