How This Book Is Organized

This book is organized into seven major parts that have two or more chapters each. The chapters are split up into even smaller sections. If you’re a complete Scrivener newbie, don’t worry, each section is written as a stand-alone piece that takes you step-by-step through the topic.

No need to read in order. You can jump right to the section about project templates without wading through corkboards and outlines, if you so desire. So, pick a topic, flip — literally or virtually — to the appropriate page, and try something new.

Part I: Getting to Know Scrivener

This part introduces Scrivener and its unique parts. You can find out how to create a new project, find your way around, and work with documents inside your project. Newbies: Start here!

Part II: Meeting the Inspector

This part walks you through the Scrivener Inspector pane’s many features, from the Synopsis, to metadata, to all those buttons at the bottom. You can get the scoop on notes, references, keywords, and snapshots.

Part III: Starting to Write

The chapters in this part deal with getting the words down on virtual paper. They cover the Editor, working in Split Screen mode, Composition (Full Screen) mode, the Corkboard, the Outliner, annotations, and footnotes.

Part IV: Getting Your Manuscript Out There

This part talks about exporting your work from Scrivener. Whether you just need to get a few chapters into Word or the whole book into EPUB format, this part’s for you.

Part V: Customizing Your Scrivener Experience

This part digs into some of the fun and cool features that really make Scrivener shine, such as tracking your progress, custom layouts, creating project templates, and document templates.

Part VI: Getting the Most Out of Scrivener

The chapters in this part introduce you to functions that can make your writing life easier: searching, creating collections, working with revisions, and backing up your work.

Part VII: The Part of Tens

This traditional final part of any For Dummies book contains chapters that introduce you to cool features that didn’t fit anywhere else and gives you ideas on how to find more Scrivener help.