Hello SErs. Harmony here. While P H Solomon is our resident expert on all things Scrivener, today I’d like to share a tool that I came across earlier this year, and it has made such a difference to me. … Also, it stops my work area looking like the the picture to the left! LOL.
It’s such a simple tool, which lets you set and see your project targets in one neat little box. To show you what I’m talking about, here’s a screenshot from my WIP …
As you can see, this sample is first draft and needs tweaking, but true to my commitment to not doing any editing or amending until the revision stage, this stays as it is while it’s still a work in progress. 🙂
At a glance, this tool shows me my overall word count, my tally for the current writing session, and how many days I have left until deadline. You can edit or reset your settings at any time. The indicator bars change colour the further you progress toward your target. They even turn a bright warning red if you exceed your target.
Here’s how to set it up:
- With your document open, go to the drop down menus at the top of the screen and select ‘Project’.
- From the drop down, select ‘Show Project Targets’.
- The dialogue box that you see above appears on screen.
- With this box open, go ahead and click on each option to set up your desired settings …
The neat thing you can do with this is to move it anywhere you want.
To change your word targets (either the whole novel or this session’s count), simply double click the numbers in the original dialogue box, and you will be able to overtype them to change your settings.
And, voila, you’re done!
This is a fantastic piece of software for writers, but it does take a lot of learning, and I still have so much to utilise from it. What other programs/tools do you use to set and watch your targets? Do you set targets at all? Leave a comment below.
*Note, this is not an affiliate post, and neither the author or any member of Story Empire receives any benefit from its publication.*
© 2019, Harmony Kent – All Rights Reserved
Story Empire 
I find targets useful to stay on track, especially session targets. I use them a lot in my works of translation to know if I’m keeping the right pace. However, I didn’t know you could set the actual deadline to show in the box. I need to check if this feature is available in the PC version too (you’re using Mac, right?)
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Yes, I’m using Mac. I hope the PC version has the same feature. Thanks, Irene 😊
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Pingback: Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links – Staci Troilo
Never heard of this before, but it sounds so cool! Glad you told me about it.
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Thanks, Robin. I’m so pleased you’ve found the post useful. 🙂
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No problem!
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I’m still in the dark ages, I’m afraid. Harmony. This does look cool though.
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That’s where I’m dragging myself from, lol. Thanks, John 🙂
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But at least you are seeing the light. 😁
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I have never used targets. I let the story be as long as it has to be, which has been short lately, but Lanternfish was a longer one.
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This is the first time I’d set targets. I liked knowing where I was and how far I had to go. Always allowing flexibility on the finished count, though. Thanks, Craig. I loved Lanternfish! 🙂
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I use the word count so I can keep peripheral track, but that’s about it. I don’t even number the pages these days, since Amazon want to do that themselves.
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I have never used Scrivener, but I have saved all of P.H.’s tips and tutoring as reference if I ever do! I’m adding this post to his! Thanks for sharing, Harmony!
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Thanks, Jan! Keeping all the posts just in case sounds like a great idea 🙂
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I don’t use Scrivener but it does seem like a handy tool within a program that is filled with them from what I’ve seen.
I don’t set targets (other than final word count), but just for a good day writing. It’s always nice to see the count grow!
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I loved watching that count grow, lol. It sure is a handy tool. And it makes the paperback and ebook compilation much easier too once you’re ready to publish. I couldn’t be without Scrivener anymore. 🙂
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I love the project target feature. I’ve been using it for years. Same with the session target. It inspires me to write longer each day.
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I found that, too, Staci. The more I discover about Scrivener, the more I love it 🙂
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Reblogged this on Archer's Aim and commented:
Stay on target in Scrivener. Find out how with Harmony Kent’s post on Story Empire today.
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Thanks for the reblog, PH 🙂
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You’re welcome.
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I use the project target all the time in Scrivener. I like to keep a daily word count so that comes in handy also.
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I wish I’d thought of setting targets sooner, lol. Now I’ve done it once, I’ll do it for every WIP. Thanks, Joan 🙂
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