Hi, I'm Oliver Evensen, and I write Science Fiction and Fantasy stories, featuring intricate characters, epic plots, and unconventional worlds.
Readers, together we will explore exciting worlds together where magic meets mysteries!
I'm also a writing mentor, editor, and content creator with a goal to Turn WRITERS into AUTHORS! I like to help other writers, like myself, take their stories from concept to completion to published.
Writers, together we will work through common pitfalls and challenges writers face when writing novels using the best writing tools available. With my help, you can finish any novel and proudly share and sell your books!
So regardless if you're a writer, reader, or both...
Thanks for walking through this. Somehow I missed there were two items in the zip file and couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. Where's my coffee lol. Thanks for all you do. 💖
It was a bit confusing at first, and I got it as a gift or something like a month ago, and I was already at like 30k before, and it's just so organized, I think I'm at like 40k now.
Thanks for this Video Oliver. Very informative. For the regular files (non backups), is it safe to have the live file in dropbox directly as opposed to run it directly on the same computer running scrivener? What are the advantages and drawbacks? I hear so many people not suggesting this that I was wondering about your thought!
Great question, I keep all my live projects in Dropbox. It’s currently the only cloud sync service that can properly handle Scrivener file format correctly. What I like most is that the file is still physically saved to my device, it’s just also uploaded to the cloud any time changes are made. The advantages are that my project is now available anywhere in signed into Dropbox even if my computer crashes. So I can work from multiple devices. The drawbacks are that I must remember to close out the project and allow the project to fully sync on one device before opening it on another or else I risk sync conflicts or project corruption. However this is an easily avoidable problem. No sync solution is 💯 safe, but I’ve had very few problems with syncing my projects in Dropbox.
@@ojevensen Great. Thanks so much. By the way, have you found any limitations in terms of project file size? I tend to add A LOT of resource and research material (videos, audios, etc) and images to the actual draft itself. I am using scrivener for creating courses, no books. At which point could this become a problem with speed or efficiency? Thanks again!!!
@@edwardrodriguez8642 Scrivener Projects can technically get as large as you want with minimal issues. The biggest problems include backup times, which do actually take awhile if you have several GBs of data to back up, and syncing large projects across mobile devices can also really eat up you data if you're not on an unlimited data plan. Neither problem is too concerning to me, but it something to consider. Hope that helps!
You'd use Scrivener when real writing apps like NovelCrafter exist? This has not been materially updated in about 4 or 5 years. A bit of polish here and there is not an update.
Hi Oliver, hope all is well with you. I love your Scrivener teaching and wondered if could do one on creating a Series Bible in Scrivener? Something I am searching ides on.
That's a great question! Sorry I didn't get back to you soon, I saw your previous comment, but just haven't been able to spend much time on RU-vid. I'll see if I can put together a presentation for Series Bibles in the coming months. I actually haven't finalized my August Schedule yet, so it's possible you might see something next month. There is anything in particular you're hoping to do in this project? I assume your "series bible" will be a separate project from your "series project" right? Let me know.
Hi Oliver, love your webinars and I am starting Book 1 of 3 in a series and I saw your webinar covering mulitple books in 1 project but was wondering if you could do one on how you would set up a Series Bible for a Multi book project?
Great question! I’m using the latest version of Scrivener for iPhone and iPad - Version 1.2.4. The desktop version is an entirely different app available on macOS and Windows. We do not charge a monthly subscription fee, it’s a one time purchase.
Thanks for covering this and all you do. I have been holding back on committing my project to Scrivener because I wasn't sure I could do everything I needed from both my ipad pro and my desktop PC. Primarily, I need to have the split-screen view to have my scene outline up while I have the draft up. I'd prefer to see the binder, two pages, and the inspector always up, but this workaround you showed is good enough I suppose.
With your earphones on, I can't hear what the person asked, so now you're doing something, and i have no idea what it is he asked. Could we hear the questions as they are being asked?
All the questions coming in are written either in the chat or the Q&A, so I’ll aim to read the questions aloud before answering. I’m actually only wearing headphones to help block out background noise and so I can hear my technical support team.
Confused as to why you don't specifically explain why using ICoud and iCloud Drive don't work with Scrivener Projects. So I will do so to the best of my ability.If you use iCloud Drive and if you save your Scrivener Documents to the desktop folder or to the Documents folder or any folders within either of these folders, iCloud will corrupt your projects and you will loose what you have written. It's because Scrivener Projects are not saved as traditional Mac file system documents (.txt, .rdf, .doc, etc), they are saved in the "Package" file object format Apple has created for applications. Packsges are special kinds of folders that appear as a single clickable finder item like a document or file but which are actually folders but with which their multiple file and folders within them hidden. Well anyway, when the Scrivener document type was designed, it was designed such that it works just fine on individual Macs in their finder file structure, but in a way that ICloud can't parse and ends up garbling. It's not your fault. It is scriveners fault and now your only option is to use Dropbox which for some reason doesn't have a problem with Scrivener document packages. No one at Literature & Latte seems willing to tell me or anyone else why this issue was never fixed, and why Scrivener users are now forever forced to by into and use a non-apple-native cloud storage and syncing service just to work on the same Scrivener Projects on two or more Macs in the same way that they can with any other documents that any of the other applications that run on the Mac produce.But I have ttragically lost a great deal of work as a result of this little Scrivener document incompatibility with iCloud. Now I am forced to pay for yet another cloud storage service. Not only that but I have to learn to master another document storage and backup workflow on top of iCloud and the finder. Not at all ideal. Scrivener makes much of the fact that its app is a buy once own forever purchase, but if you are forced to inter into a contract and pay a monthly fee to DropBox÷ Also not mentioned her is the fact that the use of DropBox gets in the way of the Mac to iOS synching built into Scrivener.Look, I love Scrivener (mostly) but this problem with cloud storage and using Scrivener on multiple devices is truely maddening (and dangerous).
Is there any feature from Plotrr that Scrivener is missing? I have Scrivener but not yet familiar with. So the stake is: is there any situation where I will need Plotrr, which is not free... Thank you!
Plottr excels in providing visual representations of plots, making it a useful tool for those who benefit from such a perspective. However, I found that I didn't need Plottr because Scrivener's built-in tools effectively handle all my outlining and plotting needs, offering a variety of views, including highly visual ones. While Plottr is undoubtedly a fine app, I believe that if you already own Scrivener, purchasing a subscription to Plottr is redundant.
Also, Plottr allows you to plan but is useless for actually writing. It ports to Scrivener or word. You can type your story in Plottr, but it is missing the tools required for tracking (Scrivenr's corkboard) inspiration for settings or characters by dropping pictures into the index etc). If you wish, you can consider Plottr as creating your zero draft but not the editing. Don't get me wrong, I like Plottr because I can use it to port the templates for all the different types of books to Scrivener. Hope that opinion helps.
I looked at both Plottr and Scapple. Once I learned about metadata in scrivener, I founds that I didn't want to bogged down in the additional data that Plottr lets you add. What I needed was something that let me outline with minimal overhead and maximum flexibility. I looked at many different tools (there's a website that lets you see alternatives to Plottr). Although I initially thought scapple was useless (I was searching for a complex tool at the time), I ended up coming back to it. For me, I found it was an excellent tool for strategic level outlining with minimal barriers to getting ideas on the page - the tool can keep up with the changes you do quickly while outlining. Very quick and flexible. It's a bit like Scrivener in that "it is what you make it" but I would rec giving it a go. They have a 60 day try before you buy, and it's a one off very reasonable charge if you decide to go with it. On cost, Plottr was overpriced, but it ultimately wasn't the tool I wanted to use at any price. If I didn't have scrivener, I might have gone with plottr and combined it with a normal dumb word processor. But I didn't feel I needed both scrivener and plottr. But it really is an individual choice thing, and there is value in looking at available options before landing.
Incidentally, Oliver, this session made me recall the good advice you gave in the past about the "collections" feature. Excellent distraction avoider when used with labels and keywords.
Thank you, Oliver! I was going in circles in my blank project! Templates are one of the best features, I'm finding. I use the Windows 3 version, and the steps are the same. Cheers from Canada!
Hi Oliver, Maybe you can help me. I Have Scrivener on my desktop on Mac and I ‘m trying to use IOS on my IPad. I saw in your tutorial that you got so many different project, instead of mine layout Dropbox on my iPad every time I work and save some smiles on it It will create a new backup. Impossible Manage them. I saw that you updated the same file, save and Sync it : my dream right now. How can I set up my iPad and scrivener for doing the same thing? There’s something wrong in mine, because in tre days I have to many backups 7 files for some of them a re not fulfill of my new files. Could help me ?
Hi, this is a great question. Considering its complexity, I suggest you reach out to Scrivener’s technical support team, so they can resolve your issue promptly and with the dedicated support you deserve. Here is their email- scrivener-mobile@literatureandlatte.com Thank you for reaching out!
Corkboard is one of the most powerful tool in Scriverer. I love it, it helps so much in the creative process. i can just repeat myself. The Srivener is worth every penny for a writer. the webinars from Oliver helps at the beginning a lot to understand the tool more and more.
You're absolutely right. Scrivener is an incredibility powerful tool and the Corkboard is no exception. I love that it gives writers like you and me the flexibility we need to craft our novel, our way!
Hi Felicity! Thanks for reaching out! I hope so some day offer events at reasonable times for our writers in Australia, but I'm glad you're able to catch the replays! Keep on writing!
Hi Susan! I totally understand. It was a bit last minute yesterday. I had planned on having the event setup much earlier, but alas life happened. Sorry you’re having trouble watching the replay. I just tested it out and it seems to be working on my side. Perhaps you might try setting the resolution to a lower quality if you have a slow internet connection. Hope to see you there today!
@@ojevensen Thanks for responding Oliver. I did get it to replay very late last night and have been working on my phone writing while waiting for an appointment for a couple hours today. I am motivated. Planning to write each day.
