Outlines

[GinnyJ]

Hi..I am back. Have made progress. Thanks everyone, but I have a question regarding outlines. I am working on a new project. I like to get a basic outline (I am a plotter) to help know where I am going. I might deviate some, but that isn't a big deal for me. While working on the outline, every time I start to add another chapter to the outline it adds another chapter in the project view and when I go to the manuscript text portion there are blank chapters added.

 

In reading the manual, it indicates the "Show Outline in Project and Outline View" and text editing mode. It mentions a checkbox which is checked in the default and sounds like I need to find it an uncheck it. Any helpful hints on this preference menu. When I go to Storyist>Preferences>Text Editing I only have two options and they are Pressing Return in an empty paragraph activates style chooser and the other is Pressing Tab in an empty paragraph cycles through styles.

 

I want my outline to be separate and not adding Chapters in my project view. I want to add chapters as I actually write them. Is this possible.

 

Thanks.

 

Hopefully this is a more specific question.

 

Ginny

[marguerite]

Ginny, it is possible. There is a setting, on by default, that links section sheets and sections, adding them automatically (my bad, I'm afraid—I whined about Steve removing this feature, so he restored it).

 

Unfortunately, I am typing on my iPad and don't recall exactly where it is. Try holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on the name of your manuscript in the Project View. You should see a choice called something like "Edit My Manuscript Preferences." Choose it. You are looking for the option to create section sheets automatically. Turn it off, and the behavior will stop.

Best,

Marguerite

[GinnyJ]

Marguerite,

 

You are amazing. However, when I do that my manuscript becomes notebook pages not manuscripts pages. I am not sure of the ramifications of that. I think it may be like throwing the baby out with the bath water.

 

Ginny

 

PS I would never have found that from the instructions.

[marguerite]

Ooh, that's not right!

 

Steve, help!

 

Ginny, I will check tomorrow when I start up my Mac—unless Steve has already responded by then. I have to have the file open in front of me to be sure, but I think you unchecked/changed the wrong option.

Best,

M

 

EDIT: I cannot reproduce this. I opened a new project based on Novel, held down Ctrl and clicked on "My Manuscript," chose Edit "My Manuscript" Preferences from the drop-down menu, and made sure the check box next to "Add section sheets automatically" was turned on. I added a chapter and two sections under My Manuscript, and Test Sheet 1 and Test Sheet 2 appeared under Section Sheets as designed. I added the folder and named it Chapter 3 Notes.

 

Then I re-edited "My Manuscript" Preferences and turned off the check box for adding section sheets automatically. I added Chapter 4 and Test Sheet 3: no section sheets appeared. Nothing began displaying as notes.

 

I suspect this is a problem with terminology, but it's hard to tell without seeing what you're seeing.

Best,

M

 

P.S. The instructions are in the Help files. You just have to figure out what to search for. That's the trouble with computer help files. In this case the key phrase is "Editing Project Item Preferences."

[GinnyJ]

Marguerite,

 

No. I am referring to the outline, not the section notes (never used). I tried to attach the screen shot. Sorry I haven't figure out how to import the screen shots as a thumbnail. I think some of the terminology is getting in the way of communicating a problem.

 

 

Thanks for the guidance.

 

Ginny

[Steve E]

I am referring to the outline, not the section notes (never used).

Sticking my nose in here, I'm probably just going to make things worse—but—are you referring to the PLOT folder or, just maybe, the outline structure presented in OUTLINE View (i.e., View>as Outline)?

 

I think some of the terminology is getting in the way of communicating a problem.

I think you're right Ginny.

But what's a Storyist to do? (Build a glossary for the online manual, perhaps?)

 

Hope I haven't further confused things.

- Thoth

[marguerite]

By George, Thoth, I think you've got it!

 

Ginny, if you are creating an outline by selecting "My Manuscript" (whatever you call it) in the Project View, choosing View > as Outline, and adding chapters/sections/chapter level equivalents there, then you are going to add them in the Project View because you are working in (editing) the manuscript itself. That view is for when you want to get a quick overview of your manuscript (or want to see summaries of all your characters, etc., at once).

 

To create an outline of your book that does not affect the manuscript:

1. Click on NOTEBOOK.

2. Click on the gear menu at the bottom of the screen and choose "Add to NOTEBOOK > Group." Name the new group "Outline."

3. Click on Outline, click the gear menu again and choose "Add to Outline > Text file." Name the new note Chapter 1 or whatever makes sense to you.

4. Click on View > as Outline.

5. Select Chapter 1. Continue to add new notes by clicking the + at the bottom of the window.

 

If the problem is that these notes are showing up in the Project View, as far as I know there is no way to stop them from doing that. But they are not affecting your manuscript. You can call them whatever you like, and the text in the manuscript will not change. They show up in the Project View only so that you can access them when you want them. And if you prefer not to see them while you are typing, just click the arrow next to Outline, and the individual notes will be hidden from view. Either way, you add chapters to the manuscript independently when you are ready to write.

 

Note that this is not the only way to set up an outline. You could use Plot Points arrayed as index cards or set up a collection of Plot Points called "OUTLINE." But it is the simplest way, and it means you don't need to deal with prefab sheets.

 

N.B. The notes approach has one drawback, which may be the one that tripped you up when you first posted. If you use Plot Points to set up your outline, text you type on an index card appears in the Summary field of the Plot Point sheet when you choose View > as Text. If you type information on an index card for a note, that text remains on the index card; it does not transfer to the note when you view as text. That is because you can write enormous notes in Text Mode, so the index card is supposed to give you a reminder of what is in the note (Information on Viking Boats, say) rather than the multipage, image-laden description of the boats themselves.

 

The text has not disappeared, though. The next time you choose View > as Storyboard, you will see the text on the card where you put it (assuming you saved your file).

 

So you may want to experiment with a couple of different approaches, using Plot vs Notebook before you settle on one.

 

And now I know why your "sections" were displaying as notes. They are notes. Thanks, Thoth.

Best,

Marguerite

[Steve E]

By George, Thoth, I think you've got it!

...

And now I know why your "sections" were displaying as notes. They are notes.

...

Let's hope this clears things up for Ginny.

 

Thanks, Thoth.

...

You're very welcome, Marguerite.

You too, Ginny.

(One less thing for Steve to worry about.)

- Thoth

[GinnyJ]

Thoth & Marguerite,

 

That is great. I wanted a outline independent of the manuscript and that works. All the other things you mentioned I will check out over time. Again, thanks for the help.

 

Ginny

[madebymark]

Hi, folks. I was trying to follow the instructions for creating an outline that Marguerite was kind enough to supply, and ran into an issue. I can create an outline in a notebook, but the "Add text file" option is not available to me once I do.

 

The attached photo shows what I see when I open the notebook, double-click blue group (here, named "Marguerite's Outline"), and then click the gear menu.

 

Any help appreciated!

[Steve]

Hi madebymark,

 

The first four options (Novel Manuscript, Film Script, Stage Play, and Notebook Entry) are text files. If you're following Marguerite's instructions, you're probably interested in Notebook entry, which is the default text file type. The only difference between the four is the style sheet that is included in the text file by default.

 

Why are you seeing different options? The context menu shows the options available in the current collection's context. In Marguerite's example, the project items are in the Notebook collection, which holds text files (you can change a collection's preferred type, see below). I'm guessing you have a top-level folder that is outside a collection, so you're seeing all options.

 

A word about collections: I think Scrivener now has something called "collections" too. In Storyist, collections are simply top-level containers (folders) that have a preferred contents type. You can set the type by selecting the collection in the Project view and choosing Project > Edit "Item Name" Preferences.

 

Hope this helps.

 

-Steve

 

Hi, folks. I was trying to follow the instructions for creating an outline that Marguerite was kind enough to supply, and ran into an issue. I can create an outline in a notebook, but the "Add text file" option is not available to me once I do.

 

The attached photo shows what I see when I open the notebook, double-click blue group (here, named "Marguerite's Outline"), and then click the gear menu.

 

Any help appreciated!

[marguerite]

Hi, Mark:

If you do have your folders inside the collection NOTEBOOK, you see the setup in the attached screen shot whether you click once on the folder, right-click the folder, or click the triangle to open the folder, then click.

 

Once you have at least one note in the folder, you can click the + sign to add new notes quickly.

 

EDIT: Ah, if I'd known Steve was replying, I'd have let him explain!

Best,

M

[madebymark]

Hi, Mark:

If you do have your folders inside the collection NOTEBOOK, you see the setup in the attached screen shot whether you click once on the folder, right-click the folder, or click the triangle to open the folder, then click.

 

Once you have at least one note in the folder, you can click the + sign to add new notes quickly.

 

EDIT: Ah, if I'd known Steve was replying, I'd have let him explain!

Best,

M

 

Thanks so much for the reply! That did help clear things up.