Tips for editing manuscript on Scrivener?

[Pl242]

I am about to do my first edit of my first manuscript, using Scrivener for the (yes, you guessed it), first time.

From looking through the tutorial again and from a brief Google search, I think the broad approach should be as follows:

• Use the snapshot tool to "save" the current/first draft

• Then edit the text, possibly using revision mode so changes appear in a different colour, though this may not be necessary (see below re compare)

• Use the compare tool to look at differences between original draft and first edit (moving the snapshot onto the main editor for side by side comparison if easier)

• Use Scriveners mode to put parts of the document together to look at/edit together (i.e. if I wanted to take a character PoV or a subplot and edit that in one take)

• Create a deleted scenes folder in which to save chapters/scenes etc which I cut out - in case I decide to put them back in or need reference to it

For those in the know, does that sound like a sensible approach or not? Anything else I am missing?

I am tempted to ask whether I can just save the whole file into a new Project on Scrivener and keep one as the first draft and the new one as the second edit, but I can't see that being possible from what I've read so far and maybe defeats the purpose of using it over Word in the first place?

I have the first draft exported and saved as a pdf and also printed out in hard copy/

If relevant I am using Scrivener on Mac and think I have the latest 3.0 version.

Many thanks in advance for any insight and wisdom.

Anyone?

You seem to be a lot more skilled then me! I've exported it to word to edit it!

I bought Scrivener but just couldn't make it work. I shuffled the 'cards' round on the Cork board expecting the chapters to follow suit but they didn't and at that point I had a tantrum and exported it all to word where the formatting had all disappeared... Cue another tantrum 😂😂😂.

Perhaps as I'm between books I should have a little play with it and not wait till I'm on a deadline.

It's pretty good... I just decided I ought to put it all back into scrivener based on this thread, and have just lost two precious hours doing so, chapter by chapter.

What I find annoying is

I don't know how to format all chapters at once in scrivener, for example the same font.
I agree the cork board isn't THAT easy to use :-(
Once it gets big, I start to get lost because I'm not that organised.

I HATE Scrivener. I don't see the point of it as it's too complicated.
I have an Writer App I use for the character and plot if needed and I just write in Word where it's much easier to edit.

Not help to your question I realise, but I suppose I mean Good Luck as it's too much hard work for me!!

Oh and as I'm in it now... the spell checker is irritating. It's seems to be in American English.
It doesn't recognise "leant" as in the simple past of "to lean", and suggests "learnt" as a replacement. But equally, it doesn't recognise "Has learned" as in, the passé composé (no idea what the tense is called in English :-D) of to learn. Vermillion has two Ls in Britain!
I could go on.

It's a small issue, but it obviously also flags up all of my invented names and nouns (haha - it's a YA fantasy), so I've had to teach it all of those. It's just covered in red.
I've gone into settings and the dictionary is set to UK English. Pfft. Annoying.

Ha maybe I don't want to go and play with it then! I write dual time frame so often have to move chapters around. Someone recommended using the navigation function in Word to find chapters that I want. Otherwise it's good old post it notes!

I adore Scrivener! This is what I do: I export the doc, upload it to a Kindle, change the font and read it, highlighting and making notes as I go. Then when I have finished I open Scrivener and I change/edit according to my notes in the review mode (where it gives your changes a different colour). I always write a novel in Scrivener using the 'scenes' in the binder as opposed to the chapter folders. Each scene in the binder is a new chapter for me and if I want to merge chapters or change their order it's really easy. When I'm close to finishing completely, I print the whole thing out (again in a different font) and read it on paper to see if I can spot anything else. There is probably a more professional way of doing this but it works for me!

Thanks for all the replies, even if no-one could answer my specific question. In case anyone finds this via search, I got some answers on another community thread. Apparently there is a collection feature and you can store copies of other folders in there, whilst still being able to click to and from from the binder. I have managed to copy my current draft easily there but I still cannot find a way to copy it into another folder within the binder - not quickly anyway.

More broadly on Scrivener, I mostly like it but this is both my first time of using it and my first attempt at drafting a novel, so I'm perhaps not best placed to comment. The things I really like are the binder feature, which shows you all the elements of your project on a side panel - ie the scenes/chapters/parts of your novel and other notes. You can easily select from this, without having to go in and out of folders as you would do on Word. The split view editor is really good too. And even though I've only done this with a draft, the compile feature looks great, i.e. putting all your text into the correct format for ebook/submission etc.

I like the cork board in the sense that it gives you a very easy read summary of your book if you fill it in but I haven't tended to use it as a plotting device. @LouisaMayAlcott I think if you moved the scene around then the corresponding cork board would then move but I can see why that isn't really what you wanted to do.

I'm going to try and embrace the Scrivener tools for my edit but also keep some good old plain copies elsewhere in case it doesn't work for me.

I know that whatever software I use to write/work via a laptop I also do a huge amount of my notes by hand as this helps me think through what I need to do. I also have my chapters on good old post it notes, stuck on A3 bits of paper on the wall above my desk and handwritten stuff like that will, I think, always be part of my process.