I recently started a new project for my next book, The White Arrow. If I had planned the entire series using Scrivener, then all of The Bow of Hart Saga would be in a single project. But I chose not to do that since I was in the middle of The Bow of Destiny at the time. However, there’s one feature I like to have that works per project (by design actually) and that’s Auto-complete.
For a fantasy author (and for any author really), names get to be a pain to type repeatedly and also lead to a plethora of typos. While a rough draft is rough, it doesn’t have to be filled with errors. With Scrivener’s Auto-complete in use, you can type faster. If you’re familiar with it in similar editors, then you get the picture.
Otherwise, here’s how it works: you start typing a name and Auto-complete suggests names alphabetically and narrows the list down to a few words or one as you type and you hit enter for one word displayed or toggle down with the down arrow in a list to choose from several words. I like to type a few letters when I know I have a list of words that begin with the same first letter and then hit enter for a single word or choose the name from the narrowed list. It looks something like these:

Type one letter and you may see a list of several words.

After typing a few letters the list is shorter.
So here’s one quick way to use it. If your like me and have an ongoing series you can add all the names before you get started on a new book. If you are starting a new series, auto-complete is a good reason to develop all the books in the same project. By design, auto-complete keeps a discrete list of words for typing reference only in your project. Otherwise, you would compile a very long list over time and be prompted for names and terms with a list that wouldn’t allow you to save time at all because you would have to stop too much to choose the word from the list of similar words. However, it’s perfect for a single book project or a series. It’s also great for other larger projects such as what you might use for blogging. Why? Because you only have to add names and terms one time for a series project.

Click Projects and choose Auto-Complete List to add words.
To save time in my third book, I still have to add all the names to the auto-complete list that I’ve previously used in the project for An Arrow Against the Wind. This series was started differently and I wouldn’t start it that way again for this reason. But for any project, I’d take time to add common names and terms before you start typing the main body so this will shorten your time. You might find as you go that you have more to add but that’s normal.
Here’s how to add words to auto-complete. Click Project and slide down that menu to Auto-Complete List. This will open a window where you can click the “plus“ (+) button to add words and the “minus” (-) button to remove them and then type it in where it reads “Text”. That’s very simple and easy to do.

Click the “plus” button to add words to your Auto-complete list.
Now for a few, quick caveats to help you along. You won’t just get Auto-complete working by adding names unless you have it turned on in the options. To get there, click on Tools and slide down the menu and click on Options, then choose Corrections from the Options Window. There are some default settings already checked or unchecked. Click a check into the “Suggest completions as you type” box and un-check the “In script mode only” if you are not writing a script using script mode. Don’t close the Options window just yet.

Choose the appropriate settings to turn-on auto-complete and adjust auto-correct.

Add your custom dictionary names to use auto-correct effectively in Scrivener.
There’s one more caveat you need to consider at this point and that’s auto-correct options. You can leave the “Check spelling as you type” box checked on. However, the “Correct spelling errors as you type” option may be a bit frustrating if you have a lot of custom names and terms since this will correct unknown words without asking you based on Scrivener’s built-in dictionary. But to get around this you can click the “View personal word list” button and add the same list of names and terms there too. Otherwise, Scrivener can learn new words by highlighting an known word (underlined in red), right-clicking on it and choosing “Learn spelling” (or use the suggested keyboard shortcuts). That will cut down on words being replace erroneously by auto-correct if you are using it. I’d make sure to have a substantive list built-up before using auto-correct or just leave it off.
So that’s it for the tip to type faster with Scrivener. What tips do you have for typing faster? What custom settings in Scrivener do you find the most useful? Leave your thoughts in the comments section and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for visiting with us on Story Empire today!
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Great tips, PH! I’ve been using Scrivener for a number of years now, and I think I’ve used the auto-correct like this only once; I’ve forgotten how useful it is. Thanks for the reminder!
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I’m pleased you found it helpful, Julie. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment today.
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Reblogged this on Archer's Aim and commented:
Here’s today’s Story Empire post with a Scrivener tip!
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I think one way to type faster is to have my extra fingers removed. (By my count, I have nine too many.)
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I think I have that many too! Sometimes I’m surprised at how dyslexic my fingers are as well.
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I love Scrivener – makes everything so much easier and faster! Thanks for the tip!
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You are welcome, Felicia. Thanks for stopping by to read the post today.
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You’re welcome! 😉
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Yet another reason why I need to set time aside and learn Scrivener. It’s been on my computer for two years!!
Thanks for sharing another helpful tip on this great software, P.H!
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I think your temp license will have expired so you may have to start over. That’s OK since there have been a few updates since then.
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Drat! So if I purchased it, it’s no longer going to work?
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No, if you purchased it, then the license is still good.
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Whew! Good to know!
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Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog and commented:
Check out this helpful Scrivener tip from The Story Empire blog
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Thanks again, Don.
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You’re welcome
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Thanks for the reblog, glad you found it helpful!
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I did. I’m a Scrivener user so it was great.
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Excellent!
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Interesting post. Auto-complete would be a learning curve, but could be handy once you get used to it.
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It’s very handy to use and as you expand the words in a project things get faster and more accurate.
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Pingback: One Tip to Type Faster Using Scrivener | Story Empire – Joan Hall
Thanks for the link back, Joan.
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I love Scrivener but have never used the auto-complete feature. Thanks for the tip!
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You are welcome, Joan. I started using it more and more and it helps me get all the unique words written consistently.
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Never used Scrivener and my only tip is practicing. I’m a bad person to ask about typing speed since I grew up playing on typewriters and then computers. I do find it interesting how an auto-complete helps here. Just thinking of how it’s a pain with texts, but it looks like a great tool here. Kind of on topic: Have you ever tried a voice to word software or whatever it’s called?
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I wrote my first novel on a manual typewriter when I was 15, Charles. So glad computers came along (I remember when I thought the Smith Corona Selectric was cutting edge, LOL).
I think the voice to word software you’re referring to is Dragon.
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I forgot when we first got a computer here, but I was still in single digits. I remember an old typewriter being around for me to play with, but the poor thing eventually got destroyed by me trying to type on Play-Doh and Silly Putty.
Dragon does sound familiar. I remember giving it a try a long time ago because a friend had it. Wasn’t fantasy author friendly.
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I think it’s improved but I’m interested to find out how much it either integrates with Scrivener’s custom settings like the custom word list or if it allows for adding unique words – we fantasy authors have different changing sets with every project (which keeps writing very interesting).
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I can imagine it being hard to do with accents as well. It was a fun technology when I first heard about it, but there seems to be a lot of difficulties that would require typing anyway.
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Perhaps I’ll write something more about it in the near future.
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I know a few people who have tried it and said it was “iffy.”
Play-Doh and Silly Putty in a typewriter, LOL. Even then you were on your way to creating worlds!
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Sounds like he was a printer at heart. Some people say that the newer version has improved. I’ve seen people talk about using it with Scrivener on the Literature and Latte community forums so I’m interested in giving it a try.
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I remember learning to type in school. A computer keyboard is much less work.
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I wrote my first one when I was seventeen on notebook paper. 🙂
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I started The Bow of Destiny on paper about that age!
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Thanks for leaving a comment, Charles. My hope is to start using Dragon with Scrivener this year but I haven’t had the time to get there yet. I’m also interested in using Scapple by the same vendor to further assist in development. Again, I’ve got to make time to install it and work with it. I have quite a tight schedule at the moment. I was hoping to get to Dragon this month but it’s looking like it will be late June or July before I get to it.
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Never heard of Scapple. Feel like an old man just working with Word and my notebooks over here. 🙂 Looking forward to seeing you do a write up of Dragon.
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I’ll get to it as soon as I can!
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I do love Scrivener. Thanks for the tips, PH! 🙂
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I have yet to master Scrivener, but I think I must do it soon. Such a clever system!
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Agreed. Learning as you go does work. The editor is similar to Word and other such software that you can use that very quickly.
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie.
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Thanks for the reblog!
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