Scrivener For Dummies

Working with Project Targets

Writing into the fog is fine, but sometimes you need to shoot for a specific goal. Scrivener’s project targets provide visual feedback on how you’re doing, and you can set them up to calculate the number of words you need to write daily to meet a deadline.

Whether you have a 400-page novel due in six weeks, want to write 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year, or are just trying to practice your discipline by writing 500 words each day, project targets can help.

Setting a draft and session target

A draft target is the total word count goal for the project. A session target is specific to your current writing session, and you can use it in addition to a draft target. Even though you might be working toward an ultimate goal of 50,000 words for your manuscript, if your target for the day is 1,000 words, then 1,000 is your session target.

Note: In the Novel template that I used for the examples in this book, the Draft folder is called Manuscript, so the draft target is called the manuscript target. To be consistent with the figures, I call it the manuscript target from here forward.

By default, your session resets at midnight, but if you choose a different reset option (covered in the “Adjusting the target options” section, later in this chapter), a session can encompass more than one day.

Only items in the Manuscript (Draft) ...