[Xavier Lockhart]

I apologize for the missing paragraphs, I had them there, but I guess the forum doesn't like the indentions!

[Stay to the Lights]

Welcome to I'll just transfer this to the Original Works threads for more convenience.

[Xavier Lockhart]

Originally Posted by These Broken Stars (View Post) Welcome to I'll just transfer this to the Original Works threads for more convenience.

I appreciate that -- I thought I glanced through looking for the right place. My apologies! Thanks for the shift.

[that's a bingo]

Oh, I'm so excited I found this thread! I just started outlining a story I'd love to put into novel form. I've been thinking about this idea A LOT and I don't think anyone has written about something like this before, so I'm kind of excited to see how it plays out.

[cherrios]

What works better for people, writing by hand or by computer?

For me it's computer, I type faster than I can write. Plus my handwriting is so messy, with typing I can actually read it afterwards.

I have tried working on an idea, but something always gets in the way of me working on it.

[Stay to the Lights]

I prefer computer as well I sometimes dabble with notes in a notebook though. Ideas and such.

[Against_all_odds]

Originally Posted by cherrios (View Post) What works better for people, writing by hand or by computer? For me it's computer, I type faster than I can write. Plus my handwriting is so messy, with typing I can actually read it afterwards. I have tried working on an idea, but something always gets in the way of me working on it.

Scrivener is a great(actually perfect) way to organize, create and save work. When you're done, it can automatically make your piece an ebook to sell on Amazon or any short or flash fiction markets.

I have notecards, journals and the like since the writing books I'm reading require them, but I wound up scanning them and adding them to my Scrivener notebook. I have too many things scattered, I'm on my 5th version and it's just too much for my brain.

Have you ever read a prompt book? I'm blocked and these have been helping tremendously. I also found a book called steal my ideas. The author lists of god knows how many ideas and the idea is that you tweak it and change it around so it's yours.

Just a suggestion, but I've found it helpful. I'm a little overzealous, since I also own CharacterWriter and Storymill, but Scrivener will solve everyone's problems.

Notebooks and index cards are still good so you can tack the scenes on a bulletin board, but they get lost easily. I'm stuck on my story by 75% b/c I can't think beyond that scene.

[Stay to the Lights]

I work on my stuff with scrivener It's such a useful program.

Are you doing an outline?

[that's a bingo]

I'm still new to this, but can someone explain what Scrivener is?

[Stay to the Lights]

https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents. While it gives you complete control of the formatting, its focus is on helping you get to the end of that awkward first draft. Writing a novel, research paper, script or any long-form text involves more than hammering away at the keys until you’re done. Collecting research, ordering fragmented ideas, shuffling index cards in search of that elusive structure—most writing software is fired up only after much of the hard work is over. Enter Scrivener: a word processor and project management tool that stays with you from that first, unformed idea all the way through to the final draft. Outline and structure your ideas, take notes, view research alongside your writing and compose the constituent pieces of your text in isolation or in context. Scrivener won't tell you how to write—it just makes all the tools you have scattered around your desk available in one application. Scrivener puts everything you need for structuring, writing and editing long documents at your fingertips. On the left of the window, the “binder” allows you to navigate between the different parts of your manuscript, your notes, and research materials, with ease. Break your text into pieces as small or large as you want—so you can forget wrestling with one long document. Restructuring your draft is as simple as drag and drop. Select a single document to edit a section of your manuscript in isolation, or use “Scrivenings” mode to work on multiple sections as though they were one: Scrivener makes it easy to switch between focussing on the details and stepping back to get a wider view of your composition. With access to a powerful underlying text engine, you can add tables, bullet points, images and mark up your text with comments and footnotes. Format as you go using the format bar at the top of the page, or use any font you want for the writing and let Scrivener reformat your manuscript after you're done—allowing you to concentrate on the words rather than their presentation. Most word processors approach composing a long-form text the same as typing a letter or flyer—they expect you to start on page one and keep typing until you reach the end. Scrivener lets you work in any order you want and gives you tools for planning and restructuring your writing. In Scrivener, you can enter a synopsis for each document on a virtual index card and then stack and shuffle the cards in the corkboard until you find the most effective sequence. Plan out your work in Scrivener’s outliner and use the synopses you create as prompts while you write. Or just get everything down into a first draft and break it apart later for rearrangement on the outliner or corkboard. Create collections of documents to read and edit related text without affecting its place in the overall draft; label and track connected documents or mark what still needs to be done. Whether you like to plan everything in advance, write first and structure later—or do a bit of both—Scrivener supports the way you work. No more switching between multiple applications to refer to research files: keep all of your background material—images, PDF files, movies, web pages, sound files—right inside Scrivener. And unlike other programs that only let you view one document at a time, in Scrivener you can split the editor to view research in one pane while composing your text right alongside it in another. Transcribe an interview or conversation, make notes on an image or article, or just refer back to another chapter, all without leaving the document you’re working on.Scrivener provides all the tools you need to prepare your manuscript for submission or self-publishing. Once you’re ready to go, control everything from how footnotes, headers and footers appear to fine-tuning the formatting of each level of your draft—or keep it simple by choosing from one of Scrivener’s convenient presets. Print a novel using standard manuscript formatting. Export your finished document to a wide variety of file formats, including Microsoft Word, RTF, PDF and HTML—making it easy to share your work with others. Or self-publish by exporting to ePub or Kindle* formats to share your work via iBooks or Amazon, or for reading on any e-reader.

[Against_all_odds]

Originally Posted by These Broken Stars (View Post) I work on my stuff with scrivener It's such a useful program. Are you doing an outline?

I am and I have t merge to storylines with previous ones that I like. I'm going to put them in small letters.

[Stay to the Lights]

small letters? as in within your story? it's gonna be in the form of letters?

[that's a bingo]

Oh, very cool. Thanks for the info, I'll have to check it out!

[Stay to the Lights]

No worries. They have a free trial you can experiment with.

[Against_all_odds]

Originally Posted by These Broken Stars (View Post) small letters? as in within your story? it's gonna be in the form of letters?

No, I meant the outline. Like A, 1 and then a. I've been having trouble with regular outlines because I made so many different versions. I need to pick between them and merge the stuff I like.