Writing serial fiction with Scrivener
Watch the webinar and Q&A replay
If there’s one thing I love, it’s babbling on about writing serial fiction.
You may have noticed.
Last week I was invited to deliver a presentation as part of Literature & Latte’s webinar series. Considering how essential their product Scrivener is to my writing process, it was a very quick ‘yes’.
You can now watch the whole thing on replay. I think it went pretty well!
Here’s some of the stuff that I covered in the presentation:
A brief history of serial fiction and the projects I’ve worked on
Why I moved from Wattpad to Substack, and how the online landscape has fundamentally shifted in the last five years
The challenges of writing and publishing in real time
Using Scrivener to plan, research and world build
Designing a plot and characters in Scrivener
How to write fast and to a tight weekly schedule
Why I wouldn’t be a writer without Scrivener
There was a lot of interest in Substack and the newsletter game in the Q&A. It was a useful reminder that a lot of people are only now discovering Substack, and just how much untapped potential there still is in the platform.
If you’re new to Scrivener, I’ve got some additional resources that might be useful:
What is Scrivener?
I’ve used Scrivener for over a decade. Initially I merely dabbled, but when I started writing and publishing serial fiction it became an indispensable part of my process.
A gentle introduction to Scrivener
I’m frequently surprised that there are writers who don’t use Scrivener. For long form projects, it’s my most indispensable tool. It enables me to be a better writer and helps me publish weekly, serialised stories without getting into a total mess.
How to plan and write serial fiction using Scrivener
Writing software Scrivener doesn’t make me a better writer. But it does make it possible for me to write in a particular way. Without it, I’m pretty sure I’d have suffered one of these fates:
Big thanks to
for putting the webinar together.MEANWHILE.
The summer holidays are nearly at an end. My son starts high school on Wednesday, which seems absurd given he was a toddler about five minutes ago, but I suspect my perception of time may be betraying me there.
I don’t mean to complain, because it’s been a lovely summer, with a break in Wales and lots of fun hanging out with the boy. That’s all wonderful, of course, and I’m very fortunate. But Simon The Writer has been very grumpy about the whole thing, moaning the whole time about having less time to write.
Simon The Writer is very demanding. Someone should have a word.
The restarting of the school term does mean I’ll have more time for the newsletter. That should mean more video tutorials, and more in-depth articles. I have a long list of Things To Write About that I haven’t had the time to do.
Plus, of course, Triverse powers along as ever. We’re in the thick of season 4 now, and season 5 is planned to be the end. Getting there. I thought I’d wrap it all up this side of the new year, but I suspect it’ll actually tip over into 2025. And then it’ll be done. For as long as I’ve been writing this newsletter, I’ve been working on Tales from the Triverse. It’s the biggest, most ambitious thing I’ve ever worked on. I think it’s gone pretty well so far. The big unknown is whether I can stick the landing.
Other things I’ve been enjoying:
Kieron Gillen’s The Power Fantasy got off to an amazing first issue start. Can’t wait to see where it goes. Highly recommended.
I’ve been enjoying playing Monster Hunter Rise, Tactical Breach Wizards and The Messenger. All very good, and very different. Games are so varied these days!
Did I mention that I played Venba? It’s a very short game, only taking an hour or two, but it’s wonderful. The tears were real. An impressive narrative achievement, and brilliantly tactile. It also made me hungry.
Also in comics, Void Rivals and SAGA continue to be excellent. SAGA is, of course, an extremely stressful time, because
is a genius meanie.
Thanks for reading. Until next time.
I tuned in to the live event and found it very useful. Thanks!
I like how you speak about your writing self in the third person, thereby distancing yourself from your grumpy writer who struggles on vacations. I find it oddly reassuring to hear about a writer's frustration on holiday! I myself stole away in corners this summer, as guilty as a kid stuffing 5 Twinkies in her mouth, sneaking off to scribble away some words when I was supposed to be lounging or hiking or whatnot. So, thank you for that piece of vindication.