Writers in the Storm

Gwen Hernandez

Scrivener has three “group view” modes: Scrivenings, Corkboard, and Outline. Group view modes only have something to display if you’ve selected a folder, or a group of files in the Binder. Hence, the group part.

Scrivenings (multiple document view) and Corkboard (synopsis/index card view) get the most attention, but Outline view is pretty powerful, especially if you use metadata.

(If you’re thinking, “Hold up, what’s metadata?” skim this post from last November before you continue.)

Introducing Outline View

Despite its name, Outline view is really more like a spreadsheet, where each row represents a file and each column is a type of metadata (e.g., word count or Label value). Its power comes from being able to view and edit the files’ corresponding metadata in one place.

Not only that, but you can sort files by their metadata without losing their order in the Binder. Trust me, it’s more exciting than it sounds. (Hopefully.)

Viewing the Outline

Whenever you select a folder or group of files, Scrivener displays them in the last group view mode you used in this project.

To view the Outline, do the following:

1. Select any folder (or group of files, but I’m going to skip that verbiage from now on) in the Binder. The Editor will change to display the last group view mode you used in this project. If you’ve never selected anything else, it should default to the Corkboard.
2. If you get the Corkboard or Scrivenings view, go to View>Outline (or click the Outline button on the toolbar). Scrivener opens the outline view for the selected folder.

The displayed columns will vary depending on which template you chose when you created your project. Further down, we’ll look at how to change the columns.

Expanding and Collapsing the View

If you’ve selected a folder with subfolders (e.g., a Draft folder that includes chapter folders), you can expand and collapse the outline as desired.

To expand or collapse a single folder, click the triangle to the left of its name/icon.

To expand or collapse all folders, go to View>Outline>Expand/Collapse All.

TIP: You can also limit collapsed folders to those at a certain level. To do so, select a folder and choose View>Outline>Collapse to Selected Level. The outline will collapse only folders at that level and below.

Adding and Removing Metadata Columns

To add or remove a column from the view, you have two options:

• Click the button at the far right of the Outliner and select/deselect the desired column.

• Go to View>Outliner Options and select a column to include/exclude.

Editing Metadata in the Outliner

You can edit most of the metadata values from within the Outliner. Just double-click a text box to edit the text, or click the value of the item you want to change to get a drop-down menu.

This is a handy way to modify values for multiple files from one location.

Rearranging Files

You can move items around in the Outliner (just like in the Binder) to change their place in the manuscript. In fact, if you struggle to move items in the Binder, you might find it easier here.

Just drag and drop the desired item to its new location.

TIP: If moving between two files, wait for the blue line to make sure it lands in the correct location (see below).

You can also drop one item on another to make it a child (subdocument), just like in the Binder. This time you’re looking for a box around the destination item's row, as shown below.

Sorting Files without Changing Their Binder Order

One of the things I like about the Outliner is that you can sort your manuscript files by column, without messing up their Binder (story) order. When might you want to? It depends on how you’re using the outliner, but here are a couple of ideas:

• Sort by word count to see which documents to target for cutting or adding words.
• Sort by writing/revision status to determine what to work on next.

To sort, simply click in the column header. Initially, it’ll sort in ascending order (small icon in header points up). Click again for descending order (small icon in header points down). Click a third time to restore Binder order (no icon).

Changing the Column Order

If you want to rearrange the columns, simply click and drag a column header to the right or left. A blue line indicates where it will land.

Adjusting the Column Widths

You can adjust the column width to make each column’s data easier to read. There are two ways to do it.

• Point to the line to the right of the heading for the column you'd like to adjust. When your pointer changes to a bar with left-right arrows, drag the line to the left or right.
• To auto-fit the column width to the data, double-click the line to the right of the column heading.

Opening a Document from the Outliner

To view a document in the Editor directly from Outline view, simply double-click its icon in the Outliner (piece of paper or folder icon to the left of the title). This may be quicker than trying to locate and select it in the Binder, especially if you’ve hidden the Binder to gain more screen real estate.

Exporting the Outline View

For some reason, you can’t print the Outliner the way it looks in Scrivener, but you can export it to a spreadsheet-compatible file. Here’s how:

1. Set up the Outliner to display the data you want.
2. Go to File>Export>Outliner Contents as CSV…
3. Name the file and choose its location, then click Export. CSV files can be opened by most spreadsheet programs. If not, you can adjust the settings in the Export window to export as a TXT file instead.

Do you think you might have uses for Outline view? What questions do you have for me about this or any other Scrivener topic?

Gwen Hernandez is the author of Scrivener For Dummies and helps authors all over the world find the joy in Scrivener through her online courses, in-person workshops, and private training. She also writes romantic suspense (Men of Steele series).

In her spare time she likes to travel, read, jog, flail on a yoga mat, and explore southern California, where she currently lives with her husband and a lazy golden retriever. You can find more information about Gwen at http://gwenhernandez.com/.

For many in the States, school is back in session. In that same spirit, let's get out our pom-poms and cheer for ourselves and other writers!

Here on Writers in the Storm, we like to provide regular opportunities for readers to share great resources and celebrate our own successes. So get ready to pimp or promote.

How does this work?

In the comments section, we ask that you:

• Pimp out somebody else’s work – a favorite author, blogger, post or book you’ve read, a wonderful teacher or just someone who had profound influence on you as a writer or a person. Please limit your comments to one work.
  AND
• Promote one of your projects that you’re excited about – a hobby, a blog, a book, or a new direction your writing is taking you. You decide. Just tell us about it in the comments! (Please restrain your enthusiasm to just one of your WIPs.) The rest of us will jump in and “ooooh and ahh” and likely promote your project more because we’re so super-excited today.

We'll start with P&P from us gals at WITS!

Julie Glover

Pimp: My critique partner and co-writer, Kris Faryn, recently released Song of Destiny, the first in a YA contemporary fantasy series. Also mythology-based, this is a fantastic novel with great characters, compelling suspense, and beautiful writing. Check it out!

Promote: So in addition to writing fiction, I also write non-fiction, under my married name and about sex in marriage from a Christian perspective. Those who know me personally know this about me, but publicly I've been very Egon Spengler about it: "Don't cross the streams!" (Partly because I wouldn't want some teen who reads my YA to go over and read what I write about married sex.) That said, I have an ongoing blog, four books out, and a co-hosted podcast. You can find me here on Amazon or here on my website.

Laura Drake

Pimp: If you like Western Romance, you're going to love Kari Lynn Dell. She writes about rodeo, and she should know—she's a breakaway roper, not to mention a rancher way up north in Montana, not far from Glacier Park and the Canadian border. She's funny, she puts you there, and her characters come alive in your heart.

Promote: If you're anywhere near Texas (and even if you're not), we're putting on a bang-up regional conference in West Texas, October 12-13! Janice Hardy, Kristin Lamb, Angela Ackerman, Darynda Jones, and our own Julie Glover are just a few of the presenters, and we have three NY agents coming to take pitches! I don't think you'll find a better priced conference, either. $99 for the weekend, includes breakfast and lunch! Check it out:
https://permianbasinwritersworkshop.org/

Jenny Hansen

Pimp: If you haven't discovered OneStop for Writers after all our raving about the Character Builder here at WITS, what's taking you so long?

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi wrote the amazing Emotion Thesaurus (now in it's expanded 2nd Edition) and then they went one better. They teamed with a great developer to turn all the information in the book into a flexible, searchable database that allows you to take and keep notes about your own book. THAT'S part of what OneStop is all about. Check it out here.

I was blessed to be with Cruising Writers when they hosted Angela as a speaker and she has a wealth of information. To hear her and Lisa Cron discuss the emotional wound of characters was heaven. Just heaven.

Promote: I am lucky enough to belong to a large active local writing chapter and our birthday party every October is like a mini-conference. This year we have the fantastic Damon Suede giving a keynote called DREAM BIGGER.

But it doesn't stop there. We're having a cover contest where you can get an 11x17 standup glossy of your cover for $20 (great for book signings!), Damon is doing a Friday night movie analysis on Romancing the Stone and also a character intensive workshop where he explains how he plots by verb. There are Saturday night PJ parties with a UCI extension writing teacher, Damon with more on character and two other others co-hosting a fun sexy stories party.

If you are anywhere close to Southern California, this is a rare immersive opportunity. Members - $50 / Guests - $60. Details here.

Fae Rowen

Pimp: I have learned so much about writing from my editor, Tiffany Yates Martin. Think home-decorated birthday cake versus a bakery confection that tastes as amazing as it looks. That's what Tiffany's magic does with my books. She makes suggestions that help me revise my books to their full potential. She sees what I'm trying to get through to my readers and clarifies the process to make that happen. Working with Tiffany has taken my books to that cliched "next level." If you are looking for an editor, you won't find better.

Promote: I'm happy to announce that P.R.I.S.M. Rebellion, Book Two in my series about a prison world populated by exiles from Earth, will be available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks on Halloween 2019.

Now it's your turn. Pimp or promote in the comments, and we'll chime in and cheer you on!

…and why they are important to writers

James Preston

You’re book people. Don’t try to deny it—I know you are.

And you like libraries. 

Not me. I love libraries. Big ones, little ones, mobile ones, they’re all wonderful, as far as I’m concerned. If I could get that “book smell” bottled, I’d wear it as an aftershave. (Right now my friends reading this are sending up prayers of thanks.)

Today I want to talk about your chances of getting your novel into libraries.

And you’ve all heard the stories. “Print is dead.” Oh, yeah? (That’s from Elon Spengler in Ghostbusters, a guy who collects mold, spores and fungus. I rest my case.)

It ain’t so. I’m here to dispel some myths about libraries and to talk about why they’re important to writers of all levels.

Why should you listen to me? Three reasons. First, I’m the writer of a series of thrillers called the Surf City Mysteries. Second, my books are in some libraries, not all, but some. Third, my background is on the other side of the fence too. I have a Masters in Library and Information Science from USC, and I’ve worked in the CSULB University Library.

And did I mention that I love libraries?

When I was in grade school in Fullerton, CA, our neighborhood was visited by a bookmobile. And it was great, a highlight of this kid’s life, truly, not only because there were books, lots of books, but also because there were reading challenges.

Well, that’s all gone now; you just tap a button on your smartphone and Bam! There’s the new Jayne Ann Krentz or Violet Winspear.

No! Don’t you believe it! Nossir, that bookmobile and many of its incarnations (more on that later) are alive and well and so are libraries.

Myth Number 1: Libraries are dying, because you have the sum total of human knowledge at your fingertips via your iPhone.

Nope. Why not? Why, because you have the sum total of our knowledge at your fingertips and it’s too much.

When I worked at the Cal State Long Beach Library, I ran the Reserve Book Room and Current Periodicals and filled in on the Information Desk as needed. A typical Information Desk question went like this: “Uh, hi. I want to do a term paper on the Civil War. Do you have any books?”

Tap that into your phone and see what you get! The problem is not finding information, it’s asking the right questions and finding useful information that answers those questions. If that kid ventures into the stacks, she’s going to find rows and rows and rows of books, literally countless articles, and that, friends and neighbors, is not counting the ever-popular web pages.

That’s one reason libraries are so important. Behind the desk there’s an expert who can gently ask questions to help the student narrow the topic and then suggest appropriate sources. The trick isn’t finding information, it’s finding the information you want.

That applies to fiction as well. If the question is, “What’s a good novel?” The expert behind the desk will ask questions that narrow the choices and point the user in the right direction.

Between 2015 and 2018, foot traffic in U.S. libraries has gone up almost 20%. Full disclosure: physical circulation for books and media is down, not by a huge amount, and those numbers are a bit more confusing, but the trend is clear. 

So what kind of books are circulating? 

Mystery and suspense	Adult print: 97%	ebook: 85%
General fiction	Adult print: 73%	ebook: 80%
Romance	Adult print: 73%	ebook: 49%

There are more categories, but these are the ones we are most concerned with. Note that these numbers are survey-based, and respondents can check more than one category, which accounts for the total being more than 100%. What matters, the takeaway from these numbers, is how well Romance and Mystery do. They’re the top of the list.

That means if you approach a library with a new romance novel, you stand a better chance than with other categories.

Myth Number 2: Novels by self-published authors or from micro presses can’t ever get into a library.

Okay, libraries are doing all right—the numbers support that. So you’re self-published or published by a small indie press. You have no chance, right? Wrong! (You probably guessed that; why would Writers in the Storm publish and essay that said, “You’re doomed. Give up now”?)

Let’s talk about how to make that approach, what has worked for me, and then briefly about a means of checking which libraries are stocking your pride and joy. I won’t kid you: The New York Public Library System is going to be a hard sell. But your local branch is another story.

A friend of mine I worked with at IBM is a techie and a marketing guru. One thing he says is, “Remember what you’re asking when you ask someone to buy one of your books.” It’s not the money, in most cases, it’s the time. You’re asking the buyer to spend six or more hours with your book. Remember what you’re asking a library too. Not time to read the novel, but time to catalog it, label it, and put it in the shelf. The only reason they will do that is if the book will attract readers, and of course, if you’re unknown how will they know that? Hmm. Can you spell “Catch-22"?

Your job is to convince the library that, as a local author, you have something to offer that other writers do not. In my case, it’s track record plus a unique bonus. Track record: I can tell you how many people came to each of my signings and where those signings were. You are keeping track of those numbers, right? (If the answer is “Uh, no, not really,” stop reading this essay, pull out that appointment book, and make some estimates. Okay there were four rows of chairs, ten chairs in each, and they were all mostly full, so call it forty people. Then come back to this essay.

You’re back? Good!

Next you need to get acquainted with the library staff. Attend book signings, greet staff members. Keep your eyes peeled for a Local Authors Day. You may have to pitch yourself for the upcoming year, but that’s all right. You’re playing a long game here. And do keep it non-threatening! I can’t emphasize that enough. Avoid introducing yourself with, “Hi, I’m here to sell you my novel. I’ll take a check.” Once the staff is comfortable talking to you and you with them, then mention your new book.

This sounds like a lot of work. Is it worth it? What’s the payoff?

If you’re in this game only to get rich, well, it may not be the best use of your time. But if, like me, you write to attract readers, it is most definitely worth it, perhaps not in terms of direct sales, but in terms of goodwill, the feeling that your work is worthwhile and that you are making a contribution to the ongoing story of our culture. 

One of the best moments of my writing career was when the Fullerton Public Library invited me to be part of their Local Authors Day. As I sat and signed books, I thought about that Bookmobile and I could feel the ongoing process, time and space flowing around me.

You can, with some luck and perserverance, do something like that, and, trust me, the feeling you get at that moment will sustain you through many nights where you wake up thinking, “I can never finish this story.”

Yes, libraries and bookmobiles are still going strong, delivering stories to those who might not have access otherwise. And it’s not always a bus or motor home. In South America there’s a gentleman who takes books to remote villages on his donkey. The Biblioburro is alive and well, plodding along remote pathways, carrying stories. Maybe someday he’ll carry one of mine, or yours.

Libraries are literally the repositories of our culture, keepers of the flame.

Did you grow up hanging around a library? Did you sign up for the Summer Reading Program? Did that program have challenges like, “Read a blue book,” or “Read a book about the state where one of your parents were born”? Have you successfully approached a local library to stock your books? Let’s hear about it!

References: See the web page data for 2019 (opens in a new tab)">Newshelvesbooks>data for 2019 for the full analysis of library usage. To see which libraries are stocking your books, try Worldcat.org>Search> your name or title.

About James

James Preston writes the multiple-award-winning Surf City Mysteries. His most recent work, however, is not part of that series. It’s a novella called Buzzkill, a historical thriller that Kirkus Reviews said is “enriched by characters who sparkle and refuse to be forgotten.” His work is collected by the UC Berkeley University library as part of their special collection, “California Detective Fiction.” For more about the stories, check out his web page, www.jamesrpreston.com. He can be reached at james@jamesrpreston.com.