The first thing you’re going to do is get Scrivener, and then get the template. I’m probably going to try a mystery, because I’ve never written one. We’ll try something new together. Besides, I want to try a mystery because right now, Hallmark is accepting mystery novels. Because of Hallmark’s requested novel length, I’m going to set Feb. 15 as my deadline. It’s probably about 5 more than I need, but once you go past a 30 day goal, expect interruptions. That’s why I raise an eyebrow at the whole “Write a book in six months” concept. If it’s that long, it’s not happening.
So, file—new project—and choose a template. I usually use the 30 chapter template, because someone did a great job of assembling a workable outline. Do a search for “FREE SCRIVENER TEMPLATES”. A lot of people work against Scrivener (believe it or not) in the way they set up their templates. All of your novel MUST be enclosed in a folder called Manuscript. Some people like to rename this folder, and actually, they’re working against themselves. Any time someone follows convention and names it something else, that means they’ve got to rename that in every template they find. I literally won’t try a template if they rename manuscript. So for me, it’s either the 30 chapter template, or my own.
Choose your default location as “Dropbox”, assuming you have Dropbox. If not, don’t do anything yet – go to the Dropbox website, get the Dropbox program, sign in, and THEN choose your save location as Dropbox. There’s a reason for this. If your laptop crashes or gets stolen, or you spill water on it, your novel will be saved. All you have to do is get a new computer, install Scrivener and Dropbox, and you’ll find your novel right there! (BTW, I’m going to make the plea you get Evernote also, and that you store your passwords in it. This way, everything you save will be in Evernote as well).
Your project will now open in Scrivener.
The way Scrivener works, you can’t write in chapters – you have to write in scenes. I had found a murder mystery template, but it was bare bones, no headlines to tell you what to write when. The 30 chapter template is set up for you. Be prepared to add notes to the synopsis – we’re going to do this soon.
Today, the important part is to get your word count in there. Because I’m planning on submitting to the Hallmark Channel, they have specific requirements of happy endings, no violence, if it’s a murder mystery it has to happen off the page, and they’ve got rules of no violence. So you can’t show the murder.
So. go to project—>project target. Hallmark’s got a target of 70,000 – 85,000 words. For now, I’ve got 80,000 entered under manuscript target. Then for word count, I’ve got 1,667. Plan on your novel being 50,000 for now.
This means you’re going to have a complete project done in 30 days. Again, this is not like NaNoWriMo, because they’re satisfied if you get the word count. We’re aiming for a complete novel, first draft. I’m going to give you a couple of Scrivener tricks that will increase your daily word count beyond the 1,667.
Today, open your front matter and give your book a title. Choose a pen name (or if you’ve got a name like Stephen King, use your own), and go ahead and fill out everything in your front matter section and back matter section. If you don’t know what to put there, that’s your dedication, your about the author, etc.
Some quick advice before we do this – if this is your first novel, if this is something you’ve never completed before, then be prepared for this – you may end up hiding this novel once you’re done. Most author’s first novels are garbage. It’s the second book that’s excellent. Stephen King and Tom Clancy are of course the exceptions. King’s first book was Carrie, and he threw it in the trash after he was done reading it. Tabitha King pulled it out of the trash, and talked him into trying to get it published. Clancy wrote Hunt for Red October, brought it to the Navy press, and behold – they and he had their first novels published. No kidding, I have a copy of the Navy Press Red October.
All right – last housekeeping chore. Go to your Dropbox, and create a folder called “Scrivener backups.” Now, go back to Scrivener. Go to File—>backup—>backup to. Open the Dropbox folder, then choose the Scrivener Backups. This is a step 99% of Scrivener users don’t do, and they think they’re backing up their project all the time. If you haven’t designated a specific folder for backups, then believe it or not, you’re not backing up at all. The Scrivener tutorial manuscript explains this.
