NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo Preparation & Scrivener Pt. 4: Execute the Plan

Scrivener is a powerful writing tool. I write about it weekly with tips and usage ideas. To read more of my posts click the Scrivener tag or category at the end of the page.

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As I wrote last week, I’m preparing for NaNoWriMo and suggested some features of Scrivener to think about using during next month’s writing scramble. I’ve also offered some tips to leverage Scrivener as you organize your outlining efforts. Last week I suggested 4 overlooked features that may save you writing time, improve your efficiency and help buoy your creativity. But what are my goals and how do I intend to approach my daily writing? Here are the basic points of my overall plan and daily work-flow:

I’ve set my goal to 50,000 words in NaNoWriMo and in my Project Target. I hope to exceed this goal but I’ll make it conservative during my first writing rodeo.
With my outline finished, I’ll use my writing layout daily, referring to my notes as necessary. However, I plan to go over my notes before starting each day and have an idea of that I’m doing. I’ll keep in mind that my outline and ideas a somewhat fluid.
While writing, I’ll go into full-screen mode with a background. This way I can just write as I turn on some music to keep me going.
When I’m not in full-screen, my Project Target will be on so I can see how I’m progressing – I like to watch this as a little encouragement as the line grows and changes color from red to green.
At the end of each completed writing session, I want to record any ideas that I’ll need for the next day so I’ll know where and how to start my writing.
I hope to record my daily progress in my NaNoWriMo but I’ll also keep a spreadsheet too.

Want to see how I’m doing? You are welcome to connect with me on NaNoWriMo but I’ve already displayed a widget of my progress on the sidebar. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to interact since my focus will be on the daily goal but I’ll do what I can. Even better, check out my abbreviated posts to see what’s really going on with me during the month.

Do you have a plan? How will meet your goals? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.

About the Author

P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.

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Just as a note: I now have a marketing affiliation with Scrivener. For support questions, pricing, licensing and other concerns please contact the vendor. As such a buy ad for Scrivener appears on the sidebar. I’ve started this program　since I like the product so much and want to offer readers the chance to obtain this software. I’m not required to write about Scrivener to be an affiliate; I just like it that much. You can also find my FTC statement on this site’s sidebar.

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NaNoWriMo Preparation & Scrivener Pt. 3: Don’t Overlook These 4 Features

Scrivener is a powerful writing tool. I write about it weekly with tips and usage ideas. To read more of my posts click the Scrivener tag or category at the end of the page.

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As I wrote last week, I’m preparing for NaNoWriMo and suggested some features of Scrivener to think about using during next month’s writing scramble. I’ve also offered some tips to leverage Scrivener as you organize your outlining efforts. But what other features should you leverage as you prepare? Here are 4 more tips that seem rather small but could make a huge difference in your daily efforts:

1. Work on your layout: the Layout Manager is a way of organizing the visual layout of Scrivener to suit your writing needs. It’s meant to assist you by creating visual sets of features available based on where you are in your project. For beginning development & outlining, you could create a layout that incorporates the Binder and/or the Inspector being turned on. For strictly writing, you could create a layout that has only the editor available in the Scrivenings mode. Later you might progress to another layout for editing. You might incorporate the layouts for your development and rough draft phases to eliminate visual distractions while having just what you need available.

2. Choose your writing backgrounds: you can turning on backgrounds in full-screen mode while you are writing each day. This allows you to see a background of your choice while you write that might offer some inspiration. You may want to change these up regularly so you might gather pictures into one folder so you can set the background as necessary and write with different scenes each day or even change it several times a day. While the Layout Manager does not include this feature, just having a layout set and then going full-screen with a background might be just what you need to keep your productivity at its peak.

3. Set your project goals: I know I’ve hit on this one a few times but setting these goals can really help you know how things are going. Make sure you know what your daily goal is as part of your overall goal for the month using the Project Targets. Set your word target for the project and then daily targets. If you close the project each day then the daily goal will reset. If you close it during the day you need to record your word count from it to track what you’ve done. If you don’t close the project daily you’ll need to use the Reset button at the beginning of each day to get an accurate word-count. Make sure to record you daily totals somewhere – a spreadsheet, a table in your project or in your NaNoWriMo account.

4. Pre-load your Auto-Complete List: this little tool can save you lots of time each day. As a fantasy writer, I have numerous unique character and place names. This varies from writer to writer but for me, having these names – and even terms – set in the Auto-Complete List is a real time-saver and can even help later when editing since all the names and terms will be consistent. I’m loading these in my list each day as I think about what I need. I’ll even keep adding to it after the writing starts. It could really cut your time writing each day as well as reduce your stress. While you shouldn’t be editing during the month, many of us are tempted to correct spelling so this tool can even reduce that temptation which can save you even more time.

Are you in NaNoWriMo yet? If so, what are you doing to prepare? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.

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NaNoWriMo Preparation with Scrivener Pt. 2: Try These 6 Organizing Tips

Scrivener is a powerful writing tool. I write about it weekly with tips and usage ideas. To read more of my posts click the Scrivener tag or category at the end of the page.

As I wrote last week, I’m preparing for NaNoWriMo and suggested some features of Scrivener to think about using during next month’s writing scramble. But what should you be doing to prepare with Scrivener. Here are some tips to getting started:

1. Go ahead and create your project. If you haven’t created one, just click on File and then on New Project. Choose Fiction on the left and then Novel. Browse to the folder where you are going to save your book project and then give it a name. Why create the project now? Simple. You should use the project to work on your most, if not all, of your preparation. How will you do that? Just read on…

2. Use the Research folder in the binder to create character sketches and add any and all of your other research. Need to visualize your characters or settings? Paste photos of those to your content in your research content. Also, if you need to get started recording ideas for your book, try writing a synopsis in a document container in the Research folder. Also make notes here and when ready…

3. Use the Binder to start creating your chapter folders. Create all your chapters and from the Corkboard name them and even add a few details on the Index Card. Here’s where those notes from the Research folder come in handy. Play around with dragging chapters in different orders to determine the best way to present your book.

4. Create Document Templates – using these instructions. Why? You can create lots of documents with the same settings without configuring them again and again – big time-saver when you’re trying to spend time on creative development. Really, document templates are very important to create. Need to know what to include in the configuration? Here’s a post to help.

5. Next, create individual scenes using your document template(s) with document containers in each chapter. Again, you can view these in the Corkboard for each chapter. At this point, examine what you intend with these scenes and assess whether you have them in the correct order within the chapter – or even if they are in the correct chapter. Drag around as necessary.

6. Next, check your book organization with the Outliner. Where’s that? At the top middle of Scrivener you will see three buttons from left to right these are the Editor, Corkboard and Outliner. Click on Outliner and you’ll see all your chapters displayed with notes. You can also view each chapter with Outliner and see those details. I’ll share more about using the Outliner next week.

At this point, you have the basic, intended structure of your book. I’ve created my project already and begun my synopsis with some ideas on structure. As I continue this development over the next few weeks, I’ll add my chapter structure in the binder. I’ll also use some other features to prepare for NaNoWriMo so I’ll share what those are as we get closer to the start date.

Are you in NaNoWriMo yet? If so, what are you doing to prepare? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.

About the Author

Sign-up to receive my free ebooks today.

Just as a note: I now have a marketing affiliation with Scrivener. For support questions, pricing, licensing and other concerns please contact the vendor. As such a buy ad for Scrivener appears on the sidebar. I’ve started this program　since I like the product so much and want to offer readers the chance to obtain this software. I’m not required to write about Scrivener to be an affiliate; I just like it that much.　You can also find　my FTC statement on this site’s sidebar.