IREN ADAMS

If you’re a writer, chances are you’ve heard of Scrivener, the popular writing software designed to help authors organize and manage their writing projects. But even with Scrivener’s extensive features and tools, it can be challenging to keep track of all the different elements that go into writing a book or other long-form project. That’s where the binder comes in.

The binder is one of the core features of Scrivener, and it’s designed to help you organize and navigate your project easily. Essentially, it’s a sidebar that displays a hierarchical outline of all the different components of your project, such as chapters, scenes, research notes, character sketches, and more. By using the binder effectively, you can stay focused, organized, and on track throughout your writing process.

In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at how to use the binder in Scrivener to organize your work.

1. Get started with the binder

The binder is located on the left-hand side of the Scrivener window, and you can open it by clicking on the blue “Binder” button in the toolbar at the top of the screen. Once you’ve opened the binder, you’ll see a list of all the different parts of your project, displayed in a hierarchical outline format.

2. Create folders and subfolders

To start organizing your work, you’ll want to create folders and subfolders within the binder. For example, you might create a folder for each chapter of your book, with subfolders for individual scenes, character profiles, and research notes related to that chapter. To create a new folder or subfolder, simply right-click on an existing item in the binder and select “New Folder” or “New Subfolder.”

3. Add documents and files

Once you’ve created your folders and subfolders, you can start adding documents and files to them. To add a new document, click on the folder or subfolder where you want it to be located, and then click on the green “+” button in the toolbar at the bottom of the binder. You can then choose the type of document you want to create, such as a new text document or a new research note.

4. Drag and drop to rearrange

As you add more documents and files to your project, you may find that you want to rearrange them within the binder. Fortunately, Scrivener makes this easy – you can simply drag and drop items to move them up or down within a folder, or drag them to a different folder or subfolder.

5. Use the corkboard and outline views

In addition to the hierarchical outline view, Scrivener also offers two other views that can be helpful for organizing your work: the corkboard and the outline. The corkboard view displays your project’s documents as index cards, which you can rearrange by dragging and dropping. The outline view displays your documents as a list, with the ability to collapse and expand folders and subfolders.

More on the outline view, next week.

6. Sync with external tools

Finally, it’s worth noting that you can also use the binder to sync with external tools, such as Dropbox or Scrivener’s iOS app. By syncing your project with an external tool, you can work on your project from multiple devices and always have the latest version of your work available.

In conclusion, the binder is an essential tool for organizing your work in Scrivener. By using folders, subfolders, documents, and files effectively, you can stay focused, organized, and on track throughout your writing process. And with the ability to sync with external tools, you can always have your work at your fingertips, no matter where you are.