Save time with Split Screen in Scrivener
I’m over at Writer Unboxed today spilling the beans on how to use Scrivener’s split screen feature—one of my favorites! Stop by to learn more, and feel free to leave a comment or question.
New Scrivener webinars
Exciting news! Over the next few months I’m launching a series of webinars to help you get better at Scrivener.
Each one is designed to take you from confused to comfortable—or comfortable to super-user, if that’s more your speed—in about an hour.
There’s no third-party group to join or give your information to; it’s just me.
Here’s the lineup:
Scrivener 3 for Mac
- Jump-Start, Wednesday, November 16, 10am PT
- Next-Level, Wednesday, December 7, 10am PT
- Compile Ready, Wednesday, January 11, 10am PT
Scrivener 3 for Windows
- Jump-Start, Thursday, November 17, 10am PT
- Next-Level, Thursday, December 8, 10am PT
- Compile Ready, Thursday, January 12, 10am PT
Each Zoom-based webinar includes:
- 60-90 minutes of instruction, plus I’ll stick around for questions.
- Access to the recording for 14 days after the event. So if you can’t make it live, or you want to review, no problem.
- A handy cheat sheet.
Scrivener 3 Jump-Start ($99)
Slingshot up the learning curve with this webinar that will teach you what you need to start using Scrivener—or feel more comfortable with it—immediately. Are you barely getting by with Scrivener? Did you try to use Scrivener but found it overwhelming?
I can get you from cautious to comfortable. Whether you’re a plotter or a seat-of-the-pants writer, Scrivener can work for you. Give me about an hour and I’ll show you how.
Scrivener 3 Next-Level ($99)
Level up your Scrivener skills with all the fun bells and whistles and shiny features to keep you organized, track your word count, manage multiple storylines or points-of-view, keep research at your fingertips, and more. Whether you plot, or not, you’ll learn all the tips and tricks to customize Scrivener for your unique writing process.
Scrivener 3 Compile Ready ($129)
Learn how to export your Scrivener manuscript as a Word document, ebook, or PDF for print-on-demand. Whether you’re unpublished, traditionally published, or self-published, it’s good to know how to get your work out of Scrivener and into a nicely formatted file.
This webinar will teach you to create professionally formatted files for agents, editors, readers, and retailers.
Click a button below to view the available webinars and learn more.
I hope to see you on Zoom!
New post at WU on Alternate Uses for Scrivener
Did you know you can use Scrivener for more than just writing a novel or memoir? I’ve highlighted a few ideas for you over at WriterUnboxed.com today, and there are more great suggestions in the comments. I hope you’ll stop by to check it out, ask a question, or share your own ways for using Scrivener beyond the manuscript.
And if you’re in the US, have a great Thanksgiving weekend! I’m grateful to all of you for being part of my community, and all the support you’ve given me over the years.
❤️
Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2018!
Looking back, 2017 had its ups and downs, but it was a pretty good year for me. I published Blindsided, and finished writing and revisions for Running Blind, created two new online courses for Scrivener 3, and gave my first international workshop in Canada.
I got into journaling for keeping track of my personal and professional goals, and to help reduce stress by thinking things through on paper. Another change came when I switched up my schedule to increase productivity. Both helped tremendously.
The new year should be busy and fun. In addition to Running Blind (out January 16th), I plan to release book 5 in the Men of Steele series toward the end of the year, as well as create additional Scrivener 3 courses and books, including those for the Windows version when it releases in 2018 (yay!).
My husband took a job in the Los Angeles area, so I'm starting off the year by moving into a new house (our stuff arrives Saturday!) in a new city (Redondo Beach), and looking forward to a slightly different lifestyle with more walks on the beach, more walking (and less driving in general), more exploration/travel, and less stuff.
How was your 2017? What's on your plate for 2018?
Thank you for being part of my online community. I hope the new year has fabulous things in store for you!
Making time to read
Despite all the detours I took getting here, I’ve wanted to be a writer since at least 7th grade. Maybe it's because I was such a huge reader. Like bring-home-14-books-a-week-from-the-library-during-the-summer huge. Like never-not-reading-something huge. Like up-too-late-reading-under-the-covers-with-a-flashlight-on-a-school-night huge.
(Who’s with me?)
I was constantly immersed in stories, to the point that my friends made fun of my vocabulary. (Because, apparently, no one uses words like risqué in middle school.)
Even while working full time for someone else, I probably read at least a book or two a week. I read on my lunch break, at the gym, while waiting for my boys at sports practice, on weekends, and after the kids went to bed.
Somehow, I managed to have a life and still read.
And then I started writing, and the more I got into it, the less I read. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I was using that time to write. And because I felt like if I had the time, I should write. Or do something else “productive.”
But if I’m always writing and never reading, how do I know what’s going on in the world of books? And how am I refilling my creative well if I’m never immersed anyone else’s words and ideas and style?
Okay, well not never. But there were whole weeks that went by where I didn’t crack open—or power up—a single book that wasn’t for story research or writing education.
For someone who got into writing because she loved stories, that seemed ridiculous. I had two main problems.
- I had no office hours. This is the ongoing dilemma for those who work from home. We’re never not at work, and if we have downtime, we feel like we should be filling it with work. One of the few things I miss about working for someone else is that when I came home in the evening, I could relax and enjoy that time guilt-free.
- I didn’t make reading a priority. I was making a lot of things happen, but sitting down to read when I could be cleaning, or writing, or answering email, or sorting my socks felt like playing hooky from all the things I should be doing.
I haven’t completely solved number one, but I am getting better at giving myself permission to ignore my office after dinner.
Number two has been easier. I simply added reading to my daily to-do list, and created a goal on Goodreads. Once something is on my list, it’s no longer a guilty pleasure, it’s a must-do.
“Fun read” has its own checkbox right alongside things like working out, writing, and all of my business to-dos. I hate unchecked boxes, so now I find ways to fit it in. I’m back to reading on my lunch break—this newer thing I’m trying where I don’t eat in front of my computer…
I read in the evenings when my husband returns to studying after we eat dinner and watch a show together, and while flossing/brushing my teeth.
Sometimes, on the weekend, I’ll sit in the living room or on the back patio, and get lost in a book for hours. Crazy, right?
Last year I read a little over 60 books—both fiction and nonfiction—against a goal of 52. This year, I’ve already finished more than 20 toward my goal of 75.
I’m pretty sure I’ll smash 75, and enjoy every minute of it.
Are you a big reader? Is there something in your life you’d like to fit in? What’s holding you back?
Getting back to writing (and giving myself a pass)
I love writing. L-O-V-E it. The need to build a world, delve into a character’s feelings, create a mood, or explain a concept in a down-to-earth way (often with a bit of humor, and lots of em dashes and parentheses) has lived in me since at least seventh grade.
But that doesn’t mean I always sit down and do it, even when I theoretically have the time. A deployment, a new training platform, a high school graduation, my husband’s retirement from the Air Force, and a Boston-to-Sacramento move took far more of my mental energy over the last year than I expected. I got a little off track, a little out of routine, and my word count plummeted.
But now I’m out of hotels, into my home office, back on an irregular regular writing schedule, and most importantly, mentally back on track.
I’ve written on 17 of the last 18 days and produced more than 11,000 good words on my current WIP. *insert happy dance*
It feels fantastic. There is nothing like finally seeing forward progress in the story—my hero and heroine finally left the damn airport!—after months of going nowhere.
It's more than being productive in a way that matters to me, but being immersed in my story daily, even if just for fifteen minutes. That daily attention keeps the ideas rolling in, and makes it easier to take advantage of the small gaps in my day where I can fit in a few words, because I haven’t forgotten where my characters are. Or who they are. Writing frequently brings back the joy I had when I first started.
That joy is worth more than gold. (Well, except you can't buy books with it. Sigh.)
This is a lesson I seem to have to learn over and over, unfortunately.
But another lesson I’ve learned recently (also, again) is that sometimes I need to turn off the pressure valve and simply enjoy the distractions in my life. The last year has been crazy busy, but full of other moments that brought joy, some of them the last with my youngest son before he goes to college. Before we become empty nesters.
Before I theoretically have a lot more time to write. Again.
What gets in the way of your writing? How do you turn things around?
Writing together makes us better
Anyone else a little busy right now? The only way I’ve been getting any writing done lately is to meet my friend Bria Quinlan at the library three days a week to write for several hours. Since we started, I’ve averaged more words per week than I have all year (even during NaNoWriMo).
The concept is simple, but the result has been epic. Writing at home always sounds great, and I can do it, but the minute I get stuck in a scene, it’s far too easy to get distracted by food, laundry, a dirty counter, my dog, my bed, business stuff, errands, email… At the library, I know I’m there for one reason only: to write. No excuses. And there are very few distractions (aside from the books on every wall).
We had to lay some ground rules—based heavily on the “Writers Camp” formed by Roxanne St. Claire, Kristen Painter, Leigh Duncan, and Elle Saint James—to make sure we don’t just chat the whole time. For example, we get 15 minutes at the start of the day to catch up with each other. We set a goal for the morning (e.g. word count, pages revised), and no one gets lunch until we both reach our goals. How’s that for motivation?
We take 45 minutes for lunch during which we can eat, talk, check social media or email, and then get back to work. Appointments are scheduled for other days of the week. This is Work Time. Writing is our job, and this is our version of an office with a boss.
In the afternoon, we each try to meet our goal for the day before we wrap it up. Even if I miss my overall mark, I’ve been so much more productive that I have no complaints.
Not only am I getting in more words, but Storytime (as Bria dubbed it) is freeing me up to spend more time on the business tasks I’ve been putting off, without feeling guilty for not writing (as much) on those days.
I realize not everyone can do this during the day. I’m lucky to work from home full time. But the concept can be modified. Maybe it’s two hours at a coffee shop on Saturday and Sunday morning. Or a couple hours at the library several evenings a week. Or take your laptop to work and find a spot to write during your lunch hour (the conference room?).
Honestly, though, this works best with a partner. Why? Accountability is a big part of it. (Having someone to watch your computer on a bathroom break is an added bonus.) If I’m not meeting Bria, it’s easy to skip writing to tackle all of the other things on my to-do list. If I haven’t reached my goal by noon, I can’t just give in, I have to keep writing until I make my morning word count. It often comes easier than I expect when I force myself through the block.
The key—at least for me—is to get away from the distractions and to set up an unassailable period of time where my brain knows that writing is the only option. Some people can do this at home. (I envy you!) After almost a year of fighting with myself, I’ve learned that I need an alternative.
Do you struggle with distractions when you want to be writing (or working on something else important to you)? Have you found a way to deal with it? Please share!