A few months back, I shared this tweet:
Trying a new approach to revising in @ScrivenerApp #amwriting #amrevising #amgettingdesperate pic.twitter.com/imd6SxggvZ
— Bronwen Fleetwood (@bronniesway) April 13, 2015
It was retweeted by @Scrivenerapp and is my most successful post, proving that funny sells almost as well as sex.
For the uninitiated, Scrivener is software designed specifically for managing large writing projects, like novels. You break the project into individual files–say, each scene or chapter is its own file. Then you can drag and drop those to reorder them, apply keywords for easy searching, and, yes, color code.
At a glance, I can look at my list of chapters, aka the Binder, and see what needs work and how much.
Instantly I know where my work for the day needs to start: the trouble spots. And over time, it has become this serene blue:
How cool is that?
How To Do It
1. Edit Label Colors
In the Inspector column on the far-right of your screen, open the dropdown for Label. Mine is called Work, because I was thinking ‘how much work to I need to do?’
Select Edit.
That opens this familiar window:
You can give the Labels a custom title, like I did (Work).
Double-click on the Label Names to edit them.
Double-click on the color squares to change the colors.
Drag and drop labels to reorder them.
Use the plus and minus buttons to add or delete labels.
Hit OK.
2. Apply Labels to Documents
There are a few ways to do this.
Method A: Select the document you want in the Binder. Right-click on it. In the menu, find Label (or whatever you chose to name it) and select the colored Label you want to apply.
Method B: Select the document in the Binder. In the Inspector, open the Label dropdown and select the colored Label you want to apply.
Do this to a few documents so you can see the full effect. …only you won’t see the effect just yet! That’s step three.
3. Show Label Colors in Binder
In the main menu, under View, find “Use Label Color In” (if you changed the Label title, that’s what will appear here). Select Binder. Voila! You now have a rainbow Binder!
You can also select Icons, Index Cards and Outliner Rows if you’d like to see the colors there instead/as well. Play around with the views to find the one that works best for you.
In Part Two I’ll show you how I use custom icons in my color-coding, specifically for distinguishing POV.
Want more great content?
Sign up to get alerts when I post about writing, writing tools, and more.
Plus, as a thank you for signing up you’ll get my Write a Novel Curriculum!
This is fantastic, I just changed my labels and already it’s make things easier as I edit. Thanks for the awesome tips!
[…] Some people use color labels to denote the status of a section of writing. While there is an option for setting a section’s status (right there below labels option on the menu), the status option doesn’t allow for color coding. Labels like “first draft,” “final draft,” “needs research,” can be given a color. Then, as you work each scene toward completion, you can watch the colors change. Writer Bronwen Fleetwood has a funny post about his own use of status labels here. […]