One file or many?

defyalllogic said:

I tried many files and it was an total fail. I want to move things around and read through for tone and pace and see if it makes sense. I couldn't do that with a bunch of separate files.

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blacbird said:

Precisely my experience, and for the same reason.

caw

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I use yWriter, which is free and created by an AWer.
It allows you to do exactly this, even down to scene level, as well as chapter level.

For me, each chapter is like a 'mini-story,' so I always use separate files for each chapter. In that file (folder) I might also include chapter notes, or not. In a separate file I keep a brief synopsis of each chapter. (Tres brief, like a sentence or two.) When I work on a chapter, my head is in that chapter only.

When I am done, I put them altogether in one long file.

I'm a short story writer (onlybeenpublishedinshorts) so maybe that's why I do it this way. Working on one huge file would sort of be overwhelming to me, and yes I've tried it that way. Didn't work, at least not for me.

I tend to be a one file guy, using WordPerfect. While the separate files seemed like a nice idea, I found myself constantly flipping between the files to see what fact I wrote or whether a scene already existed or not.

While they have a merge file feature, it felt too awkward to try to edit while using that mode.

But this is totally a YMMV situation.

(I'm looking into Liquid Story Binder to see whether it will fit my needs.)

Katrina S. Forest said:

Another vote for Scrivener. I like seeing chapters, even scenes, by themselves, but multiple files would confuse the heck out of me.

Scrivener is the best of both worlds.

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Ditto. Scrivener was worth the purchase price for this feature alone.

LJD said:

One file. Then I use the navigation pane in Word to flip between chapters.

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this is what I do - I name the chapters and make them a heading and the chapter names shows up in the navigation pane.

I have to vote for the multiple files. I divide each chapter as its own file; filenames are done accordingly to allow me to track which character it involves, a chapter synopsis document letting me see in a glance which file to access by scene. Chapter files are stored in seperate sub-folders corresponding to the part of the book they belong.

I tried to long document and found it to be absolutely frustrating. At least chapter by chapter, file by file, I can do any editing in bite-sized chunks; eliminates searching a 200+ page document for where I left off or confirming a previous piece of information/scene.

Submissions are a simple Insert File feature in Word, convert to rtf and email.

<shrug> Works for me.

Usually, I do just one file. I had one project where I wrote the chapters out of order, and for that it was easier to have each chapter on its own.

adm said:

this is what I do - I name the chapters and make them a heading and the chapter names shows up in the navigation pane.

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Same. The Navigation pane in Word and the Comments I find really helpful. Sometimes even when writing out of order I use the same document so I can just put sections between other sections.

I use Liquid Story Binder and have tried Storybook and Scrivener and some others (especially right after and during NaNoWirMo) and found I get distracted by all the options and set up.

Multiple files at the moment; one for each main character's narrative. I'm finding it easier to maintain several different voices when they're all kept separate. On the down side, it can be confusing trying to remember which document a certain scene is in. Also, simple find-and-replace editing - like changing a name - is a bit of a nightmare.

I don't chapter my book until I'm done editing it, so it's always in one big file.

Way back when I used to write fan-fiction I always wrote each chapter in a separate file. I guess that was because each chapter was uploaded at different times and I liked to write chapters in advance so I could always update if something happened and I couldn't write that week. But for some reason as soon as I switched over to original works, I just automatically started one file. No idea why, it just feels right this way.

SRHowen said:

.rtf is an issue sometimes with conversion in word, esp Word 10, formatting nightmare.

Tried scriver did not like it.

One file.

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What problems are you having? I use .rtf just about every day with Word 10, and haven't had any formatting problems at all.

melindamusil said:

Just curious... do you prefer to store your WIP in one long document or multiple files? For a long time I've been storing individual chapters in different files but i'm debating merging those into one long document.

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Multiple files. It's much easier.

I can't imagine using one big file. To me that would just be overwhelming to deal with. I have literally a couple dozen files for my current WIP. The story has three parts, and each part is broken up into about 10 short chapters, so I have files for 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, etc., and then 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, and so on. Once I finished the first draft, I also complied all the part one chapters into a single "part one" file, and ditto parts two and three. I'd editing now and rechaptering some of it, so my original 1-1, 1-2, etc., files will probably go un-updated, but then I am saving my edits as "part-1-edited" so that I have multiple digital drafts to reference. (When I am done-done and ready to start sending it out for beta-readers or publishers, I will put everything in one big file.) Also while I'm editing if I'm deleting a large chunk of text or even just a sentence I'm particularly fond of, I'll C&P it into a file titled, for example, "2-4-deleted" in case I want to go back and put it back in again later. I almost never do this but for the few times I have it's been nice to have the "deleted" files. With the current rechaptering business it's getting a little messy with all the chapter files and deleted files, but this still feels like the easiest and most logical for the way my own personal brain works, although typing all this out makes me sound slightly crazy...

What is 'easier' depends on the person. If I have one file I know it is the current version and everything is in there. So, for me, that is easier.

VoireyLinger said:

Usually, I do just one file. I had one project where I wrote the chapters out of order, and for that it was easier to have each chapter on its own.

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That's interesting. This is mostly why I use one file. Just goes to show how differently we all work... But because I write not linearly at all, it was easier for me to write chapter 1, then chapter 4, then a few paragraphs from the middle of (maybe somewhere around) chapter 12, then chapter 3....

Having it all in the one file kept me more aware of the logical flow. I created a TOC on the front page and gave every new section a descriptive name ("The Test Scene," "The Scene where Atherton's a Creep," "The Man in the Top Hat," etc.) and applied a Heading 1 style to it. That let me skip to the part I wanted to work on.

CJ Knightrey said:

Way back when I used to write fan-fiction I always wrote each chapter in a separate file. I guess that was because each chapter was uploaded at different times and I liked to write chapters in advance so I could always update if something happened and I couldn't write that week. But for some reason as soon as I switched over to original works, I just automatically started one file. No idea why, it just feels right this way.

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I wrote a fanfic a long time ago that I wrote in separate files. I can't remember what I liked or disliked about it. Now, I keep my fanfic in one long file for the reason listed above, but I cut each chapter out after I've posted it and save it into its own separate archive file. That keeps my working file smaller.

I've tried a few of the "writing programs" here and there. I've always wanted to try out Scrivener and I hear good things about it, but like defyalllogic, I think I might get lost with all the bells and whistles. And I've been writing in Word for so long now, that I'm not sure I can *think* inside anything else.

I type up the chapter in a separate document itself and then once I believe it has become canon I chuck it on the end of the larger document.

One document per draft. Each draft gets saved and when I'm ready to move on to the next draft or want to play around with it, the document gets duplicated. Each novel gets a folder with drafts, outlines, timelines and random bits of inspiration or research in it, on my desktop.

No matter how many files you use to store your work, please remember to

BACK IT UP!

My C drive crashed last month, and I was afraid I'd lost everything. Fortunately, I had stored my work on my E drive and in a flash drive just in case.

I wasn't so fortunate the first time that happened.

melindamusil said:

Just curious... do you prefer to store your WIP in one long document or multiple files? For a long time I've been storing individual chapters in different files but i'm debating merging those into one long document.

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I'm definitely a one-filer. However, it took me a bit of writing to discover why that was best for me: my first manuscript I broke down to individual chapter files. At the time it seemed easier, largely because I was struggling to make scenes all have beginnings, middles and ends, rising tension, etc. It seemed less daunting to go through and edit them on a file-by-file basis (and still somewhat is). But, with as unorganized as I can be (er...am), it made it really easy for things to go missing. Some files had been saved in my WIP folder, some on the desktop, some in the shared documents space....

To spare my flailing sanity, now I do my first draft in one big word file, but then I break up and edit the manuscript in Scrivener (bless them!). My process may be a little extra work, but it works for me, and that's all that really counts.

This is the first time I'm using multiple files...just because for previous books I found myself scrolling through a giant, never-ending MS until my eye bled. I'm also writing from 7 different POVs this time, so it helps to see the book broken up into files named "Chapter 13 - So-and-so-character".

Since I do a lot of writing on my phone, (the writer app on Android is really a handy thing) I'll write each chapter separately (for safety-lost a whole week's work once on a simple goof) and then combine them into one file on the PC which I will save as first draft, then save as separate files for revisions.

I do both, depending on what I'm writing. The longer the piece is, the more likely I am to use multiple files (I keep them all in a folder with the story's name on it).

I used to be a technical writer and also taught technical writing and composition writing. I can tell you some real horror stories about using multiple files in MS Word. Maybe the new version (2010?) is better but I wouldn't trust it.

I suggest using just one file if you're using Word, but do get familiar with some of its 'advanced' features, like styles, breaks (page and section), auto-numbering for page numbers, etc., macros, custom key strokes, and other customizing features. Most people only use about 5% of Word's features (i.e. using it like a typewriter) but would be surprised what a difference it would make if they'd just explore it a bit more. And if you are going to have a HUGE project (1000+ pages), don't use Word... period. Find something else. I believe several software alternatives have been mentioned.

Some other tips for using Word:
- Create a separate folder for each project, with all folders under something like Novels or Writing, and the project folders named as your working title, such as 'Horror in Suburbia'.
- Always back up your file at the end of the day with a new version number. For example 2012_08_14. The next day is 2012_08_15.
- Click the Save icon fairly regularly during the writing session. Do NOT wait until the end of the day. And ALWAYS save before you click Print.

Good luck.