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O is for … Outliner view

Of the two ‘O’ topics listed in the Index of Scrivener Posts, today’s post is on ‘Outliner view’, not least because I cover ‘Orphans’ in the W entry (with ‘Widows’).

Using Outliner view involves some of those essential executive functions.

1. The ability to anticipate what’s coming up and make plans accordingly – see also number 8, flexibility!
2. The ability to organise – thoughts, ideas, the scenes/chapters of my novels, …
3. Reliability – doing what we agreed when we said it would be done (or earlier!)
4. Getting up and getting on with the work – ie self motivation
5. Managing our time to achieve the best results
6. Paying attention to detail (quality …)
7. Remembering stuff that’s important
8. Flexibility – willingness to make changes in our plans or our approach
9. Determination – ability to keep going
10. Willingness to reflect on our own contribution to the team (and learn from it)

Scrivener gem

The Outliner View is a customisable way of viewing your project, your progress, and how – and where – you might focus your energies going forward.

If you have time today, read on. If not, make a note to come back to this post another day.

I have a mini-series about Editing pane options, and ‘Outliner’ was number 3. See this blog post for option 1 (Scrivenings); and this one for option 2 (Corkboard).

The post about Outliner view explains why, despite its name, I don’t use it for outlining (!). I then go on to share

• how using Outliner can help you during the writing stage
  • keeping track of progress against wordcount targets
  • viewing keywords
• how using Outliner can help you during the editing stage
  • keeping track of the novel’s timeline
  • keeping track of feedback requests and responses
• how to sort data within Outliner view
• what the options at the base of the Editing pane offer in Outliner view.

When you get, a minute, if you’ve never used Outliner view (or even if you have), read this blog post.

Enjoy!

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