How to Edit a Novel in Scrivener

[@AuthorLevelUp]

For tips on how to outline your novel in Scrivener, check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6Son4WFmpd_irM

Michael, thank you so much for all these tips. It really help to discover the true power of Scrivener. So many things I did miss !

[@MichaelCummings]

Won't lie - you got all of my upvotes as soon as you demonstrated Linguistic Focus. I've used Scrivener for multiple major releases and never knew that got snuck in.

[@jlgoulart1]

Scrivener is a powerfull tool for writers, but ir requires good teachers and content creators like you to teach us all these features. Thank you for this video!

[@warmflash]

Thanks a lot Michael • Fantastic video on editing • Have a great weekend • xxxxxxx

[@LouiseQuoVadis]

I finally bought Scrivener after testing it for a while. But now I find myself struggling to write while I wrestle with this program. I love your video. It was very helpful. I have an ADD mind so I have problems with instructions. Usually, all it takes is for me to find someone to explain to me in a different manner. You have done that for me, so thank you so much.

[@AuthorLevelUp]

So glad that the video helped you. Happy writing, my friend!

[@annmanzo]

P.S. You should read for audiobooks, you have a great voice!

[@kreepykittycreations]

Agreed ☺

[@leelens3]

Very helpful -- thanks for sharing how you use it! Enjoyed your enthusiasm on some of the less-know features that can make our writing life easier.

[@bettercalljayhall]

Excellent video, man. I really wish Scrivener would add the ability to add a user to your file and that it would duplicate the content they edit with commits (like code).

[@elizabethmccowan2914]

Thank you for these tips!

[@Ruthie888]

Thank you. I'm having a hard time convincing myself to go through the effort and learning curve to leave word.

[@courtneyparkeryoung8980]

Wow!! I’m learning so much about Scrivener. Thank you!

[@Lovethejester1]

Thank you for the great video! Been having a real learning curve leaving Pages for Scrivener, so these tutorials have been extremely helpful. Love your simple explanations and demonstrations. Thank you again!

[@christianewitt8959]

Thank you so much for your efforts to make these videos, Michael. Super helpful!

[@kz1231]

Appreciate this. Got some real insights and I've been using Scrivener for a couple of years!

[@AuthorLevelUp]

Thanks for watching!

[@heatherriley4219]

Thank you for making these videos. I am still trying to find out how to go back to the first draft- if I decide that I want X paragraph that I deleted in Revision 1. Where is it? I am afraid to start cutting things because I don't know where they go!

[@hanamachi_press]

Helluva tutorial. Makes me excited to edit. A rare feat lol

[@yvettemoreel4237]

in what part of scrivener where do you write your synopsis and query letter for the publisher. This program is great however I get very lost.

[@resonantone3284]

I would love to see formatting tips on footnotes or ways to link glossary definitions to words. Anything to make my paltry epub skills better and get that smooth professional look easier.

[@AuthorLevelUp]

Hmm, never thought of that one. Can’t promise anything, but I’ll look into it.

[@resonantone3284]

Author Level Up no promises expected. Consideration of subject is appreciated. I am happy you are well and posting helpful vids again. I have taken several pointers from you on my first novel and this will help me as I push out books 2 and 3. My own work can be found under M.D. Boncher.

[@AuthorLevelUp]

Awesome. Thank you for the kind words and your author name. Good luck to you!

[@EldritchBlack]

That was incredibly helpful, as ever, thanks Michael. Like many, I’m so happy you’re making videos again! I have a quick question regarding your chapter summary notes - what’s a 'Reader Cookie'? It sounds interesting :D

[@AuthorLevelUp]

I knew someone would see that. ;) Think about it like this-it’s a little hook that keeps the reader satisfied and keeps them reading. The way I learned it was to imagine you’re on a trail and you see little cookies here and there. You pick them up and eat them, but you can’t eat just one so you keep down the path. LOL

[@EldritchBlack]

Author Level Up I love that concept, thank you, I’m going to start using that right away. Of course, just as long as the trail of cookies doesn’t lead readers to a gingerbread house where a cannibalistic witch is waiting to consume them. Unless they’re one star reviewers of course...

[@AuthorLevelUp]

Ha! Or a stomach ache. xD

[@Zulda7231]

I have enjoyed your videos; thanks!

[@rickyconner6782]

I have a novel completed on Word but needs revisions. I didn't divide it into chapters- I wrote it in my spare time without any thoughts about outlining. I would like to chapterize it I know that isn't a word. It's about a young newspaper reporter who reacts she being stalked. I need help.with consistency and research. I feel if i could solve these problems it might be a good book.

[@MercifullyNew]

This was incredibly helpful, thanks!

[@USAGIRLS01]

I don't even use Scrivener to outline nor edit (I have a similar software) but I do use these same methods manually. I just end up using lots of paper sheets lmao. Yeah, it takes more time but I somehow feel closer to my writing. Thanks for the tips ;)

[@AuthorLevelUp]

Thanks for watching!

[@MeHeartBooks]

Is it possible to reject revisions or delete them, just like how we can do with track changes in Word?

[@cyberhuskey]

Many thanks for your efforts with the Scrivener videos. May I ask you the following question: Is it possible to retain the old wording when editing, e.g. the word "must" is crossed out but still visible after it was replaced with the word "might" in a revision? Thank you.

[@AuthorLevelUp]

I don’t believe so. Scrivener does not support track changes.

[@KoolBreeze1515]

Hey Michael, You mentioned creating and leaving comments in the Inspector for your editor to read. I thought that was a good idea, but had begun doing it as footnotes. In my first novel, I wasted a lot of time with my editor going back and forth over vague or unclear points. This time around, I'd like to be able to communicate why I made certain choices from the beginning so my editor better understands my mindset. Is this better served in comments versus footnotes?

[@AuthorLevelUp]

I personally have never used Scrivener footnotes. But based on how they work, I do think comments are better because they show up as track changes in word. So while they look a little funny (and unwieldy) in Scrivener, they look just fine when you export to DOC or DOCX

[@KoolBreeze1515]

Thanks, I will implement this immediately.

[@celinepascual7486]

This was useful. Thank you :)

[@annmanzo]

excellent video, thanks

[@bradconny3558]

My full screen mode disappeared, how to find it?

[@Allwaysgolden222]

Amazing thank you 🎉

[@SoulScribbler]

Hi Michael, Got a few Scrivener based questions for you. I notice you use 1 Scrivener file for multiple stories. At this time, I had individual scrivener files for each story. Would love to hear why you use 1 file rather than split them up. I can see some practicality to keeping all stories set within the same universe in 1 file, but I could also see that file getting too large to manage with more than a few full novels. I also noticed that, at least for this book, you simply have 1 folder for the book and then 1 file for each chapter. What if you have multiple scenes in a chapter, how do you break that up? I tend to write based on scenes and then organize them into chapters later, but it can get a bit messy in terms of folders and files within Scrivener.

[@AuthorLevelUp]

+My Almost Relevant Life Great Questions. I do in fact keep all writing within one universe in one project. It’s just easier that way if I ever need to recall/lookup/change something in an earlier book. My Galaxy Mavericks space opera series is 9 books + 1 short story and I have no issues with performance. That’s around 350,000 words. Scrivener handles text just fine-it’s when you have images, links, and other things in the binder that slow it down. My interactive novels are BEASTS-thousands of pages, folder and chapter nests several hundred levels deep, lots of images, links, and internal links...and they slow Scrivener down to a crawl, so trust me that I have seen the limits of the software. I break my chapters up with section breaks. Usually three asterisks like this-***-with a full paragraph space above and below.

[@SoulScribbler]

@@AuthorLevelUp Thanks for the reply! This actually helps me decide on how to proceed in the future with Scrivener. I have thought about doing single files in the past but hadn't seen anyone doing it at scale (one of my series of novellas will, eventually, be somewhere around 1.2 mil words, though I'm far off from that), but I think I will from now on. And that makes sense for section breaks. Currently, I let scrivener take care of the actual breaks using nested files, but I am not sure I like this method when I have a 10 chapter book with 60+ scenes. The list gets pretty long. Thank you again! Love all of your videos as always!

[@RaisingKidsToBeSuperAchievers]

Good info - PLEASE consider mentioning that your videos are based on the MAC version of Scrivener - being a Windows user a number of your favorite tools aren't even available - so wasted 30 minutes looking for them / researching the issue...just saying..

[@gkstr11]

I'm your new fan!

[@Aftonrhodes]

Helpful video. Thanks :) Subscribed.

[@AuthorLevelUp]

Thanks!

[@Book-Gnome]

:( My Scrivener is missing Revision mode and Linguistic focus. I was super excited about both features even though I just bought pro writing aid. Is it because I'm not using a Mac? I'm on a trial of Scrivener supposedly all features are enabled. Grrr Version: 1.9.9.0 - 03 Oct 2018

[@Book-Gnome]

Doh. Nevermind, ver 3 is out for Mac but pending for windows

[@douglastalbott3038]

For those who use the windows version of scrivener, please note which version you are using or which features are not in the windows version. Hopefully the windows version 3 will be out soon.

[@dominiquebebbington5520]

Pretty sure there is no revision tool in the Windows version of scrivener, still waiting for version 3...

[@gkstr11]

Excellent!

[@writerbyluck]

good pithy tips!

[@bryanlewis7079]

It’s good to know my brain isn’t the only one that glitches out and doubles prepositions!

[@doggiesarus]

Mac

[@albaluch1199]

Don't buy for Windows! No linguistic focus etc.