Freedom of Movement for Scenes

[KrisM]

Right now, if I decide I have Scenes I don't want to use, I'm in trouble. I can't move them outside the Manuscript, and setting up a specially named "Chapter" to keep them organized/sequestered away usually ends up in everything getting (or not getting at times) mashed into one scene, when I started with several. It's very frustrating, and the only thing I really miss about Scrivener is how you can move anything anywhere. This is the first time I've tried to do something like this in Storyist, maybe I'm just missing something or doing something wrong.

 

But being able to move unused scenes, that I'd like to use later, into say, the Notebook or something would be really, really great.

[marguerite]

Hi, Kris:

The best solution is to create a second Manuscript in your file called, say, "Saved Scenes," and use that to store scenes you don't want to keep in the manuscript but are not yet ready to delete. Yes, you cannot (yet) drag a scene from one manuscript to the other, but if you do the following you can effectively achieve the same result:

 

1. In "Saved Scenes" set up a new, untitled scene.

2. In your main manuscript, click anywhere in the text of the scene you want to save, then hold down the Control key and click again (or right-click if you have that kind of mouse). Choose "Select Scene" from the contextual menu that appears. This selects all the text of your scene + the section separator. Copy the selected text.

3. In "Saved Scenes" click on the untitled scene you created. Click in the text above the section separator. Select the blank line and the # character. Paste your copied text.

 

What normally happens at this point is that the scene renames itself to correspond to the old scene name and all the text appears with its formatting intact. If necessary, you can rename the scene in the Project View.

 

Make sure that you separate any scene you want to backup in this way with Section Separators. Otherwise they will mash together, as you have seen.

 

You can also set up notes in the Notebook and cut/paste your scenes there, but if you do, be aware that the text, although it continues to look the same, has actually been restyled as "Default Style," which means that you have to reassign styles if you decide to restore the scene to the manuscript.

 

A third, even simpler option is to use the Back Up feature in the File menu. Unless you disabled the feature, Storyist backs up your file every time it opens it, and you can create manual backups with comments like "last version that included Mr. X" to remind yourself. If you decide to restore a scene, just open a copy of that backup and copy and paste.

Best,

Marguerite

[KrisM]

Thanks, though about things being mashed up, maybe I wasn't entirely clear. It was happening when I was dragging scenes around within the Manuscript, so maybe that's a bug report waiting to happen. The Section Separators just disappeared on me, I assumed it was something I was doing, like "add this scene TO this scene."

 

It looks like a workable enough work around for the time being, though. I'd been copy/pasting them somewhere else entirely, didn't even think to try a whole other Manuscript o.O

[marguerite]

If the scene ended with a Section Separator that disappeared, that is odd. Usually what happens is that people don't put the separator at the end of the last scene, relying on the Chapter Title style to start a new page. Which it does, until you drag that scene into a new location, at which point the lack of # tricks Storyist into thinking you wanted one big scene.

 

BTW, I too would like to see your feature request (drag/drop between manuscript) implemented. It's been around for a while, and Steve says it's on the list, but it never hurts to remind him that we're still waiting!

Best,

M