Tracking your progress, identifying productivity

Phyrebrat

www.beanwriting.com
Supporter
Joined
Feb 13, 2011
Messages
5,971
Location
In your bedroom wardrobe...
[This will probably not be of any interest to anyone who doesn't use Scrivener]

There are a multitude of enhancements that Scrivener gives over a simple word processor, but I find that since 2012 I've not used them often (the thought of using its name generator gives me cold sweats). Normally I use the ones that check project goals, project statistics, text-as-compiled (which compiles all the documents you have checked as final drafts or 'include in compile' and gives a specific word count) and the spellcheck is far less infuriating than Word's. And whilst I think of it, the word count is exact, taking smart appraoches to numbers, elipses, hyphenated words so well that I've not in 8 years gone beyon the word limit in a Challenge here ;)

But I recently saw on the Literature and Latte Twitter feed that they have a Writing History facility where it tells you how much you wrote per day/per month. It's a great motivator if you work well by write-shaming :D I've been struggling since March with the part of my book set in the present day. As the WIP is now on its fourth rewrite (nb, not edit, but rewrite) I have 3 prior versions, all with bits and pieces that I want to keep. The thing is, they introduce logic or chronological anachronisms and problems, so I've had to rejig them, rewrite scenes, edit, and so on. As I've been working on a part in the novel that happens over 2 days SINCE MARCH, I thought I'd try this new feature.

Below are the screenshots. (Note that the days of the month box is on a slider which you can't really show on a still photo, so it just has the end of the month days).

Screenshot 2019-06-29 at 18.16.01.png


And:

Screenshot 2019-06-29 at 18.18.07.png


Terrifying lack of productivity!

pH
 
Just on day 10 of my Scrivener trial. Not sure of it yet as some parts seem counter intuitive.
 
Well, this convinces me that I'm better off sticking with Word...
I'd give it a go, I'm certainly persevering with it.

The 30 day trial is very good. They only count the data you use the package. For example, other packages would have counted this last week as 7 days gone but be cause I only opened Scrivener on 4 days and it only counted 4 gone of my 30.
 
I'm also glad I don't use a program like Scrivener. I tend to get obsessed by spreadsheets and statistics, so I avoid anything to do with word counts or other mathematical elements regarding my writing. I would never get anything done.

I have the simple goal of writing a minimum of one sentence per writing session (due to a major bout of writer's block years ago), which takes off all the pressure.
 
I just had a PM about where to find Writing History and realised I'd neglected to point to it here, so:

It's under the Projects menu.

Also, Scrivener posted an update today with various bug fixes, and the Amazon Kindle compile package has been improved when converting your MS to an actual e-book.

pH
 
I'd give it a go, I'm certainly persevering with it.

The 30 day trial is very good. They only count the data you use the package. For example, other packages would have counted this last week as 7 days gone but be cause I only opened Scrivener on 4 days and it only counted 4 gone of my 30.

I think my trial from 2015 still has 20 days left....

But I hated it with a passion
 
I don't use it, but sometimes (not lately because it's a more relaxed write) I would check daily and section (early morning, mid-afternoon etc) word counts and try to hit certain targets.

Definitely easier when there's a more defined plan, though.
 
I like the program very much. Among many other things, I can ignore any or all bells or whistles. They never get in the way but only add value if I choose to use them. I'm on the Windows version, anxiously awaiting the Big Upgrade.

I'm not much of one for tracking progress, but that history function looks nice.
 
I loved Scrivener, until I moved onto Google Docs. Of course, that might look like a downgrade to a number of people - however, I can now collaborate with my writing friend and can access the documents from practically anywhere on any device - and they're all safely backed up.

I've been tempted to copy/paste it back into Scrivener just to play around with the tools... but I got so much more writing done when those distractions were taken away.
 
Google Docs is great for writing anywhere, any time. Scrivener, for me, is better for revision, restructuring and editing. I guess if I were using ios, then I could do everything much easier in Scrivener.

I don't do daily word counts any more, but I might check out the progress tools.
 
Thanks for sharing this! What a cool feature.

But damn, looks like my inspiration waves are a lot further apart than I realized...

Screen Shot 2019-07-15 at 11.22.35.png
 
The screenshots are all Mac, which makes me suspect that this feature is not in the Windows version.

Also, I can't find it here, not under the project tab, anyway.
 
It's in the S3 beta for Windows, I think. It's still not something that's meaningful to me. Maybe if I were writing for a newspaper (remember those?) or on contract, then it'd be important. Otherwise, numbers add up to nothin', as the poet says.
 

Similar threads


Back
Top